American Crude (2008)

The paths of several eccentric and troubled strangers cross one night.

Director:

Craig Sheffer

Writers:

Jeff Winiski (story), Mike Diiorio (story)

Stars:

Raymond J. Barry, Aaron Brumfield, Gino Cabanas

Cast

Credited cast:
Raymond J. Barry	...	Mr. Grand
Aaron Brumfield	...	Policeman
Gino Cabanas	...	Bagman
Ski Carr	...	Ed butler
Claudia Choi	...	Cindy
Daniel Colletti	...	Benny
Amanda Detmer	...	Olivia
Martin Dorsla	...	Stripper cop
Michael Clarke Duncan	...	Spinks
Jennifer Esposito	...	Carlos
Cam Gigandet	...	Kip Adams
Kamal John Iskander	...	Manny (as John Iskander)
Shannon Ivey	...	Marlene (as Shannon Jarrell)
Jeffrey Licon	...	Julio
Ron Livingston	...	Johnny

Storyline

The criminal Carlos breaks out from prison and her pimp Felonious Spinks drives the runaway car. Carlos seeks revenge against the criminal Henrique, who raped and introduced her to prostitution. The smalltime crook Johnny is married with Jane, but he is still fancy Olivia that is the love of his life and will marry his best friend Bill while Jane organizes a shower for Olivia. Johnny's father is the pedophile Mr. Grand that sells abducted teenagers to Henrique. Mr. Grand has injured his wife when she asked for the divorce and now she is crippled. Johnny plots a scheme with the travesty Gigi LaRush to separate Olivia from Bill and is negotiating fake passports with Carlos and Spinks. But when Bill and Gigi are arrested by a police officer and Mr. Grand kidnaps Tammy Snow, the lives of these players are entwined with tragic consequences.

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Plot Keywords:

sex in a bed | woman in a bathtub | prostitution | lesbian kiss | prostitute | 

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Taglines:

Four lives collide in one crazy night.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, violence, language and some drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 June 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Crude - Follie in America

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kramer Management, Sheffer/Kramer Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

In his opening voice-over, the character Johnny Grand (Ron Livingston) attributes the quote "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive," to William Shakespeare. Sir Walter Scott actually wrote that in Marmion in 1808, about 192 years after Shakespeare died. This probably is the quote most often erroneously attributed to Shakespeare.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Mr. Grand: Medler!

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Soundtracks

Swing
Written by Jason Solowsky
Performed by The Jason Solowsky Ensemble
Courtesy of JRSBACH Music (BMI)

User Reviews

Hooker, Nudity, Sex With Multiple Partners, Lesbianism, Hermaphrodite, Pot Smoking, Coke, Electrocution, Pedophile, and Killings !

..These are some of the movie's plot keys. Yes, you read it right; "some" !

Was Craig Sheffer, the actor and the movie's director, trying to make a crime movie ? Was he trying to make a satire about the "night" of America then thought of presenting it in a comic style ? Was he trying to make a black comedy ? Was he – oh god – thinking that it's a comedy from the start ? Whatever the answer is, that guy made an ugly, disturbing and disturbed movie.

Originally many problems in one night could produce a fine comedy, black or else. But many problems in one movie could produce just a bad movie. It is made in such a poor, primitive and messy way. The script thinks itself a genius, while mixing the genres together, in one night, with many story lines, and absurd spirit. But it lost being anything good or bearable. What it did win though was having a one of a kind silly sense of humor; and it's very natural since it's directed by Sheffer; one of the silliest actors alive !

I bet that none of the movie's cast knew what the main goal was. I guess Sheffer told them that he wanted to make a satiric cross between Pulp Fiction and American Pie. So sometimes it's about bloody crimes, then it's about crude comedy, then it's about both, then it's about the ugliness of America, then it's about just ugliness !

It's "let's put some of the dirtiest matters on screen for the sake of making a satire". It turned into a great satire towards stupid movie-making mainly. Here's a movie that feeds itself, and us, with massive amount of dirt, a monster of a comedy, and low movie-making to torture everyone sat to complete it. Thus putting the American flag at the top of the movie's presented crimes wasn't something serious about "only in America"; it was rather a try to sell the movie's own crimes as something serious !

Anyway don't be confused, asking was it a comedy? A satire? A black comedy? A crime movie? A soft porn?? Because in fact it is confused. It tried to say that America has become a big toilet, but ended up as a big toilet itself. Thus I won't say "give it a chance and think about it", instead I'll say "don't forget to flush" !

(American Crude) is a dictionary of dirtiness and bad movie-making. It's nasty matters shown in nasty way.