'American Dream' Trailer: Longtime Spielberg Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski Directs A Crime Thriller

A Dutch actor and an Australian actor play two American brothers fighting for the "American Dream" in a gritty crime thriller directed by Steven Spielberg's longtime cinematographer Janusz Kaminski. Fittingly, the movie is called...American Dream. But don't let the irony of the lead actors' countries of origin stop you from watching the newly released trailer for American Dream below.

Janusz Kaminski has become a household name for all Spielberg fans, with the Oscar-winning cinematographer working on some of Spielberg's biggest movies of the past three decades, including Schindler's List, War of the Worlds, Minority Report, and the upcoming West Side Story. Kaminski made his directorial debut with the 2007 Polish drama Hania and returns to the director's chair once again for American Dream, a gritty crime drama co-written by Duncan Brantley (Leatherheads) and Mark Wheaton (The Messengers).

American Dream follows two brothers (Huisman and Bracey) who would do anything to protect their new business — including getting involved with the Russian mob for a loan to help fund their entrepreneurial venture. But when the brothers are unable to pay, they're terrorized by Yuri (Nick Stahl), an unhinged mobster who tortures and threatens them and their loved ones with death — and worse, to take over their business. The brothers are corned until Huisman's "tough Russian girlfriend Ana decides to take action herself."

I can't say that American Dream looks on par with the work that Kaminski has done with Spielberg. American Dream looks like the kind of VOD thriller that will fall through the cracks of both the director and the stars' resumes, but hey, at least Nick Stahl is having a good time making a meal out of his Russian mobster character. But apart from that, the only thing that really stands out to me about the American Dream trailer is that neither of the film's lead stars are American.

Here is the synopsis for American Dream:

Academy Award-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Saving Private Ryan) directs this intense thriller about the brutal struggle for success. Desperate for cash, entrepreneurs Scott (Luke Bracey) and Nicky (Michiel Huisman) turn to Russian mobster Yuri (Nick Stahl). After they refuse the funding he offers, Yuri gets revenge by trying to take over their construction project. The partners are terrified until Nicky's tough Russian girlfriend Ana decides to take action herself.

American Dream arrives on digital, DVD, and on demand on January 12, 2021.