I am not a big fan of traditional documentaries; they need something unique besides content to keep my interest. American Meth has little of that in it's rambling production from users to law enforcement officials to politicians to an intimate inside look at an American Meth family. But that that said, the locations are not what u expect - small town working class America where one would expect a rosy Palin story instead of one of ex-Christians hooked and trying to raise kids. The inside story of the trailer park family is touching, and seems real and telling of a society crumbling, without saying it's crumbling. But as mentioned in another review, the trailer park sequence is just too long...you forget the rest of the drama while stuck in the inside drama of trailer trash.
11 Reviews
A mixture of Cops and Montana
Bobarian7723 July 2017
I found this title on Hulu and not knowing much about meth and missing Val Kilmer, I decided to give it a try. It's not a documentary I can suggest for everyone, but there is definitely a crowd out there for it and for reasons that aren't portrayed in the description. Yes this is about meth, for the first half of the movie. The second half is a realistic view of what life is like struggling at the bottom. It's not pretty and it's cliché at times, but fascinating none the less. This isn't on par with a Ken Burns documentary or even anything made above the college level. But it has a deep realism to it that's lacking in today's society. It's almost sad that true reality is a thing to be appreciated, but in a culture made for ratings, it's something that comes as a surprise. This isn't really a surprise to everyone either, but it's an insight to the daily life of living in a trailer park or just the constant struggle to keep afloat that thousands of people go through every day.
OVEREXPOSED SUBJECT
mmthos1 October 2021
Was this a class project?
iiigoiii29 June 2008
As a documentary, this has to be one of the poorer ones I've seen recently. The problem of meth is fascinating, and the ubiquity of it means there couldn't be any end to the interesting individuals, interviews, or footage that could be found on the subject...but this docco seems to have found very little.
It's disorganized, inconsistent, poorly shot and poorly edited. The narration switches seemingly at random between Val Kilmer and printed screens (complete with typos). The background of the meth problem from treatment and law enforcement perspectives is jumbled and incomplete.
(An entire section of the movie is devoted to listening to a couple on meth argue while their children run around their trailer - but the lack of editing means the reason for being there is quickly lost and we're left wondering why we set foot in their trailer park in the first place.)
In the end there's no deeper understanding of the problem of meth, and you're left feeling like you've just watched a final project from Film 101.
It's disorganized, inconsistent, poorly shot and poorly edited. The narration switches seemingly at random between Val Kilmer and printed screens (complete with typos). The background of the meth problem from treatment and law enforcement perspectives is jumbled and incomplete.
(An entire section of the movie is devoted to listening to a couple on meth argue while their children run around their trailer - but the lack of editing means the reason for being there is quickly lost and we're left wondering why we set foot in their trailer park in the first place.)
In the end there's no deeper understanding of the problem of meth, and you're left feeling like you've just watched a final project from Film 101.
i think the fumes had an impact on the production
raduletz200412 May 2011
This documentary is pretty bad . It does not appear to have a point other than to get a cop, a counselor, politicians some junkies on tape. The more f-ed up the junkies and the more abusive they are to the poor children they have the better . did anyone on the crew ever think of calling child services , or getting these people into rehab or something ? hell no , they were white trash gold ! i do see the merit of an attempt to show how this stuff affect families , but allowing these people to continue living like animals than people of the 21st century , all this while letting their naked children eat garbage and play outside in winter without shirts or pants, tends to turn this already shaky and irrelevant piece of documentary filmmaking into a sort of shock film that is useless to anyone except those who have a hard on for tragedy . i'm in no way saying that a filmmaker should narc on his subjects , but i do see the perversity of pointing out what is basically child abuse , while sitting in that house and drinking your latte.
2 out of 10 because it could have been much better but not much worse
2 out of 10 because it could have been much better but not much worse
Terrible, self important crap on an important topic
drew-15519 September 2009
The first thing that stood out was the credit "A Justin Hunt Project".
... Oh really, now.
Well maybe that other commenter was correct, and this -is- a school "project". A really bad one.
Basically it's yet another misinformed drug documentary that doesn't really say anything new. Meth is bad. No, really?
Lots of typos, and bad information, and restating the same thing over and over and over again: -The before and after pictures. -The shocking testimony of the addicts and the LEOs. -The awful chemicals used in production.
The latter always kind of amuses me. Chemistry isn't pretty. The components used for production aren't consumed, ffs! Chemistry is reaction and extraction. It's not like baking a cake Do people really think that Prilosec is made with flour and brown sugar?
... Oh really, now.
Well maybe that other commenter was correct, and this -is- a school "project". A really bad one.
Basically it's yet another misinformed drug documentary that doesn't really say anything new. Meth is bad. No, really?
Lots of typos, and bad information, and restating the same thing over and over and over again: -The before and after pictures. -The shocking testimony of the addicts and the LEOs. -The awful chemicals used in production.
The latter always kind of amuses me. Chemistry isn't pretty. The components used for production aren't consumed, ffs! Chemistry is reaction and extraction. It's not like baking a cake Do people really think that Prilosec is made with flour and brown sugar?
Law Enforcement created problem
sonofindiandelta10 January 2011
The problem with this documentary is it shows things from the POV of a cop on his beat rather than a sociological wide view of the issue. The conclusions it makes are due to this narrow scope. The fact is if law enforcement decriminalized this disease, all profit motive woukd be taken away from all the pushers in Mexico looking to expand their drug and crime related enterprises. You realky have to wonder where the line between law enforcement and criminality exists, if it does at all. If the law enforcement managers and top officers had the best interests of a community at heart, they would decriminalize this as well as the more profitable drug, cocaine. I understand why dumb beat cops will never see it this way, their perspective is to close to the problem at hand. However, when the ivy league educated managers of the law enforcement system continue the prohibition of illegal substances, with the knowledge of what prohibitions means for the black market businesses across the border, you have to wonder if at least these officers are making decisions to benefit their industry and employees over the interests of the innocent community members they police, if not out right collusion with black market business and their many employees both in Mexico and across the border. You really have to wonder who the police are for, themselves or the communities they happen to police. Increasingly, e police force is becoming more and more separate from the locality it serves, with specialized pros being bused in from other regions. It seems that the national police force is taking cues from China and other despotic countries, which find it easy to coerce police into oppressing citizens due to the targeted recruitment rural bumpkins to police urban areas like Beijing or city dweller to police rural areas. The way Tianemien Square worked was because the army used to quash the democratic urban dwellers was composed of uneducated rural farm boys who had no literacy let alone a college degree, As long as we the tax payers stay out of our community police forces' business, they will continue to increasing detach themselves and eventually become more similar to an hired security force rather than an integral part of a communities health and well being- which is what they used to be-remember being a police officer used to he something that. Was respected!!!
Perfectly showed the craplife of meth, please consider an update on james and holly and the kids. That alone would make a great documentary, many have asked for an update on y
debcroweapple26 February 2023
Please consider an update on James and holly and the family. I noticed others wanting an update too. The family's life caught perfectly the single wide trailer life of poverty and meth mixed in. The camerapersons way of showing the kids life and the good and bad was so fair and not biased. Learning about the faces of death project and how that was unfunded was important to discuss also. Watching the dealers and neighbors literally heckle them as they try to better their lives shows how disgusting methlife community is. It is a falsehood how druggie think these people care about them. It's always about money. An update on James and holly and their boys would make a great addition or part 2 of this family. 18 years is long enough. The children are adults now.
Wow. Literally only misinformation
majorjohnsmithjr14 April 2021
Don't get me wrong, the stuff is terrible but when you have a officer that picks up a bunch of chemicals that in no way shape or form was ever used or could ever be used to make meth, then says this is all the crazy stuff they put in it, that's insane. If you make a documentary they should at least do the slightest bit of background research because wow. When he picked up the bag of kitty litter and said that they use that to make meth that's what I decided to write this review and turn it off. As I have a slight background in chemistry both legitimate and has been nefarious at times, I know that these guys are just telling a bunch of stupid lies right off the bat too it's not even 5 minutes into the movie and they are completely lying. I also like the other review on here that it is only from a law enforcement perspective and not a sociological perspective, as it should be. We all knew you went downhill a while ago Mr Val kilmer. I'd say right after kiss kiss bang bang was the last good thing that you were in, it's hard to believe that you threw away what little career you had left making a ridiculously one-sided "documentary" that doesn't actually contain any facts. One more thing when the guy picked up the so-called "fertilizer" aluminum sulfate which, I would love to see anyone try to put on their plants, but fertilizer is ammonium nitrate, which would be the ammonia source of the process, making the anhydrous ammonia that he mentioned at first, irrelevant because not only is he trying to mix several different synthesis processes he's also giving people ideas for extremely dangerous chemical combinations. Considering that the synthesis process for meth alone is already pretty unstable I wouldn't be surprised if some kid watch this movie and went out and blew himself up not having any idea what he was doing.
Sobering...
crooked_spoons31 May 2008
Unlike any other documentary I have ever seen. American Meth tells the story of just a few of the innumerable victims of methamphetamine. A prisoner, three members of a revolutionary drug treatment program and a family of six as well as various interviews with other young users. This movie provides a heartbreaking look into a drug epidemic that has caught on in plague-like in manner. Children go unloved and uncared for. Family members neglected and naive teens who ignore all the warnings and dive headfirst into a world of shattered dreams and broken teeth because there's "nothing better to do".
I was on the edge of tears throughout most of the interviews of 29 year old James and 26 year old Holly, both meth addicts and parents of four children ranging form age 8 to 2 years old.
The toll crystal meth has taken on rural America is devastating and surreal as American Meth tells. This doc paints a simple and unpleasant picture of the problem, as well as a half dozen solutions.
I was on the edge of tears throughout most of the interviews of 29 year old James and 26 year old Holly, both meth addicts and parents of four children ranging form age 8 to 2 years old.
The toll crystal meth has taken on rural America is devastating and surreal as American Meth tells. This doc paints a simple and unpleasant picture of the problem, as well as a half dozen solutions.
ENCORE! ENCORE! ENCORE!
iridescentalchemyst17 March 2023
I enjoyed watching this documentary! I am writing an article about methamphetamine and found the information it provides very useful in illustrating how much of an impact the methamphetamine epidemic has had all over the United States. The statistics and statements presented do paint an accurate picture of the drug's use and its wide ranging devastation... in the 1990s and early 2000s. I would urge the production crew to provide an updated sequel, perhaps with follow up interviews of subjects they talked to in the first movie. There are significant changes in the way the methamphetamine addiction is handled by our criminal justice and child welfare systems, and in the formulary of methamphetamine and amphetamine available in our country. Another great source of information about this topic is a book called Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town by Nick Reding. The book follows several addicts and shares the details of their lives, and also provides a detailed account of the societal and political events that fueled the flames and failed to prevent the epidemic.
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