Did you people see the same film I saw?

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Whenever Hollywood decides to "teach America what it should think" the result is a lousy movie. And this waste of time is really a lousy movie. Why sacrifice an hour and a half of your life being lectured to by a film, when you could just read a Handgun Control, Inc. leaflet and get just as much misinformation? But at least you can see this one coming a mile away. Sometimes Hollywood's elite moralizers sneak the message in without letting on that it's a "message movie." I really hate it when that happens. "The Adjustment Bureau" (2011), I think it was, ended with an endless lecture about personal choice and personal responsibility, taking a merely goofy movie right down the drain.I can't recommend this one AT ALL. I'd give it a "0" but IMDb will only let me rate it a 1.

That was a very harsh review above. I saw the other films he spoke of, and I thought this was MUCH better. Elephant was nowhere near as good as this film, sorry.You can't compare this film with one of Michael Moore's documentaries. We have suffered more than one senseless shooting, and I personally think we could use a few more films about it. We need to raise awareness and learn how to love.This movie is a very real way to look at love. I personally think the reality of these situations was portrayed beautifully.I agree, the violence was tragic, but it happens. However, I don't see how you could be so disappointed, given the subject matter.Yeah, this movie is up there with Crash, if you ask me. :( Wake up America...

It is no "bullet-shit" that the enthralling independent film "American Gun" does fire major points on the American gun control issue within its intertwining plot. However, it is also no "bullet-shit" that "American Gun" did misfire with one of its story lines. A la "Crash", "American Gun" includes various characters within several story lines that focus on a controversial social issue. What struck me about "Crash" was its creative precision to detail on how the social issue (in 'Crash"- racism) all interconnected. In "American Gun" there are separate situations that are "bullet-proof", but hold no fundamental connective qualities on the gun control issue. Here are my on-target shots of "American Gun": 1) On target: Marcia Gay Harden was mesmerizing as a mother of a fallen youth assailant who murdered several students and teachers in school grounds three years ago. Her story focuses on how she combatively tries to overcome the tragedy , and her challenge to supersede the pain by avidly trying to support her other son. 2) On target: Forest Whitaker's captivating performance as a high school principal who is dealt with the challenge of a youth gun control problem at the school he pilots. In other words, "Run, Forest, Run" before your students run the asylum well-armed. 3) On target: Tony Goldwyn's golden acting duty portraying a police officer who is guilt-ridden that he could not be more proactive in preventing the aforementioned school violence tragedy. 4) On target: Novice Writer-Director Aric Avelino's film-making & screen writing machinery efforts in the School Gun Control and the Grieving Mother/Remorseful Officer story lines. Here are the misfires of "American Gun": 1) Misfire: Donald Sutherland's phlegmatic performance as a gun owner who tries to connect with his alienated granddaughter. 2) Misfire: The aforementioned storyline which had no relevance or impact to the American gun control issue. In other words, it had me gunning for more.OK, that's it! I am a gunner , I mean "goner" with this one! *** Average

Some people on this site were comparing this movie to crash. At best this is a poor made after school movie. The movie never takes off, it drags, it wanders, it bores you to death. The only thing this movie made me want to do is buy a gun to put myself out of my misery. I watched it for free and I feel like I've been cheated. I should have been happy when it finally ended, but I was only left wondering why I had wasted the last hour of my life watching this movie. I noticed that there were about 20 songs in the credits but I must have been so numb with boredom that I can't recall a single line being played. Each song must have been uniquely unremarkable. The cherry on the top of this little masterpiece was Donald Sutherlands character, he easily could have been replaced by a rambling old man with senility taken off your local public transportation line.