Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

In "Network," his frighteningly prescient satire from 1976, writer Paddy Chayefsky only half-jokingly envisioned a day, in the then-not-too-distant future, when some innovative producer, knowing exactly what kind of programming the viewing public wanted to see, would create a series in which each week a different person would be assassinated on live TV - all to boffo ratings. Well, thirty-some-odd-years later, that day may have finally arrived, at least if "American Cannibal: The Road to Reality" is to be believed. This is a documentary that appears on the surface to be "straight" but which, one can only hope (and one frankly suspects), is actually a put-on. And if the movie ISN'T a put-on, then society may be more far gone than even the most pessimistic social critics have hitherto allowed themselves to imagine.Nowhere in the movie do the filmmakers tip their hat as to whether this is a "real" documentary or simply a cleverly disguised facsimile of one. Each viewer is left to make that determination for himself. The film certainly SEEMS real as directors Perry Grebin and Michael Nigro initially set out to follow two struggling writers, Gil Ripley and Dave Roberts, as they pitch their ideas for "reality shows" to various producers on both coasts. Almost as a joke, one of the writers throws out the concept of a "Survivor"-type scenario in which a group of people are placed on an island where they are deprived of all food and, for all practical purposes, starved to death. And, oh yes, that island is the one place on the planet where cannibalism is reportedly still legal (one of the more far-fetched propositions that suggests that this may perhaps be tongue-in-cheek). It is this pitch that ultimately gets "green-lighted" by a producer, and much of the movie is devoted to showing just how a show like "The Ultimate Ultimate Challenge" travels the route from concept to completion (though, of course, in this case, the series never quite made it to the final stages).A great deal of debate has arisen over whether those who made "American Cannibal" are documenting true events or whether they are just very effectively jerking our collective chain. Regardless of which of those two possibilities is the "truth," the movie makes some valid points about just how far viewers may be willing to go in their pursuit of entertainment. The movie also makes us question whether Ripley and Roberts - and those like them - are actually "pimps" or "whores" in their stop-at-nothing quest for the almighty buck. Grebin and Nigro interview many key players in the world of entertainment, and unless they are all in on the joke or are great actors in their own right, one begins to wonder if maybe this whole thing might just possibly be on the up-and-up after all. And if it isn't - if it really is all just an elaborate put-on - then the filmmakers may, in fact, be using their movie to dramatize just how fine the line is separating the world of fiction from the world of fact, even on so-called "Reality TV." In other words, their own movie may be both the "ultimate" reality show product and a stinging indictment of reality entertainment at one and the same time. Is this truly a case of the medium being the message? Either way, the movie is fun to watch and provides, at the very least, an acerbic insider's glimpse into how ideas are pitched and hit shows are born."American Cannibal" will fascinate some and frustrate others, but regardless of your response to it, you will have to admit that this is that rare movie where "truth" is pretty much left to the eye-of-the-beholder.Just don't take it personally if you ultimately find that you've been made the butt of some colossal joke.

I have never, ever seen a movie like this! Ever. What these guys did is absolutely amazing. I sat dumbfounded as I listened to them talk about how they manipulated certain events, how they completely let the camera dictate the narrative. Is this groundbreaking? I mean, I don't know of ANY other film that has attempted this: using real people as basically their Guinea pigs in a social experiment that took them three years! Wow. My brain might explode and I want to see this again. If you look at Blair witch, as they said, it's fake people doing fake things, American Cannnibal is Real People doing Real Things. BRAVO! TO THE MOST ORIGINAL FILM I THINK I HAVE EVER SEEN. PERIOD. END OF STORY.

I got a chance to check out 'American Cannibal' at Tribeca, and was truly blown away. The film is a wild ride through the creative process of two writers forced to choose between artistic integrity and the ever-alluring charms of 'success' and all its pitfalls.The documentary follows Gil Ripley and Dave Roberts, two hungry young TV writers who face their first encounter with the harsh realities of the business after a sitcom pilot they wrote is rejected by the networks. This failure sends them into a whirlwind of desperate pitching as they try to find a home for their new project: reality television. Through a series of hysterical pitches, their voyage takes them all the way from IFC to the seedy porn underworld of immorality czar Kevin Blatt (promoter of the infamous Paris Hilton sex tapes).What follows is pure tragedy as the viewer has a ringside seat to the disaster of reality television. The laughs are continuous, as the two scribes are rooted in comedy writing and their real life back-and-forth exchanges blow away any scripted Hollywood buddy movie. Another stand-out is Kevin Blatt, the larger-than-life 'accidental pornographer' that serves as a major supporting character in the story. Blatt's presence (like many of the events the film captures) seems like a lucky accident for the filmmakers; from his first appearance onwards, his immorality is magnetic and his rants inspired. (I heard a fellow movie-goer describe him as the 'Tony Soprano of Porn.' Dead on.)'American Cannibal' is brilliantly edited, sprinkled with morsels of cynicism from reality TV insiders. Viewers will be aghast at the behind-the-scenes grit of the industry, while simultaneously gripped by the personal arc of the two protagonists. I highly recommend this film and believe it stands as a prime example of edgy and engaging documentary film-making, maintaining a delicate balance between the sleazy, cut-throat spectacle of reality television and the endearing conflict of two writers just trying to get a break.

Entertaining and important! American Cannibal is a very entertaining movie. You laugh almost the entire time. When you don't laugh – you think and that makes American Cannibal important. The questions of ethics and limits, dubious aesthetics and moral extrusion are raised in a way that allows the audience to reflect on the greatest societal dilemmas while having fun.American Cannibal voices what everyone is thinking and only few are talking about. Yet, for those who prefer not to talk or even hear the message, it offers an amusing display of entertaining characters and a captivating story line.So ENJOY!