American Gun is a 2005 American crime drama film produced by Participant Productions, IFC Films, IFC First Take, and Spirit Dance Entertainment. It was written in 2001 by Steven Bagatourian and Aric Avelino and directed by Avelino as his directorial debut. Avelino attended Loyola Marymount University and made the film with many LMU alumni, including producer Ted Kroeber. The film took two and a half years to finance. The central idea came from a "Column One" article in the Los Angeles Times. In addition, the writers were influenced by a friend from the Chicago school district who related stories about how students brought guns to school, not to use them on campus, but because of the dangerous neighborhoods they live in or walk through to attend classes. Avelino was very appreciative of the directorial advice of Forest Whitaker, one of the film's producers. The first actress attached to the project was Marcia Gay Harden. Premise American Gun centers around three stories dealing with the results of gun use: an inner city school principal (Whitaker), a single mother (Harden), and an A student (Cardellini) who works at her family's gun shop. Cast Marcia Gay Harden – Janet Huttenson Forest Whitaker – Carter Donald Sutherland – Carl Wilk Lisa Long – Sandra Cohen Arlen Escarpeta – Jay Chris Warren Jr. – Marcus David Heymann – Producer Chris Marquette – David Huttenson Amanda Seyfried – Mouse Nikki Reed – Tally Joseph Kell – Security Guard Tony Goldwyn – Frank Rex Linn – Earl Kevin Phillips – Reggie Davenia McFadden – Felicia Linda Cardellini – Mary Ann Wilk Schuyler Fisk – Cicily Michael Shannon (as Michael J. Shannon) – Jerry Charles Duckworth – Connie Todd Tesen – Barry Melissa Leo – Louise Gary Paul Clark – Supervisor Ali Hillis - Gun Shop Patron Garcelle Beauvais (as Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon) – Sarah Reception On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 39% based on 31 critic reviews, with an average rating of 5.30/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Despite its intriguing premise, this earnest anti-gun polemic is too melodramatic to resonate." According to Metacritic, which compiled 14 reviews and calculated a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average reviews". Distribution According to boxofficemojo.com, American Gun took in $24,098 in a limited release from one to six theatres in a little over 10 weeks in