With the country celebrating its 250th birthday, what better time to explore movies that capture the American experience? For an article that published this week, 10 writers each picked a film that in their view encapsulated the United States and explained just what it was that made these the best distillations of our national character. Then I asked readers: What do you consider the definitive movie about America and why?
The response was swift and overwhelming. More than 3,000 comments poured in, name-checking hundreds of movies. The choices seemed to toggle between optimistic, perhaps nostalgic visions of better times and dark takes on the current state of our nation (sometimes in the same comment). A few clear favorites emerged, but there were many, many interesting suggestions and arguments that made readers’ answers a fascinating exploration of what America means at this particular moment.
Spoiler: We don’t all agree but we do care deeply, much like how we see the country itself. Here’s a look at the most interesting takeaways:
The Original List
By and large, readers had kind words for the movies our 10 writers picked, including “Killer of Sheep,” the 1932 “Scarface” and “Dirty Dancing.” Readers also themselves frequently nominated titles on the list, including “There Will Be Blood” and “Nashville.” And there was special praise for the inclusion of “The Florida Project” and “Nothing but a Man.”
Some of our writers’ choices proved divisive, like “Dazed and Confused” and “Zabriskie Point.” But only one was the subject of out-and-out scorn: “Disclosure Day,” which the staffer Andrew LaVallee argued “conveys the anxiety and uncertainty suffusing modern-day, non-sci-fi American life.” Readers were not having it, some even accusing us of promoting it. For the record, plenty of staff members are vocally critical of it. But the ones who like it, genuinely like it.
The Clear Favorites
The single film readers chose most often was “Idiocracy” (2006), Mike Judge’s scathing critique of the United States cloaked in a futuristic tale. Some commenters seemed almost sad to list it, linking it to their feelings about the country today, while more than one described it as a documentary.
“The Godfather,” Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic about the rise of the criminal Corleones, was the second most frequently mentioned film. (If it were combined with “The Godfather Part II,” the saga would have topped the readers’ list.) Readers saw it as the tale of an immigrant family striving for the American dream or as a story of power and corruption mirroring America’s development.
Rounding out the Top 5 were:
— “Easy Rider” (1969), the Dennis Hopper-directed tale of bikers in search of liberation on a road trip across America. The way it gets at the vastness of the country and the equally wide chasm between Americans was among the reasons cited.
— “American Graffiti” (1973), George Lucas’s ode to small-town America in the early 1960s. If it’s candy-coated, as one person wrote, it also captures a sense of promise and hope that can be synonymous with America.
— “Do the Right Thing” (1989), the landmark Spike Lee joint that addresses race and class on one sweltering day in Brooklyn. Many cited it as an indelible portrait of the reality of America, or urban America specifically.
Also receiving dozens of votes: “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Network,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” and Dr. Strangelove.”
Movies With ‘American’ in the Title
In addition to “American Graffiti,” there were many recommendations for “American Beauty,” “American Honey,” “American Hustle” and “American Pie.” This may sound reductive, but the titles speak to the intentions of the filmmakers, so their inclusion here seemed apt.
The Historical View
Reader submissions were light on documentaries or history-based fiction. Ken Burns’s work came up several times, but opinions didn’t coalesce around any specific title. The Vietnam War as a backdrop (“Apocalypse Now” and “The Deer Hunter”) was noted in different ways. The musical “1776” was cited more than 20 times, and (warming this journalist’s heart) so was “All the President’s Men,” the Watergate investigation docudrama.
The Hits
Perhaps unsurprisingly, recommendations skewed toward popular, long-established films with indelible performances (“Chinatown,” “Forrest Gump”). But memories are long, and readers reached back to the 1930s (“The Wizard of Oz”) and ’40s (“The Best Years of Our Lives,” “Citizen Kane”) for several picks.
The Surprises
“Breaking Away,” a 1979 sleeper about townies in the college town of Bloomington, Ind., was mentioned more than a handful of times for its sense of place and of working-class lives. And what passion for “The Sandlot,” the 1993 coming-of-age tale of young boys and baseball! Readers zeroed in on its idealism and haves-vs.-have-nots subtext.
Conversely, I thought straightforward westerns would make a strong showing, but while several did merit a comment (“How the West Was Won,” the Coen brothers’ “True Grit”), consensus on any one title never emerged.
The Miscellaneous
Films that came up more than once that made for interesting discussion included “Avalon,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Independence Day,” “Koyaanisqatsi,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Office Space,” “Rocky” and “Train Dreams.”
One Last Word
When I was putting together the initial story and asked the writer Melena Ryzik what she thought the definitive American movie was, she responded instantly: “Of course it’s ‘Dirty Dancing.’” No hesitation, no room for doubt. That’s the way it was with some commenters. The many votes for “Idiocracy” were accompanied with remarks like “hands down” and “no question.” One writer declared that nothing more perfectly fit the bill than the sci-fi thriller “RoboCop.” Then there was the commentator who argued that the answer was obviously the 1998 disaster picture “Armageddon.” Of course.
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