film and no matter low budget and high budget and no budget need to have one essential element to ensure that the time dedicate to the character and emotion and and theme be not futile . that and singular strong moment and have to be story . whether it be a horror film and a sci fi film and or even a bergman avant garde film and there need to be at least a small strain of story carry the viewer from point a to point b and if that be miss the entire structure of the film will collapse . character you can ignore and emotion can be fake and and the theme can be murky and but without that central story your film will ultimately be find in the dollar bin at the near retail chop shop . despite harvey keitel and viggo mortensen and thandie newton and and a slew of british accent that be why the young american fail . absolutely it be a dark crime noir and a family retribution and and a love story and but the story in the young american be so weak and that get to the different point and the different scene and felt rush and unfamiliar and and murky . this jumbled and muddle mess of a film boast cheapness from every angle and but due to the miss story the young american fail to be anything more than a random harvey keitel stumble at the store and or a cheap recommendation because you rent reservoir dog . with the sound of raf in the background and the viewer be pull right into the youth of britain circa mid 90 . dance party and gang and and late night plague the screen a group of genuine unknown get kill in the night . this should have be an indication of what the remainder of the film would be like and but i trudge onward and definitely not upward . after the brutal killing and we be swoop into the world of harvey keitel and or anti antagonist ( seemingly blend together every cop cliché or genre ) john harris . bring in to help with a murder and we soon learn that there be a secondary motive in play something that have to do with a very young and an extremely overacted and viggo mortensen . a we jump from one frame to another and one initial drawback be the dark and character building scene literally and there be the concept of symbolic light to set the tone but director danny cannon use so much darkness some scene be blank on the screen . miss more than a fourth of the film and we be force to follow an unknown path between keitel and mortensen and love interest thandie newton and and relative newbie craig kelly . it be his story that transfer the power from keitel and but be equally a unappetizing . after the death of a family member and kelly christian decides to turn against the crew that do it and become a powerful tool for keitel and but the who and whats and wheres and whens and and why be never answer still give u nothing but quick scene and literally teleport u from point a to point b and without reason or consequence . a mentioned and the story be the ultimate failure of the film . there be action make by our character that do not seem to fit within the realm that danny cannon have create and but he continue to push through . nothing be answer and situation be randomly create and and why be viggo mortensen character so underdeveloped and yet so vital to the story . who know . that question become the downtrodden central theme to this film and and a reason why the young american will never see success . with our story a clustered mess and how do the rest fair beneath the control of cannon . not surprisingly and the british be believable and ground . the minor character and perhaps outside of craig kelly and felt like real police and the setting ( due to extensive british tv watch ) felt like britain 1993 and but the influx of the american presence just ruin the rest . keitel could have be steven seagul or jcvd and he be not cunning and nothing brilliant and just an american cop dislocate and fight against the shadow of a drug dealer . the entire subplot with his ex wife be nothing short of embarrass . use to build his character and it just felt more like a cheap trick instead of honest emotion . the same can be say with viggo mortensen and who with choppy editing by danny cannon and never quite developed past the notion of creepy guy . with a voice that sound like a lynch character and an unknown occupation and and a purpose to be in britain ( let not forget his peculiarity towards young men ) and mortensen felt more like a placemat than a villain . on the other side of this film and newton read her line well and and craig kelly attempt to work around cannon and david hilton catastrophe of a script . it be obvious the actor be find and the script be heavily edit and and the final product be a rushed pile of poorly construct lego . one flick of your finger and it will all go crumble down . overall and in case it hasn not be notice and this be an abomination of a film . from the darkly lit scene ( you have to watch to believe how dark this film be ) and to the atrocious acting and to the story that go nowhere but somehow end up at the final credit and the young american be a direct to video release for a reason . shot in 38 day and this film felt rush and incomplete . mortensen character be the one i struggle with the most and a the end lead u to believe that this be suppose to be a different film than the one we begin or watch . there be too many wild card ( see jack doyle ) that muddle the main story . it be a murky mess that be easily forget and should be avoid . danny cannon may have give u csi and judge dredd and but this be an incompetent film that will appeal to nobody and fail miserably . grade represent out of .