‘American Trash’ VOD Review
Stars: Robert LaSardo, Lorelei Linklater, Rich R. Rendon, Gigi Gustin, Costas Mandylor, Tom Sizemore, Elissa Dowling | Written by Robert LaSardo, Adrian Milnes | Directed by Robert LaSardo
Robert LaSardo’s American Trash marks both the directorial debut and a major change of pace for the prolific actor, whose first role was almost forty years ago in Abel Ferrara’s China Girl. Over the years he’s become known for roles in films like In Hell, Bridge of the Doomed and Amber Road, but he’s chosen to make a drama that trades physical brutality for an unflinchingly brutal look at pain, loss and the toll modern society can take on people.
Milles (Robert LaSardo) is a combat veteran who now works as a tattoo artist while trying to get a grip on his PTSD issues. One of the few things that seems to bring him a sense of peace is listening to speeches by Charles Manson and cleaning up wilderness areas, including a cave he refers to as sacred because of its connection to Manson.
This attracts the attention of Melissa (Lorelei Linklater; Amityville Bigfoot, Teenage Vampire 2) who shares his love of nature and Manson’s philosophy. A romance quickly develops, bringing light into Milles’ otherwise dark life. Even his therapist Tai (Rich R. Rendon; Alien Storm, Bloodthirst) sees the improvement in his outlook.
But, while the film is set in Los Angeles, there’s no Hollywood ending for this couple. Coming home one night, Melissa is raped, murdered and left in a dumpster by a pair of thugs. Losing her sends Milles’ life into a downward spiral. One that neither Tai nor Melissa’s sister Mandy (Gigi Gustin; Titanic 666, The Wrong High School Sweetheart) can help with. And which his interactions with the cop assigned to the case, Detective Anderson (Costas Mandylor; Cosmic Sin, In Tenebras: Into the Darkness), makes worse.
LaSardo wrote American Trash, with some revisions by Adrian Milnes (Adrenaline, Bermuda Island), and their script doesn’t pull its punches. It’s a dark, to the point of being nihilistic, look at the world and the way it treats those who are damaged and suffering. Various scenes of landfills and other pollution along with the character’s environmental activism extend that concept to the way society treats the environment. Something that further fuels his rage and provides the final straw that sets the film’s end scenes in motion.
The cast, led by LaSardo who gives the kind of performance his usual roles don’t give him the opportunity to. The same with Linklater who’s credits are mostly intentionally goofy microbudget horror films and Rendon who had only appeared in a trio of genre films but gives an excellent performance here despite limited screen time. The cast also includes a couple of other familiar faces, the late Tom Sizemore (Breakout, The Relic) and Elissa Dowling (Clown Fear, We Are Still Here).
There is, however, one thing about American Trash that does bother me and I can see having a similar effect on other viewers, portraying Charles Manson as some kind of enlightened philosopher, even if only on environmental matters. It’s like saying Hitler wasn’t that bad because he was a good painter. The man was a psychopath who convinced his followers to kill with the intent of starting a race war, and presenting him in a positive light is distasteful. It doesn’t ruin the film, but their admiration for him being the first thing we know about Milles and Melissa made it harder for me to get behind them. Obviously, it means a lot to LaSardo though, and I give him credit for sticking with it despite the potential negative reaction.
Hopefully, viewers can get past that because the rest of American Trash features some compelling drama, and excellent acting and delivers the kind of gut punch we don’t see very often. It’s a film that bodes well for LaSardo’s future efforts as a director and should get him offers of more acting work outside of the horror and action films we usually see him in.
**** 4/5
American Trash is available on Digital Platforms.
______
