American Gun DVD Review

American Gun is a message movie that doesn't apologize for or hide its intentions.

First time feature film writer/director Aric Avelino assembled a first-class group of actors for his rookie effort, American Gun and with 51 speaking parts (something Avelino expands on in the Making Of featurette), Avelino does a good job of balancing the storytelling even with so many different characters.

Marcia Gay Harden, Tony Goldwyn, Linda Cardellini, Forest Whitaker, Arlen Escarpeta, and Chris Marquette turn in terrific performances in the gritty, emotionally heartwrenching film, American Gun. Although a difficult film to sit through because of its subject matter, American Gun is nevertheless an engaging look at people whose lives have been impacted by guns and gun violence.

American Gun consists of a handful of different storylines focusing on people directly affected by guns:

The mother and brother of a deceased teenager who opened fire and gunned down students at his high school (a la the Columbine shootings) are shown dealing with life in the years following that devastating event.

One of the first police officers to respond to the high school shooting must deal with his own private demons after being labeled by the media as having acted too slowly upon arriving at the scene.

A high school principal's home life suffers as he's forced to spend every waking minute listening to his students and their parents complaints and trying to keep his charges safe from violence at school.

A conflicted college student earns money by working in her grandfather's gun store.

Living in a rough neighborhood and holding down a job in a crime-ridden neighborhood force a good student to carry a gun for protection.