Lost in America

Another of the movies that I decided to DVR because it had an interesting-sounding synopsis was the 1980s satire Lost in America. I finally got around to watching it recently; as always, that also means the blog post on the movie is getting written and posted.

The movie opens up late one night in one of the wealthier neighborhoods of suburban Los Angeles. David Howard (Albert Brooks) is lying in bed, worried for any number of reasons. He's and a worker at an advertising agency up for a promotion that he knows he's nearly certain to get; there's the formality of a final interview. The promotion will enable him and his wife Linda (Julie Hagerty) to move up to an even better place; in fact, the couple have already packed up, having closed on buying a new house.

But things aren't going perfectly. Linda works in hiring at a local department store, and she confides in one of her friends that she feels like the marriage is stuck in a rut. David thinks the promotion and move to a better house is going to solve all of that, but Linda isn't so certain. In fact, she's not certain she even likes the new house. But if that's a problem for Linda and David, things are about to get much worse.

David walks into that final interview, only to find out that it's not an interview for a promotion. Instead, they've brought in someone else who is in charge of acquiring the account for Ford Motors. It's a big deal, but the company needs somebody who can run that account instead of needing a new executive. David is just the right person for the Ford account. Far worse than not getting the promotion, however, is that the account is being managed out of New York, necessitating a transfer almost immediately. David reacts to the news very badly, telling off his boss in such a way that the boss fires him.

In some ways, all of this may be a blessing in disguise. David has a fair amount of money saved up, and if they sell the new house and a bunch of their assets, they'll have enough money to get out of that rut by buying a Winnebago and traveling across America. Nowadays, when high-speed internet and working from home are common, it's a heck of a lot easier to do the van life thing and at least make a modest living. Trying something like this in the 1980s is much more radical.

Linda somehow agrees to all of this, and off they set with with a Winnebago and a six-figure sum in travelers' checks. They make it to Las Vegas, with the thought of renewing their vows there. But since they haven't done any planning, they're not able to get a nice hotel room. What they get isn't anything like the honeymoon suite. The next morning, David wakes up to find Linda not there -- she's gone down to the casino, cashed all the travelers' checks, and blown it playing the roulette wheel.

With no money and no prospects of good jobs, all of this threatens the marriage. Will the couple be able to survive? Will they ever love each other again?

Lost in America is yet another of the sort of movie where it's easy to see why watching it how Albert Brooks, who co-wrote and directed in addition to starring, would think this is really great material. And indeed, a lot of critics back in the day really liked it. For me, however, Lost in America came across as a bit of a misfire. I think that's in part because the characters aren't the most appealing to me, be it David losing it towards his boss or Linda gambling all the money away and David trying to convince the casino manager to turn it into an ad campaign.

But, because of all the cricial adulation for Lost in America, it's definitely the sort of movie you'll want to see and judge for yourself.