Review: American Dreamer – “a gently-paced but engaging story”

Directed by Paul Dektor
Starring Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine, Matt Dillon, Danny Glover, Kimberley Quinn, Michelle Mylett

I’ll be honest – I mostly agreed to look at this film solely on the fact that it paired Peter Dinklage (always great in any film), and Shirley MacLaine (come on, a bona-fide Hollywood legend). Loosely based on a true (ish) story from NPR’s This American Life, Dinklage plays Phil Loder, a non-tenured professor in economics at a small, East Coast college. Single and borderline misanthropic, and despite teaching his students about the reality behind the American Dream (specifically of having your own property as the pinnacle of success and happiness). Phil spends much of his free time dreaming not only of owning his own home, but of owning one which is ridiculously outside both his needs and any likely financial reality.

This leads him to attending open house days at the invitation of his real estate agent and sort-of friend, Dell (Matt Dillon), touring vast mansions which are likely to sell for several million dollars, when he knows that, really, he would struggle to get a mortgage for a one bedroom condo. And while there’s nothing wrong with a little hopeful ambition, it is clear Phil has willfully blinded himself to his actual reality, and that he has convinced himself that obtaining ownership of such a place would fix all his problems and leave him happy. Add in delusional daydreams of a wife (and her sister) who would be in that perfect home with him, and it is obvious that Phil has more than just monetary problems.

It is into this scenario that he sees an advert for one of these palatial mansions, in its own grounds, complete with a coastal view. And it is going for a remarkably lower sum, only a few hundred thousand dollars, not the millions it is really worth. Naturally there is a catch – Astrid (MacLaine), is the current owner; elderly, in declining health and with no children, she is offering a deal for someone to pay her the lower fee, live in a wing of the house while she retains the main, luxurious dwelling space, picking up maintenance costs and the like, with the goal of inheriting the entire property upon her passing.

We all know the old adage that if something seems too good to be true, it usually is, and it is shortly after Phil sinks every last cent he has into obtaining enough money to make this deal that wrinkles start to appear. For starter, Astrid seems pretty lively and healthy, not a lady sitting in Death’s waiting room at all, and then there are the younger people who appear, who she refers to as “her kids”, including lawyer Maggie (Kimberley Quinn), who is less than happy that Astrid has made such a deal without consulting her for legal advice, and who is determined to oust Phil.

Phil’s long-desired dream is collapsing almost from the moment he moves in, and Dinklage essays both his adeptness at physical comedy (as Phil ignores Dell’s advice “not to do anything stupid”, getting himself into a series of silly scrapes and accidents), and the more emotional entanglements, as he can’t seem to help himself from making a mess of relationships. It won’t be surprising to find that getting what you think will make you happy and solve all of life’s problems turns out to be something else entirely.

It’s a gently-paced but engaging story, and while you can likely guess some of the places it is going to lead you (you just know that Phil and Astrid are going to warm to one another over time, for instance), it doesn’t really matter, because you have those two leads, not to mention a terrific supporting cast like Dillon, and Danny Glover. There are times where I think the film could have done with pruning a little of the practical comedy and the side-narratives to focus more on the scenes between Dinklage and MacLaine, because that’s the heart of of the story (and I suspect the main reason most of us would be watching), and I would have preferred more of that than we actually get, but what we do get is rather lovely, and it is a pleasure to watch Dinklage and MacLaine in those scenes.

American Dreamer is released by Plaion Pictures across digital platforms from March 17th.