YMMV / American Movie

• Broken Base: While the director clearly is sympathetic to Mark and views his progress and dreams positively, many viewers are split into two camps: those who find his story immensely inspiring, relatable, and moving, admiring Mark as a tenacious creative who refuses to compromise or give up on his passion despite setbacks; and those who view him as a depressing, self-involved manchild who exploits the patience of those around him to pursue a dead-end project which he doesn't have the skill or vision to carry out, desperate to ape his idols without understanding the true value that they brought to their craft.
• Funny Moments: Uncle Bill's wishy-washy ADR tests, which end with him straight-up getting sick of filming (especially after a perfect take is ruined by Mark's incompetence) and driving away.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The early scenes in which Mark attempts to get his passion project Northwestern off the ground can be difficult to watch given that over twenty years later, the film has still not been made. Especially since Uncle Bill left him $50,000 in his will to complete the film.
• Jerkass Woobie: Mark can be a complete self-centered asshole to friends and family who are volunteering time and money to help him out on a passion project he barely accepts criticism on, and peevishly derides his own family for being "normal" and "boring." Nevertheless, it's hard to not feel a little sorry for him as it's clear how much of a misfit he is who suffered from an unstable household and largely unsupportive loved ones. The scene where he recounts the humiliation of being 30 and realizing that he's about to clean someone else's feces from the toilet of a public restroom is damningly familiar to anyone who feels behind their peers.
• Tear Jerker:
  • The film ends with a note that Uncle Bill passed away in 1997. Mike would end up passing away in 2022, making many scenes Harsher in Hindsight as he supported so many of Mark's dreams that never came into fruition. Mark's mother and father also died in 2024 and 2012, respectively.
  • Mark watching old footage of his incomplete project and bemoaning how fast time passes and how he'd failed to achieve his creative pursuits. Many, if not most, creatives can sympathize with watching time slip away as they continually put off projects due to other stresses and pressures, only to look back and realize how much opportunity they wasted and now they have nothing to show for it.