American Made Movie

Appealing to home-field pride (complete with abundant baseball imagery), co-directors Nathaniel Thomas McGill and Vincent Vittorio profile the decline of U.S. manufacturing while putting in lay terms how the massive trade deficit is tied to the Great Recession closure of some 56,000 American factories since 2001—as cheaper goods were imported from ill-regulated overseas competitors (usually China). Instead of partisan finger-pointing at capitalists, political parties, or Wall Street, however, American Made Movie salutes a few patriotic heroes caught up in the crisis. After doling out humiliating layoffs to his employees, Mark Andol of General Welding & Fabricating fights back with an all-American-made retail-store startup. Home-crafter Merrie Buchsbaum's red-white-and-blue "Merrily Made" line was carried by the Smithsonian—until they were able to get cheaper copies from China. Robert DeMartini's New Balance remains the top athletic-shoe manufacturer left in the USA, yet he can only manufacture about a quarter of his goods on U.S. soil (New Balance is practically the economic backbone of Skowhegan, ME). Most American businesses, the film argues, suffer from shortsighted thinking oriented towards maximizing shareholder profits in quarterly statements. To create real change, businesses and consumers will need to recognize the value of something being U.S. made, which the filmmakers believe is an achievable paradigm shift. A thought-provoking documentary on a timely topic, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)