American Dream

A haunting film...
This movie is so dramatically powerful, it's hard to believe it's real life. It's the devastating story of what happens to a small town when it's only industry turns against it. The characters are larger-than-life and the movie sticks with you long after it's over. The viewer is taken on an emotional roller coaster ride from the hopeful beginnings of the strike to the crushing end. Having family in Austin, MN (where the film takes place), I can say that this movie hits the nail on the head all too well. See this film. It's a truly moving experience.

An excellent film about the evolution and effect a strike
This documentary traces the development of labor unrest at a company that is planning to make substantial reductions in employees' pay. The story is told primarily from the employees' viewpoint, and includes elements of corporate campaigning, local versus international union politics, internal politics, the strike, and loss of employees' jobs. The human perspective is fully developed including emotional peaks and valleys, the strife within families, the decay of relationships between workers, and the the affect on the community.

The documentary is extremely well filmed and very moving.

Powerful document... but be warned...
Though it doesnt achieve the dramatic heights of "Harlan County, USA" this film is nonetheless a moving and disturbing document of workers and unions in battle with management, organized labor, and themselves. I have to believe that the person below who cheered the "crushing victory" of management over people who want "to earn more for doing less" was joking. This is a film about meat packers, a thoroughly disgusting job if there ever was one, who try to organize against the Hormel company, which is trying to slash their wages by $2 (It seems to me like management wants to pay the workers less for doing more). Unlike Harlan County, USA, though, the conflict of this film is mostly within the ranks of labor. The battle between international and local unions and between different strategies is what ultimately undermines the the worker's chances for success. A cheery film this is not, but an important one that anyone who cares about our...

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