The vibe of Another Day in America falls somewhere between Clerks and Glengarry Glen Ross. Mauro brings these characters to life in the fiery mess of their work lives in a compelling way, and he walks that tightrope reasonably well but not perfectly. The film’s marketing describes it as uncomfortable and provocative. While those labels certainly apply, the filmmakers have, perhaps, taken those notions to a place where it feels like they are trying too hard. Having spent an embarrassing number of decades in corporate life, this reviewer can assure you that anyone speaking at work the way these characters do (particularly the men) would be escorted off the premises without delay. That said, the characters function as exaggerated figures from work life. They are saying what we all wish we could say during a workday. If you can get past the crude and abrasive cringe factor, there is some dark humor in these situations.
The performances make this film. Every actor sells the angst and dysfunction of their character brilliantly. There are also a couple of familiar faces. Character actor Paul Ben-Victor and Natasha Henstridge weigh in for brief roles.
“Every actor sells the angst and dysfunction of their character brilliantly.”
Mauro speaks about what the film hopes to illuminate in his Director’s statement: “Unprecedented times? Indeed. What have we given away ourselves to get something we think is just a little bit better? What violence, what depravity, what banality has been normalized to undo our humanity? Another Day in America will be a culturally radical film. Like all true cinema, it is designed both to reflect back on our own selves while also undoing everything we accept around us each and every day.”
He does not advocate for any particular solutions but instead documents a society where social media and ubiquitous addiction to screen time have corroded any sense of empathy that ever existed between people. As we mourn the death of real journalism and the failed experiment of giving everyone on the internet a voice, we have lost a vital sense of decorum in a conflagration of narcissistic clickbait. In Another Day in America, Mauro forces us to look into that mirror, which is not a pretty sight.
It’s tempting to think this style of meditation on the sad state of our culture adds nothing new to the conversation, but the value will be clear when future sociologists look back at our time and ask, “What in the hell were they thinking?”
"…Mauro forces us to look into that mirror..."
