All Phil Loder (Peter Dinklage) wanted was to own his own home. His life wasn’t going as he’d hoped. He didn’t have much success in his career or his personal life. He didn’t have a great parking spot or a great car. But he wanted a little place to call his own, where he could write his novel.

When he came across an ad from Astrid (Shirley MacLaine), it seemed like an offer too good to be true. With the help of his agent (Matt Dillon), he took her up on the deal. What Phil found was his dream—his true dream—was something more than he’d imagined.

The new film, American Dreamer, draws inspiration from a true story featured on This American Life. In the film, writer Theodore Melfi sets Phil in the middle of something of a crisis. It’s an engaging, sometimes funny journey through him achieving his goal only to realize it’s both more and less than he’d imagined.

Once Phil sells all his possession to raise the funds for a unique home purchase, he finds that there might be other claims on Astrid’s holdings. He hires a private investigator (Danny Glover) to sort things out, but mostly takes it as a sign that this—like the rest of his life so far—isn’t meant to work out as he’d hoped.

I loved Dinklage as a performer. He’s so great in a certain type of role, the sort of sad clown. He brings that grace and energy to this role. His scenes opposite MacLaine are sweet, but I particularly enjoyed his back-and-forth with Dillon and Glover.

There are moments of pure comedy that delight here. There’s also some emotional catharsis for Phil in the third act that resonated for me. But the film, from director Paul Dektor, is somewhat uneven. That is probably a result of the story, which sometimes zigs when it ought to zag.

American Dreamer has its moments. I appreciated the cast and really appreciated the work of Dinklage. It’s an entertaining film, if nothing else. It doesn’t quite achieve some of its lofty goals but it’s a fun enough journey to get there.

American Dreamer opens in limited release and drops on VOD on Friday, March 8.

Matthew Fox is a graduate of the Radio, Television and Film program at Biola University, and a giant nerd. He spends his free time watching movies, TV, and obsessing about football. He is a member of the FSWA. You can find him @knighthawk7734 on Twitter and as co-host of the Fantasy Football Roundtable Podcast.