''American Dream/American Knightmare'' is a 2018

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 ...

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

film about

Suge Knight Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. ( ; born April 19, 1965) is an American former record executive, former National Football League, NFL player, and convicted felon, who is the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight was a central f ...

directed by

Antoine Fuqua Antoine Fuqua (; born May 30, 1965) is an American film director known for his work in the action and thriller genres. He was originally known as a director of music videos, and made his film debut in 1998 with '' The Replacement Killers''. His ...

Plot

''American Dream/American Knightmare'' is a documentary about the life and career of

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...

producer and

Death Row Records Death Row Records is an American record label that was founded in 1991 by The D.O.C., Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, and Dick Griffey. The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. D ...

co-founder

. The film includes interviews conducted by Fuqua with Knight between December 2011 and November 2012 in which Knight details how it all came about as well as how it all fell apart.

Cast

* Marion "Suge" Knight Jr. *Marion "Suge" Knight Sr., Suge's father *Maxine Knight, Suge's mother *Costello Knight, Suge's uncle *Thomas Knight, Suge's uncle

Broadcast

The film aired on

at 8:30 p.m. on December 21, 2018, just months after Knight pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in a 2015 hit-and-run case and was sentenced to 28 years in prison. It was given a rating of

TV-MA The TV Parental Guidelines are a television content rating system in the United States that was first proposed on December 19, 1996, by the United States Congress, the American television industry, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ...

Reception

In his review of the film, Brian Lowry of

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

wrote, "Although Knight isn't always the most reliable narrator, the filmmaker gives him the latitude to tell his tale, describing a world of money, power and violence, while alternating between explaining and lamenting those dynamics." He later summarized, "Fuqua's approach isn't necessarily journalistic, but rather seems designed to let the mogul relate his own story as he experienced it." In a review for Vulture.com, Paul Thompson wrote, "None of these conversations are particularly revelatory. Knight is given to aphorism and, obviously, to anything that will burnish his own myth." He adds that the film "is not quite hagiography, but it allows its subject the final say (and often the only say) on virtually all the key moments in his personal and professional lives."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:American Dream American Knightmare 2018 films 2018 television films 2018 documentary films Documentary films about African Americans Documentary films about criminals Documentary films about the music industry Films directed by Antoine Fuqua Films produced by Antoine Fuqua Films scored by Aaron Zigman Rockumentaries Showtime (TV network) documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language documentary films