when robert forster found himself famous again after appearing in " jackie brown " , he immediately signed up for a little film called " american perfekt " . this was almost two years ago . i waited patiently for the film to be released , but it never was . finally , i forgot about it . the other day , though , while i was perusing the selection of the local video store , i stumbled upon , you guessed it , " american perfekt " . i immediately rented it and with a certain amount of glee , rushed home to view it . having now seen the film , i understand why it never saw theatrical release . " american perfekt " is a jumbled mess . the storyline is non-existent . it took me half the movie just to figure out what was going on . and at that point , the only thing i really knew for sure was that the movie was * never * going to introduce a plot of some sort . it wants to get by on quirkyness and so-called charm alone , and it just doesn't work . robert forster plays a psychiatrist who picks up amanda plummer , and they head off on the road together . along the way to no discernable destination , they run into all sorts of kooky and wacky characters . i suppose this free-wheeling , no plot style is supposed to give the film an element of danger and excitment , but all it did was make me sleepy . i'm all for trying new things within the realm of film , but not at the expense of coherence . nothing in this movie makes sense . the actions of the characters go unexplained , even when they're truly bizarre . i'll give you an example , without giving too much away . david thewlis has a part as a drifting con-man . at one point , mid-way through the movie , he runs forster and plummer off the road with his car . as he passes them , we see that his face is covered in blood . do you think we would get an explanation as to what happened to him ? you would think so , wouldn't you . " american perfekt " is a waste of time . nothing is gained from watching this movie , except maybe a migraine . and if you do rent it , don't bother trying to figure out what's going on in the hopes that everything will be resolved by the end . this doesn't happen . and no explanation is given for the misspelling of " perfect " , either .
