Screening followed by a Q&A with Jim Gaffigan and Derrick Borte (Director).
Moderated by Jenelle Riley, Variety.
SYNOPSIS
AMERICAN DREAMER is a character-driven thriller, set in the urban jungle of a mid-sized East Coast city.
Cam, 40ish, is a former computer programmer, now down on his luck ride share driver. After suffering an emotional breakdown, and the subsequent loss of his job and family he is a shell of the successful man he once was. Cam struggles with his current situation, living on the wrong side of town and constantly looking for a means to reconnect with his old life. In a last ditch effort he reaches out to his ex-wife and young son, only to exacerbate his situation due to late child support payments and his refusal to accept the court mandated “supervised visits” with his son.
Cam makes extra cash chauffeuring Mazz, a low-level drug dealer, around the city. Mazz, 28, is a cold blooded, wise beyond his years, man of the streets. He holds his vice driven colleagues to the same high standards that he himself lives by, and will tolerate nothing less. Mazz shows little respect for Cam during their frequent rides together.
As Cam’s situation deteriorates into a serious financial bind he decides to kidnap Mazz’s child in hopes of collecting a ransom from the cash-carrying dealer.
Mazz enlists Cam’s services as a driver to search the city for his missing son. As the situation grows dire, Mazz reveals a side of himself that Cam has never seen. They have both been brought to their lowest points through their father-son relationships – forcing a connection between two men who couldn’t be from more different walks of life. They begin to see each other in a new light as this thriller reaches its poignant conclusion.
AMERICAN DREAMER presents zeitgeist issues including race relations, class division, and the nature of human connections faced by the outliers of modern society, through a fast paced and engaging narrative.
