Synopsis
They shared their voices to heal a nation.
Two strangers, both folk musicians stranded in California, take a road trip to New York in the days after 9/11. A story about the kindness of strangers and the power of music.
American Folk
2017 Directed by David Heinz
Cast
Joe Purdy Amber Rubarth Krisha Fairchild David Fine Bruce Beatty Elizabeth Dennehy Miranda LaDawn Hill Emma Thatcher Holger Moncada Jr. Julian Gopal Lawrence Mandley Noah Craft Bradford Barnes Paul White Michelle West Maryann Strossner Ricky Aynes Isabella George Brown Randy Perry Andrew Walton Greg Williams
Popular reviews
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Seen under the title American Folk
Fuck this movie. Fuck it right in its fucking ear. This piece of shit is everything wrong with American culture today. And it teaches everything wrong about nostalgia culture today.
American Folk is about 9/11 and its aftermath. Instead of asking the big questions, this little indie film wonders if America could have found its humanity in the aftermath of a tragic event while idealizing the interconnectedness that people found in their fear that something tragic happened on their soil. But, it's also about two white privileged douchebags who mooch off everybody in their efforts to get to New York.
The movie has two main characters. The first is a jerk guitarist who has…
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American Folk shared as much authenticity as its creative counterpart in John Carney’s ‘Once.’ The intimacy of Once was lost a little with this outing though as it was a road trip of a larger scale to that of Carney’s film. However, it was still a beautiful and musically driven experience.
Topped healthily by some newcomers to film, musicians Joe Purdy (who when it comes to singing a melody, can do no wrong) and Amber Rubarth, who I’ve only become familiar with now.
It wasn’t too dialogue heavy which also suited the film as some of the content was hit and miss. This didn’t take too much away from the viewing pleasure for me though as the leads are musicians…
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It was Stephen Sajdak of We Hate Movies who once said "Rape is a powerful spice to put in your movie, it often ruins the gumbo" or somethibg like that.
That's my general attitude towards casually incorporating 9/11 into your lighthearted romantic road movie. It's a spice that spoils the meal if you don't know how to handle it.
American Folk is a bad chef...or whatever the conclusion I'm driving towards is.More here: filmpulse.net/american-folk-review/
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First of all, my friend Emma is in this. I had no idea so betcha my surprise when I saw a very familiar face show up about an hour in.
Besides that, I really liked this. The only thing detracting me from loving it is some stylistic choices towards the end that lean very heavily into the tragedy of 9/11. It’d honestly be better if the event was more of a backdrop that acts as a catalyst for these two protagonists, instead of being a main part of the film.
So much of this is up my alley. Two people in an old van driving across the country playing folk music. More of that please.
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Jet fuel can't melt steel beams, but this movie CAN melt your heart!
...is the review I wanted to leave, but it's actually not very good!
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There is a good deal to admire in what this film aspires towards. It's the fact that it under-serves these intentions that turns my own admiration into frustration.
Told in the spirit of Once, I anticipated American Folk spinning a similar narrative into something of a travelogue. Set against the backdrop of 9/11 I felt there was potential here to use the American landscape to form a commentary on international relations and immigration. But instead of using its platform to set itself apart, it all ends up feeling like a slightly lesser copy of Once, something that has been done before and is now not quite as original.
It is at its best in the final 20 minutes where it…
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Watched at the Seattle Film Festival under the title American Folk
In this affecting road-trip movie, Elliott (played by previously non-actor Joe Purdy) was a professional folk-singer, on his way the morning of 9/11/2001 by plane from L.A. to N.Y to play a gig, when the plane was turned back and all air traffic grounded. He had befriended his seatmate, Joni (Amber Rubarth), a youthful New Yorker on her way home to tend her sick mother; who then invited him to crash for the night at the Topanga Canyon house she had been staying at during her visit. By happenstance, the owner of the house had been storing an old hippie van for a New York friend; and the two…
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Usually movies about folk music and me are like this 🤝 because I love being sad but in acoustic
That being said, I would have rather just watched the sweeping shots of the desert and the clips of them playing music because both of those aspects felt raw and genuine, and the plot and line delivery paled so hard in comparison
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Did I enjoy myself watching this film? Yeah, I did - and that means something. I think this film gets the benefit of what I like to call "The Coffee Shop Effect". It's hard to walk into a coffee shop and not (in some way) like the guy or gal in the corner singing songs and playing guitar. The characters in the film were likable and the music was good. However..... the 9/11 stuff was just plain awkward as an occasional backdrop. It also felt like the characters were moving from one true American to another in an effort to show that we are all alike and good people. It just felt.... forced. I liked this film much better when it was titled Once.
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The trash film struggles to keep up with the beautiful cinematography and awesome soundtrack.