Tuesday, September 05, 2006 04:56:53 AM
DVD PICK
American Gun
If you saw the statistics regarding gun-related violence in America
for the first time you might be shocked. As it is, with year upon year of
horrible statistic, one becomes somewhat -- sadly -- jaded.
Hence it takes a film to move beyond the statistics and show how guns effect
our every-day lives. American Gun offers three seperate and distinct
accounts on the subject that is such an unfortunate part of American life.
One part takes us to Oregon where we see a single mother (Marcia Gay Harden)
endeavor to rebuild her family's life in the wake of a gruesome Columbine-like
shooting incident that took place three years earlier and involved her son
(who would shoot himself.) Ostracized by the townspeople, her hopes rest on
her other son David. Yet financial constrants force her to come to terms
with the past. Is she really to blame for what occurred or is she just
a comfortable scapegoat for a national refusal to address the gun issue seriously?
Next we move to Chicago where a high school principal Carter (Forest Whitaker)
feels compelled to do something to prevent violence ruining the lives of inner-city
youth. This is no easy assignment, and Carter, who came from Ohio for this job,
quickly becomes faced with an uphill battle of keeping the school from falling apart,
at great cost to his family life.
Finally, in an episode where we see that people do make their livings off of guns,
a grandfather (Donald Sutherland) has his granddaughter (Linda Cardellini) work at
the family business during a break from college.
The stories are not interwoven. But they are united by the overbearing
presence of guns in our culture.
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