American Dreamer (1984)

Sorry, this movie sucks

Better Late Then Never

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

It is silly and very 1980s but having seen it originally at an impressionable age, it remains one of my favorite movies of all time. The desire to be more than you are, to be beautiful and rich and important and above all a bit dangerous...who couldn't relate? An overlooked and delightful movie. I am in Paris now, and almost wishing I could be Rebecca Ryan.

CBS made a few stabs in the theatrical film market in the early 1980s, though none of their films made a real impact, including "American Dreamer". There are several reasons why I think this movie didn't make a great impression at the time. For one thing, the visual look of this movie looks a great deal like a made-for-TV movie of the time, not a theatrical movie. The direction is flat, and there is seldom a shot in the movie that looks like it took serious time to plan and shoot. Even the Paris backdrop is usually not used to great advantage, shooting in locations that could have been anywhere! The movie also goes on far too long, lasting about 105 minutes long. What makes many of those minutes agonizing to sit through is the main character. In the beginning of the movie she is sympathetic and you are interested to see what will happen to her. However, once she bumps her head and thinks that she is the heroine of the novels she adores, she quickly becomes very annoying. You keep hoping that the male lead will scream at her or slap her in the fact to smarten her up, but he acts like an idiot and never does the logical thing in any situation.As you can see, I didn't like "American Dreamer". However, I acknowledge that there are fans of this movie, judging by the past user comments. These fans all seem to be women who buy the lead character's fantasy throughout the movie. So maybe if you're a woman, you might like this movie. However, if you're a man like me, I strongly urge you to avoid this movie.

I've been drawn to this movie again and again. It's funny, it has warmth and pathos, and the performances are great. I always thought JoBeth Williams was an underrated actress. She was totally believable in an admittedly preposterous plot. But the Tom Conti character offered a warm and credible reality check to the zanier aspects of the film. His character was thoroughly appealing and I keenly felt his loss when Rebecca Ryan once again became Cathy Palmer. The ending was totally satisfactory. There were serious laughs, from the brilliantly choreographed kitchen scene to the drunken revelry at the Embassy Party.I highly recommend this film. I suppose it might be classified as a "chick-flick" but it's much more than that. Great laughs, lots of warmth, and strong chemistry between the main characters lifted this film to a "10".

This movie is lame and boring. It wasn't funny, it wasn't interesting, and the acting and story were just good enough to make this movie incredibly lame. If your a fan of we or lifetime movies you'll be into this. I checked this movie out cause the cover looked really cheesy, but what i got was a little less than mediocre chick flick. The movie really is a waste of time. This movie is not for children. It contains needless violence, some profanity, casual sex scenes (though nothing is shown) and it is a big waste of time. You'll feel like a loser for watching this film. Do not watch this film. It will scar your children for life. There brains will turn into mush if they watch this film. This film is complete and utter crap. I hope it never went to DVD. The dollar I paid at the flea market was way to much for this terrible film. All copies of this film should be burned and erased from history that way mankind can forget that they made such terrible movies at one time. My retina detached shortly after viewing this film. This film represents all the evil mankind. I don't know maybe it's not that bad. On second thought you maybe should get it a try. I think it may grow on you. Wait no it won't cause it's utter crap.