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Movies / On DVD / An American Affair
An American Affair

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An American Affair (2009)

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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.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for sexual content and language.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Dramas

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 [More]

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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Release:

Jul 28, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.78

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • Subtitles: English, SDH, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Deleted Scenes
 
 
 
 

Reviews for An American Affair

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A captivating, witty and poignant drama. Gretchen Mol sizzles.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
02/27/09
Avi Offer
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

An earnest, fictional coming-of-age story is squeezed from a bitter, true-life local tragedy. And it works.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
03/13/09
Dan Zak
Dan Zak
Washington Post

The reason to see An American Affair is Gretchen Mol.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
02/23/09
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The relationship of a 13-year-old innocent with a sophisticated 30-something woman is credible: not so much the political conspiracy.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
02/18/09
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

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.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
02/26/09
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

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.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
02/22/09
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

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.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
02/26/09
Alison Willmore
Alison Willmore
Time Out New York

Painfully contrived

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
03/02/09
Ben Lyons
Ben Lyons
At the Movies

Start to finish, [the film] makes absolutely no sense.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
03/02/09
Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz
At the Movies

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.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
03/06/09
Betsy Sharkey
Betsy Sharkey
Los Angeles Times

so absurd and convoluted that even JFK's legacy can't subdue its preposterousness

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
07/22/09
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
Filmcritic.com

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.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
02/23/09
Bill Weber
Bill Weber
Slant Magazine

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.

Full Review Source: NPR | comment Comment
02/26/09
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
03/13/09
Bob Strauss
Bob Strauss
Los Angeles Daily News

The title sums up the bland, unimaginative and cliche-laden thriller/coming-of-age tale.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
03/12/09
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today

Even the famous M Street stairs from "The Exorcist" are out of place in the climax of this lightweight movie.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
03/01/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Before An American Affair is over, you can be sure that Adam will learn a very familiar life lesson.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
03/08/09
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

The central relationship remains intriguing but the later parts of the film suffer from a routine conspiracy plot.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
02/17/09
Ed Scheid
Ed Scheid
Boxoffice Magazine

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.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
02/27/09
Eric Monder
Eric Monder
Film Journal International

An implausible drama about some Washington D.C. people plotting around the time of the assassination of JFK.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
02/27/09
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
 
 
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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. Opens in new window
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