American Muscle is a revenge film that
is all style and absolutely no substance, from the acting to the asinine excuse
of a screenplay. Logic and decency is thrown out, along with everything other
than rusted metal, splattered blood, and bare breasts. It is basically an overly
bad Grindhouse attempt at Faster, the
Dwayne Johnson film nobody saw. Despite a surprisingly slick visual palette,
director and cinematographer Ravi Dhar seems to have no clue what real humans
behave like and no interest in relating to his audience.
The storyline is
forcefully contrived, involving a criminal who was betrayed by his brother and
wife during one of their ‘jobs.’ John Falcon (Nick Principe) spends ten years
seething in prison before he has the opportunity at freedom and revenge. His immediate
and only mission is to use the newfound freedom to enact revenge on his brother
(Todd Farmer), and he also naively believes that he will be able to win back
his wife (Robin Sydney). There are a few problems with this essential (and
nearly solitary) plot point, nearly all created by inconsistencies in behavior.
Falcon’s wife sleeps with everyone, which could simply mean that he is a fool
for believing in her love after ten years, except for the fact that he also
sleeps around on his road trip to reunite.
But this movie
isn’t about the relationships, which are never believable, much less
understandable. Rather, it is a film drenched in unnecessary and unearned
bloodshed, peppered with the occasional perky breast. Sex scenes have nothing
to do with characters or plot development; they are merely a way to break up
the scenes of violence and angry driving. The Blu-ray certainly enhances to
pointlessly stylized violence, but this is one of those films I wish I had seen
less of. The special features include a commentary track and trailer.
Entertainment Value:
1.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 2/10
Historical
Significance: 0/10
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