Americana

Grade: B+

Americana owes the largest debt to Quentin Tarantino that I can think of, and it’s my favorite such knockoff since 1999’s Go. I don’t think you could write about Americana without mentioning his name, nor will you see a review that doesn’t, but I will try to do it as little as possible. Originally titled National Anthem, it was filmed in early 2022, and had a premiere at SXSW in March 2023. Due to its studio (Bron) filing for bankruptcy, the movie sat in limbo for two years until Lionsgate picked it up, and it finally enjoyed a limited theatrical release in August 2025. Writer/director Tony Tost makes his feature film debut. About Reservoir Dogs, Roger Ebert wrote: “Now that we know Quentin Tarantino can make a movie like Reservoir Dogs, it’s time for him to move on and make a better one.” About Americana, I will say: now that we know Tost can make a film like Americana, I can’t wait for him to do one that has more of an original, personal touch, instead of copying you-know-who.

What makes it the most Tarantinian is the multiple, interlocking characters. Americana’s equivalent of the suitcase from Pulp Fiction (or the half a million dollars from Jackie Brown) is a rare Lakota Ghost Shirt, worth an enormous amount of money. It finds its way into some unsavory hands in a dusty South Dakota town. Sydney Sweeney plays Penny Jo, a waitress at the local diner. When she becomes privy to a scheduled meeting at the restaurant between the men who will decide what to do with the shirt, she co-conspires with regular customer Lefty Ledbetter (Paul Walter Hauser) to sit in a booth next to them and eavesdrop. From there, Penny Jo and Lefty plan to follow these guys around so they can intercept the money, or at least get in on the deal somehow. One of them is Dillon (Eric Dane), who is involved with Mandy (recording artist Halsey, from MaXXXine and A Star is Born), who has a young son who tells everyone he is the reincarnation of Sitting Bull – but maybe he just takes those cowboys and Indians shows too seriously. There is also a community of Native Americans, who wants the shirt for obvious reasons, and surprises await the viewer when Mandy road-trips to her childhood home in Wyoming.

Tost clearly knows his way around all aspects of filmmaking. I liked a scene where Sweeney is listening to a song on headphones, and it consumes the soundtrack until she takes them out of her ears. Early in the movie, there’s a shot where the camera pans all the way around. 360 degrees. I thought it was random at first, but it will make sense when you get some information later on – and the next time I see this, I will look for something there. Tarantino is known for a point-of-view shot from inside the trunk of a car while characters open it, and that happens here. Tost draws from not only QT’s positive qualities, but also the less strong aspects. He has been criticized for having his characters talk too much after being mortally wounded. They should be passed out from shock or loss of blood, but instead, often yak up a storm. This happens in Americana.

I suspect everyone’s favorite plot point will be the one between Sweeney and Hauser. The latter brings a down-home aw-shucks charm similar to his work as the title character in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. If you previously underestimated Sweeney, thinking she’s just someone nice to look at, recent films like this one and Echo Valley will demonstrate some real acting chops. Her character here has a stutter, reminding me of Sissy Spacek in The Straight Story – but it’s never distracting. I rooted for both of them, together and individually. Not everyone is likable, but they are well-constructed. Nobody feels unnecessary or superfluous. There are glorious vindicating notes of the “eat the rich,” “eat the patriarchy,” and “stick it to your abusers” variety.

All the characters and storylines converge for an elaborate violent showdown. It is effectively staged, despite a few too many instances of a villain with the good guy(s) cornered, about to take the fatal shot, when suddenly, THEY take an unexpected bullet/arrow/etc coming from a perfectly timed helper in the distance. Sound familiar? It happens enough that I started to anticipate it every time we’d get a setup like that. However, when everything settles down and the last of the blood has seeped into the Wyoming country ground, the movie doesn’t play it too safe with its endings. It has the courage to conclude with realistic resolutions. You’ve seen something like Americana before, but rarely done this well, except for the output from the man himself. Americana is a hell of a lot of fun – with characters, situations, and moments that continue to swirl around in my head hours after seeing it. It’s akin to seeing your favorite artist’s tribute band. The best one.

Grade: B+