American Son (2008 film)

Last updated
American Son
American son poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Neil Abramson
Written byEric Schmid
Starring
Production
companies
  • Map Point Pictures
  • Night & Day Pictures
  • Winghead Films
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release date
  • January 19, 2008 (2008-01-19)(Sundance)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

American Son is a 2008 drama film directed by Neil Abramson. The film stars Nick Cannon, Melonie Diaz, Matt O'Leary, Chi McBride, Jay Hernandez, and Tom Sizemore. Its plot follows a young man as he returns home to Bakersfield, California for Thanksgiving leave. Mike faces telling his friends and family of his nearby deployment to Iraq while dealing with a troublesome home life.

Contents

American Son competed in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. [1]

Plot

A 19-year-old who has enlisted to go to Iraq falls in love with a girl, but is afraid that he might not come back alive.

A young Marine named Mike (Nick Cannon) is shipping out for uncertain fortunes in Iraq, and has 4 days left to visit back home in Bakersfield California. The story is about his parting relationships with his best friend Jake (Matt O'Leary), a new girlfriend Christina (Melonie Diaz), his mother Donna (April Grace), and father Eddie (Chi McBride) over these 96 hours. None of these people initially knows he's shipping out, and each of the significant other's reactions to this news, one-on-one with Mike, make up the bulk of the story. The story also gives some insight into Mike's motives as to why he enlisted in the first place.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Bomer</span> American actor (born 1977)

Matthew Staton Bomer is an American actor. His works have earned him various accolades including a Golden Globe Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award, in addition to nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

<i>Roll Bounce</i> 2005 American comedy-drama film by Norman Vance Jr.

Roll Bounce is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written by Norman Vance Jr. and directed by Malcolm D. Lee. The film stars hip hop artist Bow Wow as the leader of a roller skating crew in 1970s Chicago. The film also includes Nick Cannon, Meagan Good, Brandon T. Jackson, Wesley Jonathan, Chi McBride, Kellita Smith, Jurnee Smollett and Mike Epps. The name of the film is derived from the 1979 song "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll" by Vaughan Mason & Crew.

<i>Be Kind Rewind</i> 2008 film by Michel Gondry

Be Kind Rewind is a 2008 buddy comedy film written and directed by Michel Gondry and starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, and Melonie Diaz with supporting roles done by Chandler Parker, Irv Gooch, Arjay Smith, Marcus Carl Franklin, Blake Hightower, and Amir Ali Said. It tells the story of an employee at the titular VHS rental store and his conspiracy theorist friend who work to recreate the rental store's film inventory after they were accidentally erased when the latter got himself magnetized while the proprietor was away. The film first appeared on January 20, 2008 at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It was later shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film opened on February 22, 2008 in the United Kingdom and in North America.

<i>The Event</i> (2003 film) 2003 Canadian film

The Event is a 2003 drama film directed by Thom Fitzgerald. It tells the story of Matt Shapiro who has died in Manhattan, resulting in an aborted 9-1-1 call. Attorney Nick DeVivo interviews Matt's friends and family to piece together a portrait of Matt's life and finally his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Sundance Film Festival</span> 2008 film festival edition

The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was In Bruges and the closing night film was CSNY/Déjà Vu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melonie Diaz</span> American actress

Melonie Diaz is an American actress who has appeared in many independent films, including four shown at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. She received Independent Spirit Awards nominations for performances in films A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) and Fruitvale Station (2013). From 2018 to 2022, she appeared as one of the main roles as Mel Vera on the remake television series Charmed on The CW.

<i>Assassination of a High School President</i> 2008 American comedy film

Assassination of a High School President is a 2008 American neo noir comedy film directed by Brett Simon and starring Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton, Emily Meade and Michael Rapaport. It was written by Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski. It premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

<i>The Messenger</i> (2009 film) 2009 film directed by Oren Moverman

The Messenger is a 2009 war drama film starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Steve Buscemi, and Jena Malone. It is the directorial debut of Oren Moverman, who also wrote the screenplay with Alessandro Camon. The film follows a pair of United States Army casualty notification officers and the effects of their difficult work on their personal lives and each other.

<i>Sleepwalk with Me</i> 2012 American film

Sleepwalk with Me is a 2012 American independent comedy film co-written by, directed by, and starring Mike Birbiglia. It also stars Lauren Ambrose, James Rebhorn, Carol Kane, and Cristin Milioti. Before making the film, Birbiglia had already told the autobiographical story of his struggles to become a stand-up comedian while dealing with REM behavior disorder and a failing relationship in a one-man show and a book.

<i>The Guard</i> (2011 film) 2011 Irish film by John Michael McDonagh

The Guard is a 2011 buddy cop comedy film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, starring Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong and Liam Cunningham.

Matt Tyrnauer is an American film director. He directed the documentary feature Valentino: The Last Emperor (2009), which was short listed for an Oscar nomination in 2010, Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (2016), the Emmy nominated, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood (2017), the 2018 documentary Studio 54 detailing New York's famed Studio 54 nightclub, Where's My Roy Cohn? (2019), and the Showtime four-part series, The Reagans (2020). Tyrnauer also developed, and executive produced, with producing partner Corey Reeser, the docuseries Home, directing its Hong Kong episode, about the Gary Chang's Domestic Transformer home. The nine-part series premiered on Apple TV Plus in April 2020. Currently, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood is being adapted as a narrative film, with Tyrnauer and Reeser producing, Luca Guadagnino directing and Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg writing the script. Tyrnauer has been Editor-At-Large and Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair, where he has contributed many feature articles.

Adam Bhala Lough is an American film director, screenwriter, and documentary filmmaker from Fairfax, Virginia. Known for his dramas about subcultures and popular youth cultures, several of Lough's films have been selected as part of the Sundance Film Festival, and is the only filmmaker with a feature film and a documentary in the festival, as well as a screenplay selected for the annual Sundance Screenwriter's Lab.

The Recruiter is a 2008 documentary film directed by Edet Belzberg.

Peter Olivera Nicks is an American film director, producer and writer. He began his career in television and served as co-producer and editor of the 2006 episode "Blame Somebody Else" of PBS series AIR: America's Investigative Reports. The episode received an Emmy Award in 2007 for Outstanding Feature Story in a News Magazine, for its exposure of the pipeline of illegal labor human trafficking during the Iraq War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Moss (filmmaker)</span> American documentary filmmaker

Jesse Moss is an American documentary filmmaker and cinematographer known for his cinéma vérité style. His 2014 film, The Overnighters, was shortlisted for best documentary feature at the Oscars. He has directed four independent, feature-length films, and three television documentaries and has produced 15 documentaries.

Neil Abramson is an American artist who works in film, music video and commercials. He is known for his feature films American Son (2008), Bob Smith, U.S.A. (2005), Ringmaster (1998), Soldier Child (1998) and Without Air (1995).

<i>The Yellow Birds</i> (film) 2017 film

The Yellow Birds is a 2017 American war film directed by Alexandre Moors and based on the novel The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Alden Ehrenreich, Toni Collette, Jason Patric, Jack Huston, and Jennifer Aniston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Sundance Film Festival</span>

The 2017 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to January 29, 2017. The first lineup of competition films was announced November 30, 2016.

<i>The Hero</i> (2017 film) 2017 American film

The Hero is a 2017 American comedy-drama film directed and edited by Brett Haley and written by Haley and Marc Basch. It stars Sam Elliott, Laura Prepon, Krysten Ritter, Nick Offerman and Katharine Ross and follows an aging movie star who deals with his terminal illness.

<i>Feels Good Man</i> 2020 US documentary film

Feels Good Man is a 2020 American documentary film about the Internet meme Pepe the Frog. Marking the directorial debut of Arthur Jones, the film stars artist Matt Furie, the creator of Pepe. The film follows Furie as he struggles to reclaim control of Pepe from members of the alt-right who have co-opted the image for their own purposes. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and won a U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker. It was also nominated in the U.S. Documentary Competition at Sundance. Sometime in the 2020s, ranging from 2023 to 2024, the film was added to FAST service Pluto TV in Canada.

References

  1. "2008 Sundance Film Festival Announces Films in Competition" (PDF). 2007-11-28. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2007-12-20.