American Chaos (2018): Why Trump? Beats Me.

Nearly two years after the 2016 election and eighteen months into Trump’s presidency, the majority of American voters, i.e. those that did not vote for him, are still struggling to understand how he got elected, who were those people who DID vote for him, and why did they do so – given all of his, um, let’s say “negative personal qualities” and what seem to us to be half-baked, uninformed or just plain wrong-headed policies. American Chaos has been billed as a quest for answers by someone who shared these concerns and questions.

As the PR department for American Chaos puts it, “starting six months before the 2016 presidential election, Director Jim Stern put his life on hold and – driven to understand what seemed incomprehensible at the time – traveled through red states to interview and spend time with Donald Trump supporters from different backgrounds. It was a search for insights and answers, for anything that could explain the billionaire’s surging appeal and why these voters remained untroubled by so many troubling things the candidate had said and done.” Stern himself says, at the outset of his documentary chronicling this journey, that he didn’t want to get into arguments about facts or policy, he just wanted to listen to people and try to understand.

I share many of Stern’s same concerns and questions. I was curious about this movie because I too am interested in what drew people to Trump: where they came from, what their circumstances were, what their issues were, and how they were able to look past or ignore his mendacity, crudeness, lack of experience, sexism, racism, nativism and all the rest. And vote for him enthusiastically! I was expecting interviews with and explanations from a cross-section of Trump voters, at least some of whom would be articulate and/or sympathetic. I was hoping to get a better and more comprehensive understanding than the mass media has provided thus far.

But American Chaos fails to deliver. There’s nothing new here, nor does it provide an in-depth examination of anything, really. Just the same ole same old. About a third of the content is comprised of the interviews; fully half is footage of MAGA rallies, some archival stuff, and a few “expert” talking heads. The balance is just Stern looking puzzled and a bit of travelogue showing him on the road from one locale to the next  The scariest, most creepily entertaining segment is an interview with a West Virginia guy who has drunk a version of the Trump Kool-aid that may have been laced with hallucinogens. He stares sternly, unblinking, at the camera and in an assured tone that brooks no argument intones stuff like “Hillary Clinton is a traitor and a liar who wants to DESTROY the constitution and this country, and she should be in JAIL!”  [Despite the quotes, I’m paraphrasing, but not exaggerating.]

Regretfully, my advice is to give this one a pass.

90 minutes

Grade: C

Opening September 14, 2018 in select theaters nationwide.