'The American Way' is a curious movie, half zany comedy, half political commentary. Sixties survivors Dennis Hopper ('Easy Rider') and Michael J. Pollard ('Bonnie And Clyde') lead a band of Vietnam veterans who broadcast from a pirate TV station located in a B-29 bomber. While negotiating some kind of amnesty/media deal they continue to circle the globe and beam down their programs which mix subversive hijinks and rock'n'roll. Hopper, "The Captain", becomes increasingly irritated with Mrs Westinghouse (Nigel Pegram), an ambitious warmongering politician who aligns herself with the Moral Majority. The Captain decides that he and his comrades last mission will be to discredit her and foil her plans to run for the Senate, and possibly the Presidency. I can't honestly say that this movie is actually all that funny, but it's certainly more entertaining than say 'Rude Awakening', the lame Eric Roberts/Cheech Marin vehicle that similarly deals with 60s idealists encountering the Reaganite 80s. The main reason to watch this is for Dennis Hopper's spirited performance, which is actually much better than the uneven material he has to work with. 'The American Way' is an interesting failure that may appeal to fans of 60s music and pop culture. I wish I could say it was a lot better than it is but even with its many flaws (i.e. it's variable soundtrack which ranges from Hendrix, The Kinks and Alice Cooper to Godawful generic 80s MTV schlock rock) it has quite a few amusing moments and therefore I say it's still worth a rental.
Review of The American Way
The American Way
(1986)
Strange movie that doesn't quite work but is still interesting viewing.
9 December 2002