Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts.

(dir. Matthew Salleh)

By: Adam Freed

For children of the late 20th century, there is no mistaking the welcome sight of a Pizza Hut.  The pizza giant meant a Friday night of hot pan pizza, ice cold soda out of overly large red cups, and of course, the chilled salad bar.  Pizza Hut restaurants were a suburban indicator that families had survived the week, scored a goal, or achieved their “Book-It” goals.  From the brand labeled stained glass lighting fixtures to the pizza slice shaped windows, Pizza Hut is an unmistakable core memory for many Americans.  As it turns out, Australian filmmaking team director Matthew Salleh and producer Rose Tucker share in this fascination, and through their energetic and optimistic documentary Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts, the duo explores a multitude of American small businesses that now occupy buildings that were once pieces of the distinct restaurant chain.  

Salleh’s kindhearted documentary offers the very best that America has to offer.  Slice of Life is a portrait of hard working Americans who through blood, sweat and tears, viewed the two tiered roofs as their opportunity to seize their portion of the American Dream.  Thematically permeating the entirety of Salleh’s film is a common thread of belonging, acceptance and pride of ownership. America's darker sides are addressed in Slice of Life presented with a modicum of hope.  A karaoke bar owner admits to his former racist predilections, yet credits the diverse patrons who visit his converted business as the people who opened his heart and illustrated for him the shame of hatred.  Just as families would squeeze into red pleather booths in the 80’s to spend meaningful time together, the repurposed Pizza Hut buildings still serve the same purpose.  In each interview-based story audiences witness a small slice of American life, from Mexican migrants, to BBQ bosses and same sex sermonists, the diversity of America is still housed under one distinctly shaped roof. 

Pizza Hut founders Frank and Dan Carney, who appear in the film, took a risk in the 1950s, knowing nothing about pizza or the restaurant business to chase their American Dream.  The audacity of their vision still lives on today in the business people who also have risked their financial futures in the name of providing for their loved ones.  Times change, businesses evolve, Pizza Hut franchisees no longer see the financial upside in owning large brick and mortar dining rooms in an age of app based delivery.  But for every economic shift and closed restaurant, there is a distinctly shaped opportunity left behind waiting for someone to grasp hold of their version of the American Dream.

Target Score: 8.5/10  Slice of Life: The American Dream. In Former Pizza Huts is quirky, unapologetically hopeful, and one of the best documentaries of 2024. Filmmaking duo Matthew Salleh and Rose Tucker unearth a truly inspirational view of what America can be. 

Slice of Life is included in Movie Archer's coverage of the 60th Chicago International Film Festival.