American Strays is a 1996 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Michael Covert. It stars Jennifer Tilly, Eric Roberts, John Savage (actor) and Luke Perry, and follows several characters whose journeys through the desert intersect in an isolated community. The film received a limited theatrical release in September 1996 and was negatively reviewed by contemporary critics, several of whom compared it unfavorable with the work of Quentin Tarantino.
Plot Red's Desert Diner Oasis, an isolated roadside diner, becomes the meeting point for several travelers whose stories unfold across the American Southwest.
Dwayne (Savage), a homicidal vacuum cleaner salesman, encounters Patty Mae (Tilly), a woman with a large collection of vacuum cleaners. Elsewhere, Johnny (Perry), a suicidal man, hires a sadistic hitman (Jones) to kill him, but the arrangement becomes increasingly violent and unpredictable.
Meanwhile, an unemployed man (Roberts) travels with his family, while two mobsters (Viterelli and Russo) make their own journey through the desert. The separate groups eventually converge at Red's diner.
Cast Scott Plank as Sonny Melora Walters as Cindy John Savage as Dwayne Brion James as Oris Joe Viterelli as Gene James Russo as Eddie Luke Perry as Johnny Will Rothhaar as Jordan Jessica Perelman as Daphne Toni Kalem as Alice Eric Roberts as Martin Vonte Sweet as Mondo Anthony Lee as Omar Sam J. Jones as Exterminator Carol Kane as Helen Luana Anders as Martha Jack Kehler as Walker Robert Fields as Harry Jennifer Tilly as Patty Mae
Release American Strays opened in New York on September 13, 1996, and was distributed by Unapix Films. The film opened in one theater, grossing $1,183 in its opening weekend and $1,910 in total. It was released on home video by A-Pix later that year.
Reception Contemporary reviews of American Strays were negative. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that the film "has the germ of a good idea", but concluded that it was "a spoof in search of a sense of humor". David Sterritt of The Christian Science Monitor criticized the film as a derivative imitation of Quentin Tarantino's work, arguing that it reproduced the violence of Reservoir Dogs, without its filmmaking skill. Dave Nuttycombe of The Washington Post similarly regarded the film as overly indebted to Tarantino and gave it the newspaper's lowest "Eject" rating. Susan King of the Los Angeles Times described it as an "overly quirky comedy-thriller".
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