Bob Smith U.S.A

As an immigrant to the United States (I was born in South Africa), I have always struggled to define America and to understand the "quintessential American." I have traveled extensively around the U.S. shooting television commercials ?and was interested in finding a vehicle, a common thread to link all the disparate voices and ideas that I have experienced on my journeys. Finally, after seeing the name "Bob Smith" on several different locations across the country (store fronts, windows, billboards, car licence plates, etc.), it dawned on me that the name "Bob Smith" could be used to artistically portray life across the United States. In many ways the film defined itself. I listened to the central themes and ideas of each Bob and followed the natural juxtapositions. The lives of the different Bob Smiths became a mirror for the country as a whole. To me the film is a part entertainment, part anthropological study. A slice of the American pie.

“Rating: 9 out of 10” – C Dempsey, cinephelia.com “a Chutzpah-filled Hoot” –Variety “More fascinating than you could ever imagine.” –Doug Brunell, filmthreat.com “Bob Smith, U.S.A. is what America is all about.” –Calvin Wilson, STLtoday.com “This movie is brilliant & I'm the only one in it who's right.” –Normal Bob Smith, normalbobsmith.com

Bob Smith USA (Docu) By EDDIE COCKRELL Read other reviews about this film A Winghead films production. Produced, directed by Neil Abramson. With: Seven men named Bob Smith. One man's diversity is another man's eccentricity in "Bob Smith USA," South African helmer Neil Abramson's look at seven of the more than 81,000 Americans named Bob Smith. This wry slice of Errol Morris lite isn't without a naive and loopy charm that could garner it fest play, tube exposure and a modest cult following on DVD. From the mild-mannered New Jersey jazz guitarist to the small-town Texas politician, from the Boston outsider photog to the Syracuse junk collector and the California yogi, docu looks at Bob Smiths using themes of religion (or the lack thereof), patriotism, race and the private obsessions of the American male. Most extreme Bob Smiths are the Pennsylvania clown minister and the Queens atheist who enjoys strolling dressed as Satan; pic's climactic intercutting of the latter at a sin-filled Lower East Side party with former's entertaining of kiddies at a church sleepover is a chutzpah-filled hoot. Each man is eventually shown to have a private peccadillo and/or sorrow, injecting pic with much-needed poignancy. Tech credits are fine for a virtual one-man show, though score becomes too whimsical at times.

NEW WEST PICK | BIG SKY DOC FILM FESTIVAL God and America Through the Eyes of Bob Smith By Courtney Lowery, 2-13-06 Photos courtesy of Neil Abramson and Winghead Films. Check out www.bobsmithmovie.com for more. Editor's Note: This is one of the New West picks from the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Click here for the hi-resolution trailer. Click here to hear the interview with the director. The country looks different than you might think through the eyes of Bob Smith. The quintessential American man isn't what you would expect. He's a philosophical funny old pervert, an insecure young man looking for boundaries to push, a wounded photographer, an evangelical clown, a Texas Republican candidate for sheriff and a preaching yogi. Filmmaker Neil Abramson sets out to see the country with seven men named Bob Smith in his latest documentary, Bob Smith U.S.A., a feature selection in the upcoming Big Sky Documentary Film Festival What Abramson finds is sometimes disturbing, uplifting, funny and always, surprising. The notion of following seven men with the same name is novel enough by itself to make a good documentary. Abramson could have stayed on the surface in all of these stories, showing the differences in the men and their lives, but he goes further. He delves into their spirituality, their vices, their insecurities and their failings to show not only deep divisions among the men, but also deep divisions within the men themselves. This makes for a great documentary. At first, sure, you're surprised to see one Bob Smith dress up as Satan and take to the streets of New York. And sure, it's kind of a shock to see what kind of porn old Bob Smith has plastered on the walls in his basement. And sure, the thought of someone giving workshops on how to clown around with Jesus kind of curls up things in your mind. But Abramson keeps going. We meet old Bob Smith's wife and hear her talk about the porn in the basement (Elma Smith is totally OK with this.) We meet Satan Bob Smith's family and see perhaps why the young man is pushing so hard on religion and why he's so insecure. We watch clown Bob Smith make a young girl a "helmet of salvation" out of bendy balloons and we hear Texas Republican Bob Smith talk about his son, a ventriloquist, who died too young and watch him sing on a karaoke machine in a senior center. At this point, as you can imagine, there are still questions left unanswered by the film as it closes, but that's the art in it. It's a hilarious and raw journey into the lives of seven very different men and their beliefs, showcasing that in America, we're all different -- and we're all never quite what we seem.

* * * * * * * ST LOUIS TRIBUNE 08/19/2005 Bob Smith, U.S.A. *** (NR; 1:30): A photographer. A yogi. A junk collector. A political candidate. A jazz guitarist. A clown. An atheist. Seven men, seven Americans, all named Bob Smith. About all that they have in common - except the name they share with more than 80,000 other Americans - is a documentary in which they appear. Exuberantly directed by Neil Abramson, "Bob Smith, U.S.A." is funny, joyful, insightful look at a way of life - in all its complexities and contradictions - as refracted through the prisms of seven interestingly different lives. Five of the Bobs are white, two black. They range in age from young to elderly, and in politics from left of center to conservative. Abramson seems to devote the most screen time to the Bobs who are involved in arts, entertainment and media. Photographer Bob laments the loss of his first love. Atheist Bob divides his time between operating a Web site on which he states his beliefs and walking the streets of Manhattan done up as the Devil - complete with red makeup and horns. In contrast, Clown Bob is also a Christian preacher, spreading his ministry through laughter. Jazz Bob ruminates on the persistence of racism on the American scene. Abramson's direction is unobtrusive. Because he doesn't seem to be forcing the Bobs to fit into any grand thematic scheme, it sort of sneaks up on you that the film is nothing less than a portrait of a nation coming to terms with itself. Indeed, "Bob Smith, U.S.A." is what America is all about. Links to other reviews:_The Westerly Sun

* * * * * * * ST LOUIS TRIBUNE 08/19/2005 Bob Smith, U.S.A. *** (NR; 1:30): A photographer. A yogi. A junk collector. A political candidate. A jazz guitarist. A clown. An atheist. Seven men, seven Americans, all named Bob Smith. About all that they have in common - except the name they share with more than 80,000 other Americans - is a documentary in which they appear. Exuberantly directed by Neil Abramson, "Bob Smith, U.S.A." is funny, joyful, insightful look at a way of life - in all its complexities and contradictions - as refracted through the prisms of seven interestingly different lives. Five of the Bobs are white, two black. They range in age from young to elderly, and in politics from left of center to conservative. Abramson seems to devote the most screen time to the Bobs who are involved in arts, entertainment and media. Photographer Bob laments the loss of his first love. Atheist Bob divides his time between operating a Web site on which he states his beliefs and walking the streets of Manhattan done up as the Devil - complete with red makeup and horns. In contrast, Clown Bob is also a Christian preacher, spreading his ministry through laughter. Jazz Bob ruminates on the persistence of racism on the American scene. Abramson's direction is unobtrusive. Because he doesn't seem to be forcing the Bobs to fit into any grand thematic scheme, it sort of sneaks up on you that the film is nothing less than a portrait of a nation coming to terms with itself. Indeed, "Bob Smith, U.S.A." is what America is all about. Links to other reviews:_The Westerly Sun