American Dreamer
An untenured professor of economics, Doctor Philip Loder knows the value of things, including himself, currently worth more than he is paid, and the value of objects, not only their market value but their relative value; Fort Knox may be filled with gold, but to him happiness and a home of his own are of greater value, his frustrated real estate broker Dell repeatedly trying to convince Phil that he simply cannot afford the kind of property he dreams of.
Yet, some dreams do come true, a classified advert in a newspaper asking for a $240,000 cash payment for a “live in,” a sublet of an upstairs apartment of a greater mansion occupied by a lonely widow with no children, Astrid Fenelli, the tenant inheriting the five million dollar mansion on her passing; cashing in his pension and selling all his belongings, even his car, Phil scrapes together the cash and moves in, only to find Astrid’s life expectancy is more optimistic than presumed.
Inspired on a segment from the long-running radio show This American Life, director Paul Dektor’s gentle comedy of hopes and disappointments American Dreamer is written by Hidden Figures’ Theodore Melfi from a story co-written with Chris Wehner, starring Infinity War’s Peter Dinklage as Phil, understandably exasperated with life and the frustrations of accessing a fundamental part of “the American dream” promised to all but prone to making bad decisions and wallowing in them, and Being There’s Shirley MacLaine as Astrid.
A legendary star known for playing characters as eccentric as she herself, among them the titular Madame Sousatzka and Steel Magnolias’ Ouiser Boudreaux, even supposedly close to death Astrid is a live wire, uncompromised, independent and determined to enjoy herself, frosty on her first encounter with Phil who has already managed to disgrace himself, but quickly warming to the charming and equally quirky man upstairs, friendship a complication in a business relationship which requires one party to depart the stage.
Further complications are presented as it becomes apparent that the woman who has lived on five continents with four husbands and twenty-six cats also has an unspecified number of children despite the assurance of Dell (Proxima’s Matt Dillon), one of them a family litigation lawyer who immediately challenges the contract, prompting Phil to hire private detective Jerry (The Curse of Buckout Road’s Danny Glover) who only succeeds in confusing matters further.
A pleasant and undemanding film which considers the inevitability of reach exceeding grasp without ever addressing the fundamental and increasing inequalities, American Dreamer is just that, a fairytale where there is a happy ending for which a cost must be paid, what might be trite in other hands livened at every turn of the convoluted road by the leads, Phil’s cynicism countered by Astrid’s infinite capacity for kindness and forgiveness and MacLaine, in her late eighties during the shoot, making it seem that reincarnation may be irrelevant if she turns out to be immortal.
American Dreamer will be available on digital download from Monday 17th March
