Fourth of July weekend is a good a time as any for an appraisal of the dilemmas facing an “issue” film in our current political climate. Any project tackling a side of the Iraq War is often shielded behind larger partisan lines, be it anti-war, pro-soldier, or straight ahead documentation of the facts in an attempt to impress the grisly fact upon the public. The works most easily left in the dust of the politics and rhetoric are the personal tales, the little stories that lack the grandiose swagger of larger statement films but strive simply to portray intimately what is innately a human ordeal. Neil Abramson’s American Son follows 96 hours in the life of Mike, a teenager from Bakersfield, California who has signed up with the Marines and is almost certain to to ship out for Iraq. He’s home for Thanksgiving, in his old neighborhood locales where no one knows what he’s about to face, his impending deployment the dirty little secret hanging silently over Mike’s head. He’s surrounded by the faces of those he’s about to leave behind, and the ghosts of those whose derailed ambitions he’s trying to avoid in the first place with his decision. Then he meets Christina, a new face in all this old scenery and her arrival is both a surprise and a worry to him, a pretty girl from around the block who might just offer the last chance at good feelings he’s got left.
Continue reading Review: ‘American Son’ LAFF ’08