{{more citations needed|date=June 2011}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = American Strays | image = American Strays DVD Cover.jpg | caption = DVD cover for 2000 collector's edition release. | writer = Michael Covert | starring = {{Plainlist| * Luke Perry * Eric Roberts * Jennifer Tilly * John Savage * Carol Kane * James Russo * Joe Viterelli * Sam Jones * Brion James}} | director = Michael Covert | producer =Frank Agrama<br>Trudi Callon<br>Rod Dean<br>Kirk Hassig<br>Doug Textor | music =John R. Graham | released =<!--See WP:FILMRELEASE before editing-->{{Film date|1996|9|13|ref1=<ref>{{cite web|title=American Strays (1996) - IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115531/ |accessdate=2011-06-04| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110425010439/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115531/| archivedate= 25 April 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref>}} | runtime = 97 minutes | country = United States | gross = $1,910 (US)<ref>{{cite web|title=American Strays (1996) - IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115531/ |accessdate=2011-06-04| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110425010439/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115531/| archivedate= 25 April 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> | language = English | budget = }}
'''''American Strays''''' is a 1996 American comedy-drama film directed by Michael Covert. It follows three interwoven stories of desert travelers as they converge on a small diner.
==Synopsis== Red's Desert Diner Oasis, a dive in the middle of nowhere, becomes the focal point of three separate storylines. In the first, Dwayne (Savage), a homicidal vacuum cleaner salesman, may have met his match in Patty Mae (Tilly), a woman with an impressive collection of sweepers. The second story follows Johnny (Perry), a suicidal man who hires a sadistic hitman (Jones) to end his life anyway possible which includes beating the ever loving crap out of him. The third story follows an unemployed man (Roberts) and his family, two mobsters (Viterelli and Russo), and others as they travel across the emptiness of the American Southwest.
==Cast== * Scott Plank as Sonny * Melora Walters as Cindy * John Savage as Dwayne * Brion James as Oris * Joe Viterelli as Gene * James Russo as Eddie * Luke Perry as Johnny * Will Rothhaar as Jordan * Jessica Lerelman as Daphne * Toni Kalem as Alice * Eric Roberts as Martin * Vonte Sweet as Mondo * Anthony Lee as Omar * Stephanie Cushna as Johnny's Girlfriend * Sam J. Jones as The Exterminator * Stace Williamson as Johnny's Brother * Carol Kane as Helen * Luana Anders as Martha * Jack Kehler as Walker * Robert Fields as Harry * Charles Bailey-Gates as Bobby * Thomas Elliott as Timmy * Jennifer Tilly as Patty Mae * Michael Horse as Lead Cop * Leland Crooke as Cop #2 * Michael Kaliski as Cop #3 * Patrick Warburton as Rookie Cop
==Reception== ''American Strays'' was released to a single theater on September 13, 1996.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2453898753/weekend/|title=American Strays - Box Office Mojo|accessdate=2020-04-14}}</ref> The film grossed $1,183 in its opening weekend and $1,910 in total during its theatrical release.<ref name="mojo" />
Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' wrote in his review that the film "has the germ of a good idea" but concluded ''American Strays'' is "a spoof in search of a sense of humor".<ref name="nytimes">{{cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/american_strays.html|title=American Strays|date=1996-09-13|accessdate=2020-04-14}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0115531|American Strays}} * {{rotten-tomatoes|id=american_strays|title=American Strays}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Strays}} Category:1996 films Category:1996 comedy-drama films Category:1996 English-language films Category:American comedy-drama films Category:1996 American films Category:English-language comedy-drama films
{{1990s-US-comedy-drama-film-stub}}