Tribeca Film Festival 2022 review: Peter Dinklage tackles real estate and relationships in ‘American Dreamer’

Tribeca Film Festival 2022AMERICAN DREAMER

American dreamer Tribeca Film Festival 2022

There’s something about Peter Dinklage that makes him a brilliant leading man. Tribeca 2022 film American Dreamer is another example of his ability to captivate on screen. In Paul Dektor‘s feature directorial debut, Dinklage plays adjunct social economics professor and lecturer Dr. Phil Loder. As he speaks eloquently to his students, we witness a sly Indian Jones hommage from the front row. Perusing real estate porn, as so many of us do regularly, Phil is serious about finding his slice of heaven and stability in his career. Chasing tenure and respect, he stumbles across a deal in the classifieds that seems too good to be true. With the assistance of his smarmy real estate agent, played to perfection by Matt Dillon, Phil purchases an enormous estate. But there is a catch. His contract contains a “live-in” clause for the previous owner. 

Phil has sold his soul to a woman named Astrid. Thought to be on her deathbed, unpredictable circumstances lead Phil to hire a private detective (Danny Glover) while navigating a complicated relationship with Astrid and her skeptical daughter Maggie. The script dives into the mythic “American Dream” and what that means to each of us. Screenwriter Theodore Melfi allows MacLaine and Dinklage to do their proverbial thing. I was hypnotized by the ease of their scenes together. 

Shirley MacLaine brings her truest form with sass and spitfire. Her ability to make you smirk and piss you off is a gift. She’s a legend, and Dinklage keeps pace at every turn. Peter Dinklage has mastered the art of charming his costars and the audience. After watching him in Cyrano, his sex symbol status became solidified. In American Dreamer, Melfi and Dektor allow him to woo in only the way Peter can woo. Picturing him as a man that constantly has women in the palm of his hand is sheer perfection. His comic timing is unmatched. The magic permeates throughout his fully fleshed-out portrayal of a flawed man.

American Dreamer wins with a great score and soundtrack, stunning locations, funny fantasy sequences, and some clever transitions in the form of novel chapters. I had no idea where this plot was going, and damnit, that’s rare. It is easy to say that it is one of my Top 3 films from the festival this year. I cannot wait for larger audiences to experience this beguiling comedy when it inevitably gets distributed. You’re gonna love it.


Now in theaters!


Fri June 17 – 3:00 PM

Village East by Angelika: Theater 3

DIRECTOR
Paul Dektor
PRODUCERS
Toyo Shimano, Emily Shimano, Theodore Melfi, Kimberly Quinn, Peter Dinklage, David Ginsberg, Paul Dektor
SCREENWRITER
Theodore Melfi
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Nicolas Bolduc
EDITOR
Lisa Robison
COMPOSER
Jeff Russo
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Kevin Root
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
Trisha Wilson, Dylan Collingwood
CAST

Peter Dinklage, Shirley MacLaine, Matt Dillon, Danny Glover, Kimberly Quinn, Danny Pudi, Michelle Mylett

For all things Tribeca Film Festival, click here!


Advance Screening of ‘Going in Style’ for AMC Stubs members nationwide!

AMC Stubs program is offering members a chance to see an advance screening of Going in Style on Wednesday March 22nd nationwide.

Oscar winners Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby), Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules, Hannah and Her Sisters) and Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) team up as lifelong buddies Willie, Joe and Al, who decide to buck retirement and step off the straight-and-narrow for the first time in their lives when their pension fund becomes a corporate casualty, in director Zach Braff’s comedy Going in Style. Desperate to pay the bills and come through for their loved ones, the three risk it all by embarking on a daring bid to knock off the very bank that absconded with their money. The film also stars two-time Oscar nominee Ann-Margret (Tommy, Carnal Knowledge) as Annie, a grocery cashier who’s been checking Al out in more ways than one. Joey King (Wish I Was Here) stars as Joe’s whip-smart granddaughter, Brooklyn; with Oscar nominee Matt Dillon (Crash) as FBI Agent Hamer; and Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future trilogy) as the guys’ lodge buddy, Milton. John Ortiz (Silver Linings Playbook) also stars as Jesus, a man of unspecified credentials who agrees to show the guys the ropes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Joe’s former son-in-law, Murphy, whose pot clinic con

Click here for tickets

Trailer for Fox’s ‘Wayward Pines’ Starring Matt Dillon Debuts

wayward-pines-dissecting-wayward-pines-what-can-we-expect

FOX has released the trailer Wayward Pines, an event series starring Matt Dillon and executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan. You can watch the trailer below!

Dillon plays a U.S. Secret Service agent investigating the disappearance of two federal agents in a mysterious small Idaho town. The show boasts an all star cast including Carla Gugino, Toby Jones, Shannyn Sossamon, Reed Diamond, Tim Griffin, Charlie Tahan, Juliette Lewis, Melissa Leo and Terrence Howard, who is currently starring in the hit Fox series Empire.

The show is based on the novel “Pines” by Blake Crouch and developed for TV by Chad Hodge. The pilot episode was written by Hodge and directed by Shyamalan himself.

Wayward Pines is set to premiere on FOX Thursday May 14th