American Movie (subtitled The Making of Northwestern) is a documentary that could well pass itself off as a mockumentary. It follows aspiring filmmaker Mark Borchardt's attempts to make a serious film by first completing a low-budget horror short he's been hammering at for years, and presents a cast of comically sad "characters" who help Mark in his doomed endeavors. It's Ed Wood in the 1990s' northwestern United States. Not to say what Mark makes is bad, but the whole enterprise is fraught with problems, most of them due to inexperience and lack of resources. But the one resource he has plenty of is people who, often grumbling all the way, are ready to support his dream. They're just a little clueless, that's all. According to IMDB, appearing in this documentary helped Mark's career, but it didn't help it TOO much. Some interesting personalities to discover here.

For about 10 to 15 seconds, man, I just stared at somebody's shit, man. And to be totally honest with you, man, it was a really, really profound moment, 'cause I was thinking "I'm thirty years old, and in about 10 seconds I gotta start cleaning up somebody's shit, man."

This movie is incredibly entertaining, while at the same time being incredibly sad at many times. Anyone interested in filmmaking should definitely watch this.