A captivating, witty and poignant drama. Gretchen Mol sizzles.
An American Affair (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:6
Rotten:29
Average Rating:3.8/10
Consensus: With a plot both undercooked and cliche riddled, An American Affair unsuccessfully mixes a coming-of-age story and a presidential conspiracy thriller.
Theatrical Release:Feb 27, 2009 Limited
Synopsis:
Washington DC, 1963: the Cuban Missile Crisis is last year’s news, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s
young administration is starting to hit its stride. Behind the scenes, however, winds...
Washington DC, 1963: the Cuban Missile Crisis is last year’s news, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s
young administration is starting to hit its stride. Behind the scenes, however, winds of
discontent are swirling.
Thirteen-year-old Adam Stafford has his own problems to deal with. At that uncomfortable age
when both everything and nothing seems possible, he’s a bit of a loner, a kid who spends too
much time wrapped up in his own thoughts as he suffers through the daily grind of nuns, bullies,
and girls at Holy Cross School.
Until the evening his adolescent yearnings come to life: Adam spies a beautiful naked woman
in the house across the street, and his curiosity is inflamed. The woman is Catherine Caswell,
a stunning thirty-something blond beauty who has just moved in. Captivated, Adam is determined
to learn all he can about his new neighbor.
Catherine is an artist, a divorcee and a confidante (if not more...) of JFK. Against all odds, an
unlikely friendship blossoms between the innocent thirteen-year-old and the world-weary survivor.
But friendship is never enough, not in Washington, and not at the height of the Cold War. Catherine’s
hidden past soon catches up with them as she and Adam find themselves enmeshed in
the growing confusion and intrigue leading to the assassination of the President.--© Screen Media
Starring: Gretchen Mol, James Rebhorn, Cameron Bright, Mark Pellegrino
Starring: Gretchen Mol, James Rebhorn, Cameron Bright, Mark Pellegrino, Perrey Reeves, Noah Wyle
Director: William Sten Olsson
Director: William Sten Olsson
Screenwriter: Alex Metcalf
Producer: Kevin Leydon, William Sten Olsson
Composer: Dustin O'Halloran
Studio: Screen Media
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Reviews for An American Affair
An earnest, fictional coming-of-age story is squeezed from a bitter, true-life local tragedy. And it works.
The relationship of a 13-year-old innocent with a sophisticated 30-something woman is credible: not so much the political conspiracy.
A flick for Kennedy assassination conspiracy buffs which puts a whole new spin on "the grassy knoll" courtesy of the flamboyance of a nearly-naked Gretchen Mol.
A dash of Ingmar Bergman and Oliver Stone in this Capitol Hill noir, as kinky DC sexual politics collide with flaky JFK conspiracy theories, and Bay of Pigs CIA boozer masterminds wonder if communists are having more fun.
Stuck in William Olsson’s awkward melding of coming-of-age tale and political conspiracy thriller, Mol tries her best to make something of a role that’s half siren and half mourning mommy.
There are scenes that work here and there, but regrettably not nearly enough to hold the film together. In the end, this affair is definitely not one to remember.
so absurd and convoluted that even JFK's legacy can't subdue its preposterousness
An unholy genre mutation undreamt of on the isle of Dr. Moreau, An American Affair piggybacks the pubescent sexual awakening sapfest onto the JFK assassination conspiracy thriller.
If you can get past the exploitation-of-minors thing, there's a tawdry exuberance to moments like the one in which the twerp and his overage girlfriend drunkenly splash paint on each other.
Out of its mind at a deep, essential level, An American Affair plays its dubious scenario with a straight face that makes the silly thing quite watchable.
The title sums up the bland, unimaginative and cliche-laden thriller/coming-of-age tale.
Even the famous M Street stairs from "The Exorcist" are out of place in the climax of this lightweight movie.
Before An American Affair is over, you can be sure that Adam will learn a very familiar life lesson.
The central relationship remains intriguing but the later parts of the film suffer from a routine conspiracy plot.
JFK meets Notes on a Scandal meets Rear Window? An American Affair has some promise and potential, but its main ideas remain messy and undeveloped.
An implausible drama about some Washington D.C. people plotting around the time of the assassination of JFK.
Latest News for An American Affair
March 01, 2009:
A dash of Ingmar Bergman and Oliver Stone in this Capitol Hill noir, as kinky DC sexual politics collide with flaky JFK conspiracy theories, and Bay of Pigs CIA boozer masterminds wonder if communists are having more fun. ![]()
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