American Gun

Filmmaker Aric Avelino's meditation on guns in America obviously springs from a deep desire to understand the culture of violence and the vicious cycles that drive it: in other words, American Gun is no bit of cheap exploitation fluff created to rake in some dough. Unfortunately, purity of motives aside, the film simply isn't all that good. The performances are solid—particularly Marcia Gay Harden as the mother of a teenager who shot up his school, Tony Goldwyn as a cop who couldn't stop the shooting, and Forest Whitaker as the principal of another school who's desperate to prevent a similar incident from going down on his turf. But the three gun-related tales not only go nowhere, but the film fails to even ask any real questions, instead tossing in bizarre characterizations (why, for instance, would Whitaker's principal insist his own young son carry a pink-flowered backpack?) that may be intended to serve as some kind of commentary about the stress of living in a senselessly violent world, but ultimately come across as cinematic non sequiturs. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include an eight-minute “making-of” featurette, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a muddled film.] (M. Johanson)