Classic documentary material. One day I'll find my crazy/delusional/obsessive/psychotic subject and I'll win a Sundance Grand Jury prize too!

Real people are, indeed, stranger than the fictitious. Standard documentary filmmaking with absolutely great subjects.

"Is that what you wanna do with your life? Suck down peppermint schnapps and try to call Morocco at two in the morning?" Classic documentary film style elevated to greatness through the sheer presence and charisma of Mark Borchardt and his friends. His determination to get his films made, while everything around him fails, is at once uplifting and slightly worrying. His gravitational pull is also the movie's gravitational pull. A rambling, emotional love letter to cinema.

My favorite documentary of all time. Hilarious, pathetic, and inspiring at the same time. This is funnier than any written mockumentary could ever hope to be. It's excellent.

hilarious! I'm not sure why I liked this film so much, but Uncle Bill is a great character.

It's like the blue fairy from Pinocchio brought a Christopher Guest script to life.

One of the few movies I've ever seen that I never wanted (or want!) to end.

"It's alright, it's okay, everything is going to be fine, Jesus told me so.."

I've seen this 3 or 4 times now and each time it is just as captivating. You can't help but root for this guy as he struggles to overcome the problems in his life and tries to get his film made. Also, Mike is amazing.

His own brother mentioning that he thought Mark would turn out to be a serial killer is the brandy-soaked cherry on this weirdly endearing tale.

Brilliant flow, choice of footage, intriguing set of characters and Northwestern is still in production. All ingredients to ensure 'American Movie' instant classic status. The documentary catches glimpses of its subjects watching Green Bay rise to Superbowl glory, included to imply a graceful semiotic hint of relative success for the ever moving, ever thinking Borchardt.

My senile uncle's wallet: The Movie

SEE THIS MOVIE!!

funny, quirky, enjoyable

Fascinating. A true look at someone with more ambition than pure talent. This guy poured his life into this crappy little film and ultimately, because it was conveyed through this vehicle, reached great success.

It's a well-made documentary and I feel for his crappy situation, but this guy is really messed up; the clips from his films are sick.

Might be one of the most personal documentaries ever. It's incredible some of the humanity found in this film.

Touching film about an eternal dork and his quest to make terrible movies.

Encapsulates everything that made the 90's indie movement such an inspiring and momentous period for cinema.

Mike Schank has to be one of the most endearing figures ever. Every time he showed up in the frame, I was instantly comforted. Really inspiring and heartfelt stuff.

In the oh-so-ironic 90s, most of my friends in Chicago laughed at Mark Borchardt and assumed the directors intended the audience to do so. But I found Borchardt inspiring and focused and oddly sexy and his struggles to make his movie touching, not pathetic. And he did it! Which is more than I can say for most of the people laughing.

Cleaning up its subjects' situations so that the end seems more like a complete, all-problems-solved victory would only detract from the strength of their stories and the hope the ending offers. As Borchardt would say, it's all rusted-out cars in a rusty landscape, but what else are you gonna do?

This is a shockingly good movie about making a movie!

The first time I saw this, I thought it was a scripted comedy movie, not an actual documentary. I would have said that these totally unknown people are fantastic actors, but then I was pretty embarrassed to learn that it's all real. It's really nice seeing all the passion that goes into this guy's filmmaking process, and gives you a feeling like the American dream is alive and well. I bet a lot of people in Hollywood don't take filmmaking as seriously as this guy, yet are still more successful.

hilarious!

There are some very good moments.. but at the end can't help feeling of missing something - maybe its the story, maybe its the direction.. not sure. But surely worth a watch esp for people who are fascinated by the craft of film making.