gjosiban-51201 In order for the American Side to work, even a little bit, it's essential that you know nothing about Tesla, the man who developed alternating current. Because if you know of him, you'd know that he had no such dream of creating the mcguffin that drives the movie. Because the premise is ridiculous, the lengths to which various individuals and groups go to acquire the plans is simply not believable. But this movie has other shortcomings besides. To advance the plot, the protagonist, a down-in-the-mouth gumshoe who drives a Dodge Dart, is given entree to daytime cocktail parties and evening soirees where he is able to chat up the rich who for some reason feed him bits and snatches of what they're up to instead of simply calling the cops and having the guy thrown out. The movie is also replete with coincidences and characters whose function is to provide knowledge so as to advance the mystery, but whose fortuitous appearance stretches credulity. For example, the boat owner who hired our hero early in the film and to whom our hero returns in one of his hours of need just happens to teach physics and knows all about Tesla. There's more, but it's just too silly.

lavatch This film was simply awful in what was intended as an action-thriller. Instead of being fast-paced, it was laboriously slow. Instead of thrilling, it was dull. The plot was so convoluted that the viewer lost track of the different characters and story lines. I'm only guessing due to the confusion of the screenplay, but my viewing suggested that the characters' main goal was to discover notes about a scientific breakthrough left by the visionary physicist Nicholas Tesla in the area of unleashing energy.The focus of the film was on a beleaguered private detective, who becomes enmeshed in the Tesla plot. The characters and relationships are so poorly developed that it is impossible to care about the detective or anyone else. The most insipid of the characters was a brother-sister team that was apparently out to control the world with the Tesla invention. Matthew Broderick was terrible in the role of the brother.Somehow, the filmmakers were able to attract several well-known actors (Robert Vaughn, Jeanine Garofalo, and Robert Forster) for cameo parts. But the film as a whole was poorly acted.The film style was also amateurish with endless repetitive shots of the detective clambering into his car. The set-ups and camera angles were atrocious. As the setting is Buffalo, there was an attempt made to get some action sequences around Niagara Falls. But once again, the editing was so bad that the scenes around the falls were never credible.It is truly shocking to contemplate how this project ever received a green light and how it now has made its way into slots in Redbox machines. Instead of the title "The American Side," this film should have been called "The American Turkey."

S. Soma It's hard to know how to react to this movie. I guess the most accurate description I could give it is that the experience of watching it was like having one of those dreams that's almost coherent and even approaches being cinematic, but has just a few too many non sequitur peculiarities, so intrinsic to any dream, that the whole mess just doesn't quite hold together.Bizarrely, this movie has no shortage of reasonably name-brand actors. Matthew Broderick, Robert Forster, strangely beautiful Camilla Bell and even a small cameo with the legendary Robert Vaughn are in this movie, and they make no more impact upon it than a collection of talking head shots. Even Janeane Garofalo, whose presence in a movie usually elicits SOME sort of emotional response from me by virtue of the fact I find her so detestable as a person and an actor, doesn't make a dent in this picture.And who is Greg Stuhr, the lead, and how did he get to BE the lead with so many recognizable actors relegated behind him as background scenery?Only adding to the Kafkaesque sense of this movie are the collection of sparkling reviews from other viewers. Some of them as much as admit that they gave the movie a high review because they are either from or really like Buffalo or both. Alrighty then.So how does such a peculiar, oddly distorted movie get made? I have a theory. Of course I do.There are certain topics that just naturally result in cinematic peculiarities. UFOs, Loch Ness, Bigfoot and so on are just frequently going to result in movies that are a little pressed off- center. The organizers behind the movie are possessed of certain thinking patterns and cherished belief systems that are a little half-baked resulting in plot lines that are a little half-baked resulting in depictions that are a little half-baked. The underlying thinking is not rigorous or structured, with lots of gaps and holes that if carefully examined might result in some undesirable questions or illuminations, and so goes the picture that gets made. Nonlinear thinking and disconnected thought patterns unfettered by the notions of cause and effect, basic physics or plain old reality tend to result in peculiar scripts and, shall we say, "innovative filmography".Nikola Tesla is DEFINITELY one such topic. His inventions, his insights, his intelligence and the events of his life are equal parts genius and nutcase. SOME of what he did was genius and so amongst the true-believers EVERYTHING he did was genius. SOME dirty tricks and manipulation and subterfuge were perpetrated upon him and so ALL his unrealized miracle inventions have been suppressed by "evil echelons". Lather, rinse, ad nauseam. People believe in Tesla like they believe in UFOs and Bigfoot and angels and a seemingly endless parade of conspiracies. The fact that a handful are true constitutes all the veracity needed for ALL the rest.And you end up with a movie that was made by true-believers for true-believers. All the appropriate conspiracy checkboxes get ticked off in the context of the canon scenery. And then it's called "noir" to spackle over all the holes. And the crowd goes wild.And while they may be name brand, if you re-examine that cast list, none of the "big" names are really all that big anymore. I'm guessing some of them needed the money. Looking at many of the scenes with the name-brand actors in them, and making note of the isolated context and the blocking, I often get a distinct sense of, "I go on, I get off, I get paid."Watch the scene with Robert Vaughn and see what feeling YOU get about it.As an exercise, see if you can get a grip on what the "unlimited energy of the ionosphere" and their description of the use of "the life energy" in the "tin man" project actually MEANS. Had to get an insider reference to Kirlian auras in there SOMEHOW, didn't we? And for bonus credit, stand on any busy street corner and yell "free energy" and watch what happens.If you're a fan of this kind of "thinking", I BELIEVE you'll probably love this movie. Proof is for party poopers. Say it with me.For the rest of us, it's pretty much confusing or irritating or both.

bpladybug "That's a gene pool screamin' for chlorine." That is just one of many one liners I enjoyed in this film. And I have to like a middle aged balding guy who writes a film about the designs of Nicola Tesla and places it in his hometown of Buffalo. And he plays the lead - a churlish hardboiled detective (slightly Bruce Willis inspired). Good for you Greg Stuhr! His character reminds me of Bosch - if you have seen that Series.Buffalo and Niagara Falls make interesting locations. There are a lot of great shots of the Falls. There are four decent female roles which I like. Plus some major talent with Matthew Broderick and a few old stars like Robert Vaughn and Robert Forster, who has 177 credits to his name. Both cinematography and the sound track are excellent. It is slightly too long. The plot is a somewhat convoluted but I don't care. I like this movie and I like the aspiration of making such a film on a small budget. And would love to see Greg Stuhr playing a detective on one of the cable or network cop shows.