Written by Linda
November 30, 2008
Mix a splash of cult-movie David Lynchian-absurdity with the lowest-budget sci-fi special effects this side of Plan 9 From Outer Space, and place a space cowboy in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and you might get an inkling of the style of the hilarious and bizarre The American Astronaut. Throw in rock and roll musical numbers, a few dance sequences, deadpan comic delivery, and a spaceship that for all practical purposes is a flying single-wide mobile home, and you’ve got one of the most unique films to come out of the Sundance Film Festival.
Samuel Curtis (writer/director Cory McAbee) is a renegade interplanetary trader from Nevada, showing up at a remote Old-West-style asteroid saloon (filled with “roughnecks and thugs,” of course) with a special delivery of a cat named Oscar. There he meets up with his old pal the Blueberry Pirate who strikes a deal for Curtis to deliver some valuable cargo (a real live girl!) to Jupiter, an all-male mining colony, in exchange for a strapping young boy toy to be delivered to the all-female planet of Venus....
Did that sound to you like it was lifted right out of a film festival catalog description? Well, damn straight it was! Because I wrote it! No, please... hold the applause... hold the applause. I actually almost barely DIDN'T recommend this flick, because I confess I had to pause the screener tape and take a half-hour nap while reviewing it for the official SIFF program. But with a little distance, I have to admit this flick is memorable.
Cory McAbee makes for a sexy space cowboy à la Han Solo. Plus, the rock and roll numbers, while not likely to stick in your head (like Hedwig and the Angry Inch, for instance), keep the the flick humming along. And you have to admit the ultra low-budget sets and special effects are hilarious and creative. It has loads of potential to become a midnight cult movie. And you can't knock that, now can you?
