The American Dreamer (1971)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Who doesn't love Dennis Hopper? He was certainly one of the most interesting actors of his generation and after EASY RIDER he pretty much had an open pass to make whatever he wanted. That film turned out to be THE LAST MOVIE and its critical and financial hardships pretty much ended Hopper's rising directing career. This documentary was filmed as he was editing that movie.
A few days before watching this, I sat down with THE LAST MOVIE for the first time and I stated that Hopper, a known alcoholic and drug user, must have been on some pretty good stuff while shooting the movie. After seeing this I'm really not so sure. It's clear that he's high on something but at the same time he speaks fairly well and he certainly has no problem getting his thoughts out on screen. It makes you wonder why THE LAST MOVIE turned out so bad but that isn't really covered here.
What this documentary is basically doing is shining a spotlight on Hopper who was still on a wave of success after EASY RIDER. I think it was rather fascinating seeing him here because at the time all of this was shot no one had the slightest idea that the film in question would turn out so poorly. What is on display here is simply the actor talking about a variety of subjects including life, movies, why people should be forced to watch movies they don't want to and the same that Orson Wells can't get enough people to want to watch his movies.
There's also a lot of sexual talk throughout the picture including some images of Hopper in a bathtub with a couple ladies. At one point Hopper refers to himself as a lesbian and explains why. There's a lot of frank discussion on sex, nudity on the screen and so much more. Obviously Hopper was a fan of sex as that takes up a great deal of the running time.
