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IMDbPro

American Dream

  • 19901990
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
876
YOUR RATING
American Dream (1990)
Official Trailer
Play trailer2:01
1 Video
5 Photos
  • Documentary
Chronicles the six-month strike at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, in 1985-86. The local union, P-9 of the Food and Commercial Workers, overwhelmingly rejects a contract offer with a $2/hour wa... Read allChronicles the six-month strike at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, in 1985-86. The local union, P-9 of the Food and Commercial Workers, overwhelmingly rejects a contract offer with a $2/hour wage cut. They strike and hire a New York consultant to manage a national media campaign aga... Read allChronicles the six-month strike at Hormel in Austin, Minnesota, in 1985-86. The local union, P-9 of the Food and Commercial Workers, overwhelmingly rejects a contract offer with a $2/hour wage cut. They strike and hire a New York consultant to manage a national media campaign against Hormel. Despite support from P-9's rank and file, FCWU's international disagrees with... Read all
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
876
YOUR RATING
  • Directors
    • Barbara Kopple
    • Cathy Caplan
    • Thomas Haneke
  • Stars
    • Jesse Jackson
    • Juan Munoz
    • Ray Rogers
Top credits
  • Directors
    • Barbara Kopple
    • Cathy Caplan
    • Thomas Haneke
  • Stars
    • Jesse Jackson
    • Juan Munoz
    • Ray Rogers
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 17User reviews
    • 15Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 12 wins & 3 nominations total

    Videos1

    American Dream
    Trailer 2:01
    American Dream

    Photos

    American Dream (1990)
    American Dream (1990)
    American Dream (1990)
    American Dream (1990)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jesse Jackson
    Jesse Jackson
    • Selfas Self
    Juan Munoz
    Ray Rogers
    • Selfas Self
    • Directors
      • Barbara Kopple
      • Cathy Caplan
      • Thomas Haneke
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

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    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Basic Instinct/American Dream/Howards End/Shadows and Fog/Othello (1992)

    User reviews17

    Review
    Top review
    No Retreat No Surrender
    American Dream (1990)

    **** (out of 4)

    Barbara Kopple's Oscar-winning documentary follows a meat packing strike in Austin, MN and those familiar with the director's HARLAN COUNTY, USA will certainly have a lot to compare. This film follows the unions decision to pull their workers after Hormel reported a $29 million dollar profit and then asked their workers to take a pay cut and have their benefits reduced. While this film doesn't reach the same heights as HARLAN COUNTY, there's no question that this here is still a pretty remarkable documentary in its own right. There's no question that Kopple knows how to tell a story and more importantly find the passion, fire and energy of a story and exploit it to make sure the message of those individuals get across for the viewers. The documentary was clearly on the side of the workers as this is where we spend the majority of the running time. The first forty-minutes of the film focuses on the pre-strike as we get to know the main people involved and we get a very good idea of the working conditions in America at the time and it's clear that going on strike is very dangerous for a number of reasons. The final hour of the picture deals with the strike as the workers get dragged along for months and the end results aren't anywhere close to a happy ending. As someone who has worked for a union I can see both sides of the coin but it really does seem that the majority of the people lost here and that's a real shame. Kopple does a remarkable job at telling this story and there's no question that your attention will be glued to the film from start to finish.
    helpful•2
    0
    • Michael_Elliott
    • May 18, 2012

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 6, 1990 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Американская мечта
    • Filming locations
      • Austin, Minnesota, USA
    • Production companies
      • Cabin Creek Films
      • Catholic Communication Campaign
      • Channel Four Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $269,823
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $9,291
      • Mar 22, 1992
    • Gross worldwide
      • $269,823
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 38 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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