American Murderer

 

 

 

 

American Murderer

 

The American murderer is an American true crime drama film, written and directed by Matthew Gentile in his directorial debut. It stars Tom Pelfrey, Idina Menzel, Ryan Phillippe, Jacki Weaver, Paul Schneider, Chantelle VanSanten, Kevin Corrigan and Moises Ermes Arias. The film tells the story of Jason Derek Brown and premiered on June 27, 2022 at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily

Is there a crossover between a gangster movie and a crime movie? While Matthew Gentile's film would have sat neatly alongside modern fare like White Boy Rick or Black Mass, it would probably be unfair to send it to any one genre. The American killer is based on a true story, the story of Jason Derek Brown, who is still at large and has appeared on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. But as the exact title frankly suggests, American killer bucks the trend of films that shine with violent crimes, offering a darker personal study, not only of the individual but of the American dream that has soured, a film motivated by a strong central performance of Tom Pelfrey as Brown

If you know Pelfrey's face, it could be from his outstanding performance in Netflix Ozark, where he plays the mentally unstable brother of Laura Linney's character. But the American killer presents Pelfrey with a completely different challenge; we first see brown walking into a run-down pawn shop and giving a convincing impression of a recently bereaved man. Getting the bit of change it takes, the mask slips off almost immediately, and Belfry establishes these completely transformative moments as the story unfolds. Brown is not a gangster, but a con man, ready to tell any lie to get what he wants; it hurts to hear him use 9/11 as an excuse, or his sister-in-law's breast cancer, knowing that everything that comes out of Brown's mouth is the most fake news

This is not a Mesrine-style story of an endless series of violent events; Brown in cold blood kills a security guard in a failed robbery of an armored car, but non-Jews frame this as a decisive moment in Brown's losing battle against the forces of nature and Justice. In the catch me if you can script, Brown pursues FBI agent Lance Lessing; Ryan Phillippe's casting is a perfect shortcut for the film's only underwritten role, although the Bush/Cheney keyring speaks volumes. Lessing also tracks down Brown's unwilling colleague (the exquisitely sleazy Moises oshimis Arias) and his unsuspecting neighbor (Idina Menzel in a sympathetic turn) who fantasizes about Brown in the business of importing/exporting golf equipment. And there is a brief but expressive cameo of the great Jackie Weaver as Brown's mother, the only person who is not ready to accept Brown's lies for a split second

The American killer may not satisfy those in thrall to Scorsese's hip and' legendary gangster soundtracks; Brown is the kind of no-mark criminal who sharpens his craft by Googling' armored car theft ' on a public library computer. But the challenge of finding eighty thousand in three days leads Brown to a desperate, unforgivable act of violence that Lessing correctly calls 'execution'; this man is not just a red anti-hero rocket, under his good looks, he is society's worst nightmare and non-Jews and Pelfrey spare us nothing. Brown's mother complains that her son is delusional enough to buy his own bull, and this condemns him to failure, if not arrest; a key scene cuts between Brown and Lessing watching a video to which the crook sent a policeman jumping on a yacht with girls and champagne. Titled Jason's life, it's a blurred snapshot of success that doesn't exist, and it's a shared vision that torments both men in different ways. Although the coda is judged well, the American killer does not have the big and satisfying promises to finish the trailer, but it is a lively and aggressive film about how self-deception leads directly to crime, and Pelfrey's stunning and hypnotic performance makes it worthy of recommendation

Saban Films acquired the US and Canadian rights to" American Assassin", a new thriller with Tom Pelfrey, Ryan Phillippe, Idina Menzel and Jacki Weaver. The film is the debut feature of director and writer Matthew Gentile. Saban Films plans an October 2022 release

The film "American killer" is based on the true story of Jason Derek Brown, a charismatic con man turned party king who finances his luxurious lifestyle through a series of scams. When his money runs out and his past catches up with him, he hatches a daring scheme, one that puts him on the FBI's ten Fugitives list

Pelfrey is nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on "Ozark" and also appeared in " maniac. Philip starred in "Cruel Intentions"and " McGruber"."House is the Tony Award-winning star of" Wicked "and worked alongside Adam Sandler in" Uncut Gems."Weaver is a two-time Academy Award nominee for her work on" Animal Kingdom "and" Silver Linings Playbook

Writer / director Matthew Gentile first learned about Jason Derek Brown when he was fourteen years old: "before I wanted to be a filmmaker, I wanted to be an FBI agent. I had heard about Jason's case because I was going on the FBI website and I would like to look at the top 10 fugitives. Jason's face stuck because in the top 10 list you have menacing faces, Whitey Bulger, Osama bin Laden, and then this surfer dude from Southern California. I was immediately interested in the story

After graduating from the film school of the American Film Institute more than a decade later, non-Jews learned that Brown was still missing and became inspired to tell this story as his first feature film. Inspired by dark, gritty character studies like Star 80, honeymoon killers, and revenge on me, Gentile wrote the script on spec
In 2018, he completed a short proof-of-concept film with Jonathan Groff in the lead role and Amanda Crew that served as a calling card for the script which was sold to travel photo projection company and Gigi films
In December 2020, it was announced that Tom Pelfrey, Idina Menzel, Ryan Phillippe, Jacki Weaver, Paul Schneider, Chantelle VanSanten, Kevin Corrigan and Moises Ermes Arias had joined the cast of the film
Principal photography was completed on a tight schedule (22 days) at the height of the pandemic, in November / December 2020, with second unit shoots and filming taking place in early 2021