| Made in U.S.A. | |
| Director: | Ken Friedman |
| Screenplay: | Zbigniew Kempinski |
| Cinematography: | Curtis Clark |
| Editing: | Curtiss Clayton |
| Distributor: | Tri-Star Pictures |
| Runtime: | 82 min. |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Made in U.S.A. is a 1987 American crime drama / black comedy film directed by Ken Friedman, jokingly nicknamed "Friedkin" by the actors he followed due to the resemblance, from a screenplay by Zbigniew Kempinski.
The film stars Adrian Pasdar and Chris Penn as two young men who decide to leave behind their working-class lives in the coal-mining country of Pennsylvania and travel to California. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker (Lori Singer) and embark on a crime spree.
The soundtrack features several songs by the American band Sonic Youth, who in 1995 released an album (also titled Made in USA) of all the songs they had recorded for the film.
The release of the film was delayed because of a dispute over artistic control between Friedman and John Daly of Hemdale Films. Friedman first showed his version, without the permission of Hemdale, who held the copyright, at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Daly released the studio's version to video in 1989.[1]
The film was originally entitled USA Today, but the publishers of the USA Today newspaper, Gannett Company sued the film's producers, Hemdale Film Corporation, for the use of the name for one of the company's features. As a condition of the settlement, Hemdale decided to rename the title to Made in U.S.A., according to documents filed in federal court.[2]