American Perfekt (1997)
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45% of users liked it
(709 ratings)
In this noir-influenced road movie, Jake (Robert Forster) is a criminal psychiatrist who has come to the conclusion that our lives are dictated primarily by chance, and has given himself over to this notion by making most of his decision by the flip of a coin. Sandra (Amanda Plummer) is a neurotic… More In this noir-influenced road movie, Jake (Robert Forster) is a criminal psychiatrist who has come to the conclusion that our lives are dictated primarily by chance, and has given himself over to this notion by making most of his decision by the flip of a coin. Sandra (Amanda Plummer) is a neurotic woman on her way to pick up her younger sister, a teenage delinquent named Alice (Fairuza Balk) when she's run off the road and left stranded by a madman named Santini (David Thewlis). When Jake happens by and Sandra asks him for help, Sandra is lucky at first: she wins the coin toss, and he elects to help her rather than kill her. When they have to make a stop, Sandra sees Santini's car parked by the side of the road; Santini catches Sandra as she tries to rip off some money that he's stashed in the car, and though she gets away, Santini isn't done with her yet. Director Paul Chart probably didn't have much trouble securing Amanda Plummer for the role of Alice: Chart and Plummer were married in 1994. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Paul Chart
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Drama
- In Theaters
- Aug 11, 1997 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The film fell too quickly into the serial-killer mode and lost the edge it never had but always wanted.
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David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
[American Perfekt] wants to get by on quirkiness and so-called charm alone, and it just doesn't work.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Fairuza Balk
as Alice
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Joanna Gleason
as Shirley
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Geoffrey Lewis
as Willy
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Amanda Plummer
as Sandra
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Chris Sarandon
as Sammy
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Paul Sorvino
as Frank
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David Thewlis
as Santini
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Robert Forster
as Jake