American Me (HD-DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C+
Edward
James Olmos’ attempted a Gangster genre film with American Me in 1992, but despite some serious ambitions, it never
worked. As a “realistic” counterpoint to
Brian De Palma’s Scarface (1983),
Olmos plays a Latino drug lord who rises to the top while imprisoned, then
becomes a target when he leaves on top.
The film falls into formula, including an unrealistic all-male rape
scene (which actually got a member of the film’s production murdered in
retaliation for being offensive by a real life gang) which is the kind of scene
trying to communicate meaning like…
“You get
into crime, you get raped!”
However,
the crime doesn’t pay message is not backed up well enough and is typical of
too much of the oversimplistic moments that are weaved throughout Olmos’
directorial debut. There are other ways
to deal with this message and the film plays it too safe ideologically to do
so, which is why it never works when all is said and done.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 VC- 1 digital High Definition image is one of the most disappointing I
have seen in this format to date, with a lack of detail and depth so bad, it
might as well be the DVD version. The
original sound was Dolby A-type analog sound, but the Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
mix cannot upgrade the dated quality and the combination is sad. The only extras are a trailer and documentary
about the real thing called Lives In
Hazard that I liked more than the film itself.
- Nicholas Sheffo
