American Anthem

American Anthem

It’s like a really bad Identikit sketch of “Purple Rain,” the director’s previous movie. “Who is the star? A major superstar in another field who has never acted before.” “What is his personal crisis? He has an unhappy homelife and a father who mistreats him.” “What is the suspense? Will he conquer his inner demons and perform once again at the peak of his ability?”

“Who is his girlfriend? A future star in his field whose excellence inspires him to start trying again.” “What’s the movie’s visual style? Kind of a cross between a concert film and an MTV video. Be sure to overedit it. And put in lots of shots where the camera peers into the light source, so the heroic youth can be seen in silhouette as he tosses back his head and sweat flies through the air.”

An interplanetary filmmaker with only these basic ingredients might have made this movie out of “Purple Rain”. The hero this time isn’t Prince’s Rockstar but Olympic gymnast Mitch Gaylord; but since he’s photographed as if he were, not as a sweating, breathing, striving athlete but as a pinup for girls’ locker rooms, it’s not as big a difference as you might guess.

Gaylord plays a guy who has dropped off the gym team and refused a college scholarship because his father doesn’t love him. We learn that his father does love him but also that he’s frustrated because he doesn’t have a job. Sneaking into the gym to spy on former teammates while they train every day, Gaylord one day spots Jones when she arrives to train under said famous coach who’s preparing everyone for U.S. Olympic gymnastics team tryouts.

So then they’re in love, so then Gaylord decides to get in shape again which involves working out on bar suspended between two trees in forest during rainstorms especially fierce; because thunder and lightning make for better MTV videos, naturally.

The plot may be stupid and predictable, but does that matter? Everything depends on dialogue and character. “American Anthem” is a curious movie: It appears to have been written by people who knew every commercial and salable ingredient in every hit of the past five years, yet never had heard a cliche before.

My favorite moment comes after a family fight when the kid brother whines, “Why can’t we be like other families?” The movie contains many gymnastics competitions, which are not well enough explained or photographed to be interesting; seeing a champion gymnast zip through his routine isn’t half as interesting as watching a beginner learn how to deal with the parallel bars.

Skilled moviemakers understand that in sports movies you don’t create suspense by making something look easy, but by making it look difficult. Yet Gaylord’s competitive routines in “American Anthem” are the equivalent of a “Rocky” movie where Rocky knocks his opponent unconscious with the first swing.

One thing about the movie especially annoys me. During the final match there are dozens of strobe lights flashing continuously behind the contestants. I suppose these are supposed to represent camera flashbulbs. Two thoughts occur: (1) If the gymnastics were really interesting, they wouldn’t have to be tarted up with flashing lights, and (2) have you ever thought what it says about our national IQ that so many people believe you can take a flash picture from the 20th row?

Watch American Anthem For Free On Gomovies.