RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
RT's Blu-ray HQ
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / An American Affair
An American Affair

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

An American Affair (2009)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
17 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

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

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 4 of 4

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
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

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
21 - 35 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Subscribes wholeheartedly to the history-as-pornography school of thinking, in which all will be revealed if you can figure out who is sleeping with whom, when and where and what they do in bed.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
02/27/09
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Sketchily written, clumsily directed and poorly acted, even history-conspiracy aficionados will be left cold.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
02/26/09
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News

Did Metcalf spend a weekend watching "Summer of '42" and "JFK" and decide they'd make a good mash-up?

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
02/26/09
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

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

Here's the best thing I can say: that it refrains from having its 13-year-old protagonist have sex with Gretchen Mol.

Full Review Source: Hollywood & Fine | comment 1 Comment
02/26/09
Marshall Fine
Marshall Fine
Hollywood & Fine

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

A cliché-ridden hodgepodge of film genres.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment 1 Comment
02/25/09
Mark Peikert
Mark Peikert
New York Press

Only Noah Wyle, as Adam's unreadable dad, rises above the muck; he deserves his Tarantino-aided resurrection sooner rather than later.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
02/24/09
Vadim Rizov
Vadim Rizov
Village Voice

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

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

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

The immersion of a titillating, gender-altered Lolita story into the political framework of 1963 strikes a chord of wanton misuse of dramatic license.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
02/21/09
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

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

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
 
 
21 - 35 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2
all

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
More...

February 26, 2009: Critics Consensus: Jonas Brothers Fizzles
This week at the movies, we've got teenybop pop (Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience, starring Jonas Brothers) and a video game adaptation (Street Fighter: The Legend of... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
66% 66% Public Enemies
83% 83% Harry Potter and the H…
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
75% 75% Julie & Julia
32% 32% Terminator Salvation

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
78% 78% The Hangover
49% 49% Taking Woodstock
26% 26% The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
47% 47% The Girl From Monaco

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

James Cameron

James Cameron

We look at the Avatar director's career

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland

Check out the brand new trailer now!

Golden Globes

Golden Globes

Up in the Air leads with 6 noms!

Nominee Gallery

Nominee Gallery

See who got nominated for Golden Globes!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
0
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
0
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
17
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
28
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
28
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
  • Prince of Persia Featurette Posted Source: Yahoo! Movies
4
  • Trailer Bulletin: Robin Hood Source: ComingSoon.net
61
  • Mel Gibson Plans a Mexican Vacation Source: Variety
8
  • New Iron Man 2 Clue Posted Source: Screen Rant
26
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Avatar Live Up To The Hype?
236
  • Awards Tour 2009: Golden Globe Noms Here!
140
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Girlpower Rules Again with Princess at #1
70
  • Awards Tour 2009: Inglourious Basterds Lead Critics Choice Noms
44
  • Awards Tour 2009: Avatar Best Picture at NYFCO!
38
  • Total Recall: James Cameron Movies
35
  • Weekly Ketchup: James Cameron Plans a Fantastic Voyage
33
  • The Effects of Where the Wild Things Are
30
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Critics Consensus: Princess, Invictus Are Certified Fresh
21
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
23
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • An American Affair at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
MSN's Year in Review
MSN's Year in Review External Link

Take a look at MSN's choices for the Top 10 films of 2009.

40 Best Films of the 2000s
40 Best Films of the 2000s External Link

Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!

Tarantino's Characters
Tarantino's Characters External Link

Hollywood.com explores why QT's characters resonate so well with audiences.

10 Questions For Zac Efron
10 Questions For Zac Efron External Link

The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.