THE AMERICAN DREAMER (1971)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
When Dennis Hopper's labor of love "The Last Movie" was released in 1971, it became a box-office and critical disaster. It followed on the footsteps of Hopper's directorial debut, "Easy Rider," which was a huge success back in 1969 that heralded a new voice in American cinema. "The American Dreamer" attempts to chart Hopper's days in Taos, New Mexico while editing "The Last Movie" amidst partying and drinking and having numerous female groupies at his disposal. That's about it, folks.Fortunately or not, there is not much to take away from "The American Dreamer." One scene has Dennis Hopper pontificating about life, another scene has him in a bathtub with three naked women, another scene he talks about not reading books since experiencing life is all you need, another scene has him walking naked in Los Alamos as proof that few people are really that free, and so on. And on. And on. Sometimes we see Dennis Hopper editing his non-traditional opus, "The Last Movie," and sometimes he shows his own photographs that he lays on the floor. The behind-the-scenes of editing his film as he was holed up in Taos for one year is hardly absorbing material because there is precious little of it. Hopper was clearly not all that different from his character in "Easy Rider" - the Great Pontificator who smokes weed, drinks and loves women. That is not to say Dennis Hopper is an uninteresting man but this documentary's fly-on-the-wall approach doesn't merit close introspection on the man himself.
There is a Life magazine article on the making of "The Last Movie" - the Peruvian filming location featured wild cocaine and LSD parties, troubles with the Communist leader and a priest while shooting in Chinchero, and a host of political problems and weather challenges. I would like to see a film about that than this labored effort. Dennis Hopper's monotone delivery for one hour and twenty minutes is too much of a challenge for me - it is like watching an inarticulate drunk trying to pass himself as the voice of a new generation. Sometimes Dennis Hopper can be an intoxicating presence but this time, he is not very groovy.
