American Meltdown is a jaunty satire about the way some of us live now. Billed as a "millennial coming-of-rage," it centers on Olivia, a woman who just can't catch a break. She's let go from her job and forced into a "hiatus until I stop qualifying for benefits." After that indignity, she comes home to find her high-end apartment ransacked and herself without insurance and deep in debt (her ex left her with an extravagant lease). Paranoid and uncomfortable in her home, she goes off to the beach, where she meets a wily pickpocket named Mari.
Mari's a former lawyer ("People don't like me once they get to know me") who now runs scams. Mari lives in a van and has perfected the art of taking what she wants when she wants, from the pockets of unsuspecting marks, at the grocery store, and generally in life. Her mantra is, "Do you like your life?" If not, change it. Olivia is at first repelled, then warms to the idea. The straight life isn't working for her, so maybe Mari's path is the one to follow. She asks the other woman to move in with her for protection and because she’s intrigued.
What follows is a mini-crime spree, told in retrospect from Olivia’s police interrogation after the fact. She tearfully relates the circumstances of her downfall and the events that led up to it. Olivia at first sees them as a modern-day "Bonnie and…well, Bonnie," blazing a swatch of delinquency and stickin' it to the Man. Eventually, the cracks in Mari's tactics start to show. She seems less of a free spirit and more of a sociopath. "Your only move is to move," Olivia tells her. But then the real fun begins.
Jacki Von Preysing (Olivia) and Nicolette Sweeney (Mari) are fairly new to the scene and real comedy finds. Ms. Preysing's big eyes and angular features contrast well visually with Ms. Sweeney's more compact, scrappy look. They make an attractive team, have real comedic chops, and are backed by the likes of Clayton Farris as a predatory property manager and Shaun Boylan as a ditzy cop. Christopher Mycheal Watson and DeMorge Brown round out the cast as, respectively, Olivia's ex and her interrogating detective.
American Meltdown takes on the foibles of the system and is genuinely funny. Its script and direction are brisk and intelligent. Writer/director Andrew Adams knows to keep the stakes simple while containing echoes of bigger films. The women's trip to the Grand Canyon is meant to evoke Thelma and Louise, but the violence done in the finale is mostly to real estate. Still, this stylish faux feminist fantasy, Mr. Adams' first feature, is lively, has good jokes and a snappy montage, aided by cinematographer Mark Evans and editor Joshua Cole.
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American Meltdown. Directed by Andrew Adams. 2023. Available in select theaters and on VOD. 82 minutes.