"American Gun" directed by Alan Jacobs was a surprise. Not having heard about it before, intrigued me. Mr. Jacobs, directing from his own material, has created a movie that on on level is telling us we are going on one direction, but in reality, he is playing with us since the trip he is taking us is not what we had in mind.If you haven't seen the film, perhaps you would like to stop reading.Martin Tillman, the man at the center of the story, is a man that still remember his days during WWII; how can one ever forget those horrors lived in that, or any other, conflict? In flashbacks we get to know how young Martin and the lovely Anne, meet, fall in love and marry eventually. Their union seems to be a happy one. They have a daughter, Penny, a single mother, who returns home for the holidays after her own daughter, Mia, leaves her home.Not all is happy among the Tillman family. Martin, who is in his seventies, appears to be a man not at peace with himself or the world. When Penny is mugged during a trip to the store to return Martin's Christmas gift for Anne. Penny meets an unexpected death, or does she? Mr. Jacobs is too devious to tell us the truth, thus contributing to the mystery surrounding Martin's resolve in finding the man who killed Penny.Thus begins a series of trips into different areas of the country. All these trips end in failure. Martin keeps compiling data and we feel as though he is close to get his revenge. At this moment in the story, Mr. Jacobs intervene to show us in flashbacks the missing links of the gruesome murder. We realize then that Martin has not been interested in resolving the crime at all.James Coburn made his last appearance on this film. He appears as though he is in great physical pain. As he proved in "Affliction", he was an actor to be reckoned with, although sometimes, his choice of projects was not exactly the best. Yet, he surprises us playing Martin Tillman. He obviously understood this troubled man and the price he is paying for his sins.Virginia Madsen is seen briefly at the beginning of the story and in flashbacks. Ms. Madsen makes the best of the ill fated Penny. Barbara Bain plays the suffering wife, Anne. One wonders whatever went wrong in Anne's early love for Martin and the bitter person she turns out to be in her later years. The murder of Penny clearly contributes to alienate her from her husband. Ms. Bain short time on the screen makes an excellent contribution to the film.Mr. Jacobs underlying message is about the American fascination with guns, but he is not judgmental on the issue, as some comments in this page seem to criticize him for doing. This is a serious movie dealing with an controversial subject.

I was really enjoying this film. It was nice to see James Colburn going out on a strong performance in a film that was well made, with interesting vignettes about the history of the gun. I thought he received good support from Virginia Madsen and Barbara Bain. Everything seemed to be going along quite well, and then came the big twist ending. I almost stopped the DVD of this as soon as I realized what direction this film was suddenly taking. But I had enjoyed it so much up to that point, I decided to gut it out, hoping I was wrong and that the filmmakers would NOT go in the direction they were heading. But alas, it was not to be. The ending alone was enough to lower my vote of this otherwise fine film from a 7 to a 5. Colburn was great in it however (but check out the size of this man's knuckles!!!) and worth seeing for any of his many fans.

POSSIBLE SPOILER - if you havn't seen the film yet I suggest you return to this review later. I like Coburn so this had to be worth a look. And I have to say, the film was nicely put together, the pace is good, and I liked the gradually emerging situation until you eventually realise what's really been going on. Coburn is as good as you would expect, and Barbara Bain isn't too annoying for a change. However, once the situation *has* become clear, I'm left with one big question about the whole thing. How can Martin Tillman be chasing down the source and tracking the ownership of the gun? How come he gets the gun back? And, more important still, why isn't he in jail?

James Coburn has always, for me, been a powerful actor. Here he seems weak, not just because of his obvious physical discomfort, but also because he seems very uncomfortable with the material. I don't mean generally anti-weapon material, I mean weak writing and direction. Coburn seems unsure of his acting, and some of the scenes come out looking like near enough's good enough. And it isn't good enough.The story of the gun involved seems remarkably eventful, and the tracing of it over so many owners seems preposterous (with some great Deus ex Machina jumps). The flashbacks to WWII also seem contrived. None of it seems in any way realistic.Perhaps it wasn't as bad as I've made out, but I just didn't warm to it at all. 5 out of 10.