Robert LaSardo (“Nip/Tuck”) has made his writing and directorial debut here with “American Trash,” a film about a war vet struggling to find peace in his life after multiple tragedies occur. With cameos from Tom Sizemore, Costas Mandylor, and Lorelei Linklater, you’d think this would be quite a knockout for a debut film. And while there is plenty of heart to find, it falls flat in the end.
The plot is fairly straightforward: LaSardo plays Milles, a troubled war veteran (with an unhealthy obsession with Charles Manson’s preachings) struggling to find happiness in life state-side. He cleans trash out of rivers, sees a zen chiropractor, and listens to tapes of Charles Manson's interviews.
After meeting a fellow earth-loving hippie (Linklater), they fall in love and move in together, only for her to be kidnapped and killed with the culprits at large. I was expecting a shoestring budget “John Wick” or “Death Sentence,” a full balls-to-the-wall vengeance flick. Action, it is not. He occasionally badgers the police with threatening vibes but in the end, does nothing but brood, stare into the distance, and listen to Charles Manson's interviews again.
The production quality is fairly low, but that’s forgivable. This has the hallmarks of a passion project from LaSardo, and effort is put into each line he delivers. But the film is a hollow shell, and it becomes clear that this really isn’t a film, it’s a philosophy. LaSardo preaches the sins of man, but never really says what’s right or what’s wrong or where to fix things.
Overall, there isn’t much to be said here. LaSardo himself is a veteran, and I can clearly see how this film would serve as a personal testament to some of the things he’s experienced, but the script and execution feel very student-filmmaker. I can’t say I recommend it; there are much better films out there. But I do give Robert LaSardo credit for branching out and trying something other than the tattooed badass roles he’s typecast as.
Jacob Scheer