American Animal

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  • Opened May 18, 2012 
  • 1 hr 35 min
  • NR

  • A striking discovery of the 2011 SXSW Film Festival, the wild and personal existential comedy AMERICAN ANIMAL marks the feature film debut of writer/director/actor Matt D'Elia. The film takes viewers on a unique and intense journey of self-discovery as it acerbically and humorously examines themes of friendship, madness, sex and death. When Jimmy (D'Elia) finds out his best friend and roommate James (Brendan Fletcher from HBO's "The Pacific") is leaving for a new job in the morning, he sees this as a betrayal of their perfect way of life. Over the course of a night full of drinks, drugs and women, the two men engage in a classic battle of wills as James prepares to enter the real world and Jimmy falls deeper and deeper into his world of isolation and make-believe. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Matt D'Elia, Brendan Fletcher, Mircea Monroe, Angela Sarafyan, Billie
  • Director: Matt D'Elia
  • Genres: Comedy, Drama

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Critic Reviews

75
Slant Magazine
|

It may be baked with the same ingredients that come in your standard mumblecore starter kit, but because of Matt D'Elia's indebtedness to other movies, the film follows a different recipe altogether. Read full review

75
New York Post
| V.A. Musetto

American Animal is a wildly experimental debut for D'Elia, who uses hand-held digital cameras and lots of jump cuts. It is well-acted and features witty repartee. Read full review

70
Village Voice
| Michael Atkinson

Bizarre, off-putting, and finally demanding of rubberneck respect, this fish-tank indie never leaves a rather lovely duplex apartment, occupied by an unemployed Everyman (Brendan Fletcher) and his roommate, Jimmy (director Matt D'Elia). Read full review

60
Time Out New York
| David Fear

While American Animal's finely tuned filmmaking is leagues above the usual Indiewood sloppiness, all the movie-quoting manic episodes feel like empty grandstanding; it's hard to tell where D'Elia's own psychotic cinephilia ends and the character's begins. Read full review

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Matt D'Elia and Brendan Fletcher in "American Animal."