American Gun is a 2005 American independent crime drama film produced by Participant Productions, IFC Films, IFC First Take, and Spirit Dance Entertainment. It was written in 2001 by Steven Bagatourian and Aric Avelino and directed by Avelino as his directorial debut.
Avelino attended Loyola Marymount University and made the film with many LMU alumni, including producer Ted Kroeber.
The film took two and a half years to finance. The central idea came from a "Column One" article in the Los Angeles Times. In addition, the writers were influenced by a friend from the Chicago school district who related stories about how students brought guns to school, not to use them on campus, but because of the dangerous neighborhoods they live in or walk through to attend classes. Avelino was very appreciative of the directorial advice of Forest Whitaker, one of the film's producers. The first actress attached to the project was Marcia Gay Harden.
Contents
Premise
American Gun centers around three stories dealing with the results of gun use: an inner city school principal, a single mother, and an A student who works at her family's gun shop.
Cast
Marcia Gay Harden – Janet Huttenson
Forest Whitaker – Carter
Donald Sutherland – Carl Wilk
Lisa Long – Sandra Cohen
Arlen Escarpeta – Jay
Chris Warren Jr. – Marcus
David Heymann – Producer
Chris Marquette – David Huttenson
Amanda Seyfried – Mouse
Nikki Reed – Tally
Joseph Kell – Security Guard
Tony Goldwyn – Frank
Rex Linn – Earl
Kevin Phillips – Reggie
Davenia McFadden – Felicia
Linda Cardellini – Mary Ann Wilk
Schuyler Fisk – Cicily
Michael Shannon (as Michael J. Shannon) – Jerry
Charles Duckworth – Connie
Todd Tesen – Barry
Melissa Leo – Louise
Gary Paul Clark – Supervisor
Ali Hillis - Gun Shop Patron
Garcelle Beauvais (as Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) – Sarah
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on 31 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Despite its intriguing premise, this earnest anti-gun polemic is too melodramatic to resonate." According to Metacritic, which compiled 14 reviews and calculated a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average" reviews.
Distribution
According to Box Office Mojo, American Gun took in $24,098 in a limited release from one to six theatres in a little over 10 weeks in theatres from March 22 – June 1, 2007. It was featured on the IFC program First Take.
Awards
Independent Spirit Awards Nominations
Best Feature, Ted Kroeber, producer.
Best Male Lead, Forest Whitaker.
Best Supporting Female, Marcia Gay Harden.