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Absolutely the worst movie.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Don't get me wrong. I like James Coburn. "Hard Times" is one of my favorites. Unfortunately Coburn's final film is not very good. First off it is shot mostly on video and looks cheap. Second, it is told in flashbacks which is not only confusing but makes for a very uneven viewing experience. Third and most important, the script does not play fair with the audience, in order for the "big reveal" twist ending. If Coburn had not been in this one, it would get a 1 rating from me for all of the above reasons. The whole thing becomes a "so what", because of the uneven script, endless flashbacks, and unfair ending. One to avoid, even for James Coburn fans. - MERK

Not to be confused with the 2005 film "American Gun" starring Donald Sutherland and Forest Whitaker, the 2002 "American Gun" is a very fine drama that was written and directed by Alan Jacobs. I originally rented this fairly obscure little picture because it features Barbara Bain, one of my main gals of the '60s, in one of her too-rare screen appearances, but as it turns out, the film has lots more to offer besides her more-than-welcome presence. In it, she plays Anne Tillman, who lives in Vermont with her husband Martin (supremely well played by James Coburn, in his last film role), and whose daughter Penny (the lovely Virginia Madsen) is tragically gunned down during a Xmas visit. This sets the grieving Martin on a cross-country odyssey, using the gun's serial number, to learn the history of this weapon and to confront its owner. The viewer thus learns that the gun was once used to defend a kidnapped woman, was stolen from a medical student in NYC, and was used in a teenage revenge attack/suicide. The journey that Martin takes culminates in Las Vegas, where, in a brilliantly realized series of flashbacks, we see the deeper reasons for his grief, and all our nagging questions are resolved. It is a pretty devastating finale, I must say, and one that will doubtlessly leave most viewers gasping with astonishment. Jacobs, whose direction is sometimes flashy but whose script is fairly understated, is surely a talent to be reckoned with; I look forward to seeing more of his work. His "American Gun" is a picture that should be required viewing for all NRA members, as well as for all film lovers who want to see Coburn, here in the twilight of his days, flash that trademarked toothy grin one more time. In a film suffused with so much sadness, that grin looks all the brighter....

This film has many flashbacks and nuances, and you do need to pay attention or may miss a segment of the plot.James Coburn again delivers as Martin Tillman, a man who is a World War II veteran; we see many nostalgic flashbacks. Barbara Bain as his wife, and Virginia Madsen as their daughter. She also has a young daughter, Mia, well-portrayed by Alexandra Holden.Coburn loses his daughter (Madsen) through a tragic accident on Christmas eve. As the film proceeds, we see him travel cross country tracing the history of the weapon, a handgun which the police let him have. He visits the factory where the guns are made, and an employee has a picture there of his own daughter who was murdered. He travels to Miami, Florida. A woman who owned the gun there saved herself from being murdered on I-95. In California he encounters a young girl who, while on a double date with friends, is suddenly a victim of violence.There is an unexpected turn at the end of the story, which I will not divulge. Coburn spends a great deal of time soul searching; why did this happen?...Why me?. He visits the pastor, who has no answer. Coburn is also simmering with rage, and we feel for him as the story progresses.He also tracks down Penny Tillman's daughter, Mia, and tries to help her; she is living a transient life in Las Vegas. Tillman as her grandfather expresses his concern, and wonders at the randomness of life.What you will come away with from this film is many internal questions; (i.e. what would you do?). This is not simply a morality play or agenda against gun ownership. It is a human story, addressing the human factor, error, and emotions, and the sad fact that one cannot reverse time to change what they could or should have done to prevent a tragedy.

When his daughter comes home for Christmas, Martin Tillman is happy to see her, even if Anne, his wife, is worried about the news that Penny's daughter has run away. Mia turns up at Martin's workplace – but only long enough to borrow money and head off again. Things get worse though when Penny is shot and killed during a robbery of some sort. When the police close the case, Martin feels he needs more closure and, petitioning the gun from the police, he takes the serial number and finds the original owner. Using this as his starting point he plans to trace the gun back to its last owner, but on his way he finds a trail of loss and sadness left in the wake of this fateful weapon.Not even managing to get a release on video in the UK it is no surprise that this film ended up dropped into a poorly fitting daytime television slot on one of our lesser channels. I suppose at least it got a showing but the downside is that all the violence and language was cut from it – reducing the impact of some of the scenes and rendering the occasional one a little harder to follow that it should have been. The plot summary makes it sound like it will be a condemnation of America's gun culture – which is what I tuned in to see, so perhaps this is why I wasn't overly impressed by the rather clumsy (and often illogical) mystery that Martin heads off to solve. It allows him to follow the gun across America but the plot brushes over how he is able to do this. This is a problem that takes away from how well the mystery plays out but it does offer the potential for a real sad story to be told at the same time. Although it does have some episodes that portray death, the film never gets close to making political statement, preferring to stay with the mystery and the characters.This is a loss I think and the impact of the material is minimised by this. The characters are still interesting enough though and produce a nice drama that is worth watching without being overly special – hence the daytime TV slot I suspect. Martin's emotions are occasionally engaging but even on this level it isn't all it could have been. Meanwhile, the mystery plot finds itself becoming more central to the film and thus is used to produce a twist that is at once shocking but also makes a lot of what went before pretty senseless – again the end was the time for comment and it failed to do it. The twist does undermine a lot of the film when you look back and when Martin talks of "the demons in his mind" it did frustrate me because I didn't think the film had done anything to show these to us.The presence of a couple of names in the cast suggest that it was going to be more – maybe they thought that too. Coburn is a strong presence in the film and, although far from his best work, it at least shows the qualities in him that made him who he was. Madsen is good in her comparatively small role but both her and Holden have too simple characters. Bain is good and the support cast are OK but Coburn is the main reason for watching it, even more so because it was the last time we'll get the chance to.Overall an average film but more notable for the missed opportunities it represents. There is no commentary, the mystery is only workable and the emotional development of the characters is shot (sorry) all to hell by the final twist that, although dramatic, really means that you have been watching a film that you know nothing about – and not in a good Usual Suspects way either. An OK watch but frustrating because of what it should have been.