Despite having the potential for an intriguing story, the heavily negative reviews for American Rust are evidence of how the show has unfortunately been unable to meet many viewers' expectations. Adapted from a well-received novel by Philipp Meyer and featuring a cast of experienced actors, the show does its best to depict a melancholic story set within America's Rust Belt. For all of its positive attributes, however, the show appears to have left many critics unimpressed.
Taking place in the fictional town of Buell, Pennsylvania, American Rust follows the chief of police Del Harris as he investigates a local murder case in which he believes that he already knows the killer's identity. Yet, rather than bringing him into custody, Del protects the young man from arrest, a choice that only creates more chaos for the sheriff. American Rust has aired five episodes so far, but the ongoing problems in the show's execution continue to hinder it.
The show sets out with the intention of telling a meaningful story about life in the Rust Belt but ultimately fails to keep viewers invested in its plot. American Rust currently holds a 36% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 47 on Metacritic, with reviews being especially critical of the show's slow pacing and melancholic tone. These factors could befit the subplots that follow the residents of Buell as they face their own daily challenges, but critics have highlighted them as being detrimental to the core mystery elements of the show, essentially stating that American Rust has difficulty in setting a tone of urgency in Del's investigation because it is preoccupied with showing the constant misery of Buell's residents. Here are some examples of the show's negative reviews:
"What could have been a propulsive murder mystery or a cogent conversation about social issues ends up a snail crawl through a generic town populated by characters whose personalities range from glum to glummer."
"A slow-burn thriller can come up aces— think season one of 'True Detective'— but despite the best efforts of Daniels and Tierney, this Rust Belt Saga stalls when it most needs to accelerate."
"The plot thrives on contrivance and misunderstanding more often than human emotion, and attempts to draw out what it's like for characters to live where they do more often seem to end in showy small-town cliché."
TIME:
"Adapted from Phillip Meyer's acclaimed debut novel, the show translates the book's rich stream-of-consciousness prose into a flat, run-of-the-mill murder mystery, casting Daniels as the most generic detective antihero you can imagine."
While American Rust follows multiple characters, all of whom have their own respective storylines, the majority of reviews suggest that the show's extremely bleak mood makes it difficult to become interested in these subplots. This bleakness can be an effective tool for showing how impactful the situation that Del and his co-stars find themselves in, but the lack of levity or hopefulness can leave viewers with a sense of monotony. Furthermore, the slow pacing of the murder investigation storyline leaves the impression that there is not much at stake and the slow, incremental revelation of what truly happened on the day of the crime makes staying engaged more difficult. American Rust earnestly appears as though it wants to tell a solemn and sincere story, but the adaptation's greatest issue derives from the fact that it does not always keep viewers interested in what is immediately happening. Still, American Rust has some positive attributes as well, as indicated by some more positive reviews for the Showtime series:
"As expected, the show perks up when [Jeff] Daniels or [Maura] Tierney are given the floor... But their meatiest scenes in the early episodes are few and far between."
"[Dan] Futterman, the credited writer and showrunner, paints a painful juxtaposition: Buell is filled with natural life that promises possibility... But the businesses, the buildings, the bones set in place by its citizens — they're cracking, if not fully broken."
It is unfortunate that the majority of American Rust's reviews are negative because it has many elements that could be conducive to the creation of a genuinely strong story. The show has an impressive cast of actors, including Jeff Daniels, Maura Tierney, and Bill Camp to name a few, but it adheres to its subdued tone so strictly that there is not always much opportunity to show the characters' full range of emotions. Currently, there are four remaining episodes of American Rust and, while it seems fixed on maintaining its tone, the main plot following the mysterious murder is beginning to gain momentum and the show may have a chance to break the pattern when circumstances look worst for Del and the others. The show has been slow in developing its plot, but it may yet be able to display its full potential to audiences.