I was recently able to watch two films which recently released on DVD, Open Window and American Shopper. I just wanted to share a short review for the 2 films just in case you have the opportunity to see these films.

American Shopper (2007) is a film/documentary about a man, Jonathan Sawyer, who attempts to create a sport out of shopping at the supermarket. Sawyer’s speech about the new sport and such in the beginning of the film is the most humorous speech that I have ever heard. The movie follows a few of the participants in the “sport” that is called, “aisling” as they prepare for the 1st National Aisling Championship.

This film is very much a comedy but it also points out things you would never know if you would have never seen the film…like the fact that the average person spends 6,000+ hours shopping in their lifetime or that there is actually a real National Aisling League. I found the actual sport is quite entertaining. Each participant has 3 minutes to pick 15 pre-selected items from around the supermarket as they perform their own dance routine.

There are other rules attached to it, and it makes me laugh even now just thinking about how much thought was put into such a thing. It was also very entertaining to see people dancing up and down the aisles. Seeing them almost made me want to go to a supermarket and dance around the aisles. Oh, all the participants decorate their carts, which get judged as if it is a pageant. To quote from the film, “I love food shopping. It is like a treasure hunt every time.” If you have nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon, this is a pretty funny film to watch.

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Open Window (2006) starts off on a happy note, when Peter proposes to Izzy . Only after Izzy is alone and waiting for her fiancé to come home does the tone change. Windows seemed to be open and doors unlocked, and there are shots where you know that someone’s watching Izzy. A man approaches Izzy and she is then sexually assaulted.

After Peter finds Izzy, takes Izzy to the hospital (where she chooses not to cooperate with the police), and is back at home with Peter, he says, “You really need to talk to the police” and she says, “It’s pointless.” Wow. Really? We know where Izzy’s head is at this point. She ends up telling her mother and asks her not to tell her father, at this point understandably so. Later on, it is so devastating to see the couple in bed and Peter is trying to get close to Izzy but she moves away. Peter wants to comfort her in the way the he knows how but Izzy is obviously not ready for it so all I could do was hope that he would just give her time. He still stuck by her side, he had dreams of chasing the assaulter down and took up running in his life to cope in a way.

Right before Peter left to see his (unbeknownst to him, dying) father, the argument that he had with Izzy was intense. My thoughts of the assaulter telling Izzy not to go to the police were played out when we see a flashback of the assault. Seeing flashbacks of the assault was better than seeing it play out in one piece. That would have been too much so I am glad the way this was done. To see Izzy pushing away not only Peter but her mother and yet at the same time deep down wanting to get her life back was interesting to see play out.

The scene at the restaurant…whoa. It really makes you think about the people you may or may not know that have been assaulted and what they go through on the road to recovery. Every situation is not the same of course, but this film’s interpretation of it just really brings the issue to the forefront. For Peter to go and talk to Izzy about the open window was great for both of them. It opened back up the communication line between the two. Even needing to spend time apart, it was so good to see the two stay together in the end.

This film reflects the experience of the writer and director of the film, Mia Goldman who was sexually assaulted on location while she was editing a film, Crazy People. The film goes onto show the impact this crime made on Izzy, her family, and her friends. The film has made such an inspirational impact, that it is currently being used by the military to train others on sexual assault and its aftermath. After watching it myself, I would recommend this film to anyone.