''American Rust'' is an American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television series created by

Dan Futterman Daniel Paul Futterman (born June 8, 1967) is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer. Futterman wrote the screenplay for the film '' Capote'', for which he received an Academy Award nomination, an Independent Spirit, Boston Society of Fil ...

based on the novel of the same name by

Philipp Meyer Philipp Meyer is an American fiction writer, and is the author of the novels '' American Rust'' and '' The Son'', as well as short stories published in The New Yorker and other places. Meyer also created and produced the AMC television show ba ...

. The series premiered on September 12, 2021, on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

. In January 2022, the series was canceled after one season by Showtime. In June 2022, the series was revived for a second season by

Amazon Freevee Amazon Freevee is an American ad-supported video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service owned by Amazon, with original and licensed programming. History Amazon Freevee launched as a free, ad-supported video channel by the Amazon-owned online data ...

Premise

Set in a small

Rust Belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions and ...

town in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, chief of police Del Harris takes on an investigation when the son of the woman he loves is accused of murder.

Production

In November 2017, a television adaptation of ''American Rust'' was ordered to series by

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

. The pilot episode was written by Brian McGreevy, Lee Shipman, and Philipp Meyer, and to be directed by

David Gordon Green David Gordon Green is an American filmmaker. He directed the dramas ''George Washington'' (2000), ''All the Real Girls'' (2003), and '' Snow Angels'' (2007), as well as the thriller '' Undertow'' (2004), all of which he wrote or co-wrote. In 2 ...

. The series was scrapped on January 25, 2018, after having trouble finding a leading actor for the show. In July 2019, the adaptation was recommissioned by

, to be written by

and starring

Jeff Daniels Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and playwright, known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accol ...

as Harris; they both also serve as executive producers. In March 2020,

Maura Tierney Maura Therese Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on the sitcom ''NewsRadio'' (1995–1999), Abby Lockhart on the medical drama '' ER'' (1999–2009), ...

Bill Camp Bill Camp (born 1963/1964) is an American actor. He has played supporting roles in many films such as ''Lincoln'' (2012), '' Compliance'' (2012), '' 12 Years a Slave'' (2013), '' Love & Mercy'' (2015), '' Loving'' (2016), ''Molly's Game'' (2017) ...

, David Alvarez,

Alex Neustaedter Alexander Francis Neustaedter (born March 29, 1998) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Bram Bowman in ''Colony''. Career In 2009, Neustaedter debuted in the film ''Albino Farm'', playing Samuel. In 2010, he starred as Caleb Johnso ...

and Julia Mayorga were cast as series regulars. In March 2021,

Mark Pellegrino Mark Ross Pellegrino (born April 9, 1965) is an American actor of film and television. He is best known for his work as Lucifer in ''Supernatural'', Paul Bennett in '' Dexter'', Jacob in ''Lost'', James Bishop in '' Being Human'', Clayton Haas ...

joined the cast in a series regular role, while

Dallas Roberts Dallas Mark Roberts (born May 10, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Milton Mamet in the third season of AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' (2012-2013), Eliot Delson on ''Unforgettable'', and Owen Cavanaugh on ''The Good Wife' ...

Clea Lewis Clea Lewis (born July 19, 1965) is an American actress, best known for her television role as Ellen's annoying friend, Audrey Penney in Ellen DeGeneres' sitcom ''Ellen''. Personal life Lewis was born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, to a writer ...

and Nicole Chanel Williams were cast in recurring roles. The series was filmed in and around

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. On January 25, 2022, Showtime canceled the series after one season. On June 9, 2022,

picked the series for a second season.

Cast

Main

as Chief Del Harris *

as Grace Poe * David Alvarez as Isaac English *

as Henry English * Julia Mayorga as Lee English *

as Billy Poe *

as Virgil Poe *

Rob Yang Rob Yang is a Korean American actor known for his role as Lawrence Yee on ''Succession'' and as Logan Kim on ''The Resident''. Yang has also appeared in numerous television shows and films, including ''The Americans ''The Americans'' is an A ...

as Deputy Steve Park

Recurring

as Jackson Berg *

as Jillian * Nicole Chanel Williams as JoJo * Federico Rodriguez as Alejandro

Episodes

Reception

''American Rust'' has received mixed reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 33% based on 21 critic reviews, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''American Rust''s tale of America lost is a worthy one, but despite an A-list cast it simply does not have the narrative clarity or heft necessary to do its subject matter justice." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the series has a score of 47 out of 100 based on 18 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Based on three episodes for review, Zack Handlen of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' gave it a "C" grade, writing "There's a lot not to like about ''Rust'', a dreary, well-acted, badly written chunk of misery porn" and that "the dialogue is all flatly expository". Handlen concluded with, "''American Rust'' likely has a story worth telling, and a setting worth exploring, but this version fails to make much of a case for either."

References

External links

* Television shows based on American novels 2020s American crime drama television series 2021 American television series debuts American television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows Showtime (TV network) original programming Television shows set in Pennsylvania Television shows filmed in Pittsburgh Television series by Boat Rocker Media