American Strays

Last updated
American Strays
American Strays DVD Cover.jpg
DVD cover for 2000 collector's edition release.
Directed byMichael Covert
Written byMichael Covert
Produced by Frank Agrama
Trudi Callon
Rod Dean
Kirk Hassig
Doug Textor
Starring
Music by John R. Graham
Release date
  • September 13, 1996 (1996-09-13) [1]
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1,910 (US) [2]

American Strays is a 1996 American comedy-drama film directed by Michael Covert. It follows three interwoven stories of desert travelers as they converge on a small diner.

Contents

Synopsis

Red's Desert Diner Oasis, a dive in the middle of nowhere, becomes the focal point of three separate storylines. In the first, Dwayne (Savage), a homicidal vacuum cleaner salesman, may have met his match in Patty Mae (Tilly), a woman with an impressive collection of sweepers. The second story follows Johnny (Perry), a suicidal man who hires a sadistic hitman (Jones) to end his life anyway possible which includes beating the ever loving crap out of him. The third story follows an unemployed man (Roberts) and his family, two mobsters (Viterelli and Russo), and others as they travel across the emptiness of the American Southwest.

Cast

Reception

American Strays was released to a single theater on September 13, 1996. [3] The film grossed $1,183 in its opening weekend and $1,910 in total during its theatrical release. [3]

Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote in his review that the film "has the germ of a good idea" but concluded American Strays is "a spoof in search of a sense of humor". [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Glimmer Man</i> 1996 American film

The Glimmer Man is a 1996 American buddy-cop action comedy film directed by John Gray, written by Kevin Brodbin, and produced by Steven Seagal and Julius R. Nasso. Seagal and Keenen Ivory Wayans star as recently-partnered Los Angeles Police Department detectives Jack Cole and Jim Campbell, whose first case together – the pursuit of a serial killer who murders entire families – reveals connections to Cole's mysterious past. Bob Gunton, Brian Cox, and Michelle Johnson also star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doc Savage</span> Fictional character in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s

Doc Savage is a fictional character of the competent man hero type, who first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. Real name Clark Savage Jr., he is a polymathic scientist, explorer, detective, and warrior who "rights wrongs and punishes evildoers." He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L. Nanovic at Street & Smith Publications, with additional material contributed by the series' main writer, Lester Dent. Doc Savage stories were published under the Kenneth Robeson name. The illustrations were by Walter Baumhofer, Paul Orban, Emery Clarke, Modest Stein, and Robert G. Harris.

<i>Tin Cup</i> 1996 US romantic comedy/sports film by Ron Shelton

Tin Cup is a 1996 American romantic comedy and sports film co-written and directed by Ron Shelton, and starring Kevin Costner and Rene Russo with Cheech Marin and Don Johnson in major supporting roles. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and performed moderately at the box office, grossing $75.8 million against its $45 million budget. Costner received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Sonnenfeld</span> American film director and cinematographer (born 1953)

Barry Sonnenfeld is an American filmmaker and television director. He originally worked as a cinematographer for the Coen brothers before directing films such as The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel Addams Family Values (1993), Get Shorty (1995), the Men in Black trilogy (1997–2012), and Wild Wild West (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Reiser</span> American actor

Paul Reiser is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He played the roles of Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom My Two Dads, Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom Mad About You, Modell in the 1982 film Diner, and Detective Jeffrey Friedman in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. He has gained recognition for his roles as Jim Neiman in the 2014 film Whiplash and Dr. Sam Owens in the Netflix series Stranger Things.

Joseph Viterelli was an American actor, best remembered for playing Italian-American mobsters. He gained widespread recognition for portraying Jelly in Analyze This (1999) and Analyze That (2002).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Stern (actor)</span> American actor, artist, director and screenwriter (born 1957)

Daniel Jacob Stern is an American actor, artist, director, comedian, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles as Marv Murchins in Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), Phil Berquist in City Slickers (1991) and City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994), the voice of adult Kevin Arnold on the television series The Wonder Years, and the voice of Dilbert on the animated series of the same name. Other notable films of his include Breaking Away (1979), Stardust Memories (1980), Diner (1982), Blue Thunder (1983), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), Coupe de Ville (1990), and Very Bad Things (1998). He made his feature-film directorial debut with Rookie of the Year (1993).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patty Griffin</span> American singer-songwriter and musician

Patricia Jean Griffin is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs have been covered by numerous musicians, including Emmylou Harris, Ellis Paul, Kelly Clarkson, Rory Block, Dave Hause, Sugarland, Bette Midler and The Chicks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Lockwood</span> American actor (born 1937)

Gary Lockwood is an American actor. Lockwood is best known for his roles as astronaut Frank Poole in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell in the Star Trek second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1966). He starred in the only American film by French New Wave director Jacques Demy, Model Shop. He played numerous guest television roles from the early 1960s into the mid 1990s, and played the title role in The Lieutenant (1963–1964).

<i>K-9</i> (film) 1989 film by Rod Daniel

K-9 is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film starring Jim Belushi and Mel Harris. It was directed by Rod Daniel, written by Steven Siegel and Scott Myers, produced by Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon, and released by Universal Pictures.

<i>The Ambulance</i> 1990 film by Larry Cohen

The Ambulance is a 1990 American comedy thriller film written and directed by Larry Cohen. It stars Eric Roberts, Megan Gallagher, James Earl Jones, Janine Turner, Red Buttons, and Eric Braeden as the Doctor. Kevin Hagen plays a cop. In his first film role, Stan Lee of Marvel Comics has a small role as himself.

<i>Highway to Hell</i> (film) 1992 film by Ate de Jong

Highway to Hell is a 1992 American B horror comedy film directed by Ate de Jong and starring Chad Lowe, Kristy Swanson and Patrick Bergin. It was written by Brian Helgeland. The film tells the story of Charlie Sykes (Lowe) and his girlfriend Rachel Clark (Swanson), who is kidnapped by a demon and taken to Hell to become one of Satan's brides, while Charlie must travel to the other dimension to rescue her.

James Vincent Russo is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in over 150 films in three decades.

<i>A Family Thing</i> 1996 American film directed by Richard Pearce

A Family Thing is a 1996 American drama film starring Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones and Irma P. Hall. It was written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson and directed by Richard Pearce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julio Oscar Mechoso</span> Cuban actor (1955–2017)

Julio Oscar Mechoso was a Cuban-American actor who played detective Ruiz in Bad Boys and appeared in such films as Blue Streak, Jurassic Park III, The Legend of Zorro, The Lost City, Little Miss Sunshine and Rules Don't Apply. He had over 120 well known films and TV roles.

Kevin Misher is an American movie and television producer via his Los Angeles–based production company, Misher Films.

<i>Savages</i> (2012 film) Film by Oliver Stone

Savages is a 2012 American action thriller film directed by Oliver Stone. It is based on Don Winslow's novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Stone, Winslow, and Shane Salerno. It stars Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Benicio del Toro, Demián Bichir, Salma Hayek, Emile Hirsch and John Travolta. The film follows two marijuana growers, Chon, an ex-Navy SEAL, and Ben, who are best friends, as they confront the Mexican drug cartel that kidnapped their shared girlfriend.

<i>Gangster Squad</i> (film) 2013 film by Ruben Fleischer

Gangster Squad is a 2013 American action thriller film directed by Ruben Fleischer and written by Will Beall, based on a non-fiction book by Paul Lieberman. The film stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña and Sean Penn. Set in 1949, a group of real-life LAPD officers and detectives called the Gangster Squad are assigned to bring down crime kingpin Mickey Cohen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Osterloh</span> American actor (1918–2001)

Robert Osterloh was an American actor. His career spanned 20 years, appearing in films such as The Dark Past (1948), The Wild One (1953), I Bury the Living (1958) and Young Dillinger (1965).

References

  1. "American Strays (1996) - IMDb". Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  2. "American Strays (1996) - IMDb". Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
  3. 1 2 "American Strays - Box Office Mojo" . Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  4. "American Strays". 1996-09-13. Retrieved 2020-04-14.