Oh, my goodness. “American Dreamer,” playing at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center on July 23, is a glorious hoot. If you didn’t see it when it came out in 1984, then you must. If you did, then you should run to see it again.
This feel-good, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy wrapped around a cloak-and-dagger thriller stars the incomparable JoBeth Williams, who will be doing a Q and A after the screening.
The film opens with a madcap chase scene on a rushing train, during which we meet our heroine, international spy Rebecca Ryan, who saves the day. As she repeatedly changes the zinger last line in the scene, it is suddenly clear that we are watching a fictional story within this fictional film.
Indeed, behind the typewriter, we meet Williams, this time as Cathy Palmer, an American suburban housewife with two precocious, funny young sons (Christopher Daniel Barnes and Huckleberry Fox) and a stifling, patronizing husband, Kevin Palmer, perfectly played by James Staley. Cathy is finishing the scene as a submission to a contest to write in the style of her favorite Rebecca Ryan steamy romantic thriller series.
As Cathy’s daily life unfolds, we can feel why she yearns to win the all-expense-paid vacation to Paris. Childcare, shopping, and cooking dinner (with a prizeworthy slapstick comedy scene) are simply not enough. When Cathy’s dream comes true, Kevin all but forbids her from going. But her spirited and adventurous nature shines through. She zips off to Paris, and we’re off to the races.
On her first full day in her dream city, Cathy goes to gather her prize. Through a fluke, she gets knocked down by a car and wakes up in the hospital with a bump on her head, believing she is Rebecca Ryan … and someone is out to kill her.
Rebecca soon tracks down the man she believes is her single, dashing partner, Dimitri, who is actually the son of the author of the Rebecca series, played appealingly by Tom Conti.
Although he initially thinks one of his friends has sent someone to play Rebecca as a joke, Conti gets swept up in what he comes to believe is Rebecca’s delusion — that she is real rather than a character in a book.
Sparks fly between the two. Beyond their flawless performances, they are also immensely talented at the physical comedy that runs throughout the fast-paced, twisty plot — which, by the way, centers around trying to save the leader of the opposition party, Victor Marchand (Giancarlo Giannini), from being killed.
Rick Rosenthal directs this delightful, on-your-toes caper, as so-called reality and fiction interweave and overlap, and massive miscommunication makes us smile — while sometimes tugging at our heartstrings.
Speaking with Williams, a frequent summer visitor, about her experience of filming the movie in Paris, she says, “When I was a little girl, and I thought it would be fun to be an actress; this was the dream: You wanted to be Audrey Hepburn in ‘Roman Holiday,’ shooting in Rome.”
Williams shares that before “American Dreamer,” she had only performed comedy onstage. “I had never done that kind of madcap physical comedy on film. It was great fun to be as silly as possible. I got to unleash my inner idiot. I loved every minute of it.”
Wonderfully for us, watching Williams nail the zaniness with finesse makes for a pure viewing pleasure.
“American Dreamer” is playing on Tuesday, July 23, at 7:30 pm at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, followed by a Q and A with JoBeth Williams. For tickets and information, visit mvfilmsociety.com/2024/06/american-dreamer-with-jobeth-williams.
