American Pastoral (2017)

[Britnasty]

Just felt like making a thread because I finally picked this up last night and Lionsgate sure is screwy. It's advertised as only BD+Digital HD and yet, came with a DVD in the case as well.

[TAC]

This any good? Never heard of it.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by TAC

This any good? Never heard of it.

It has one of the best trailers of all time:

American Pastoral Official Trailer #1 (2016) - Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly Movie HD - YouTube

The film itself is uneven, but full of great moments, great performances and beautiful imagery.

I think it might have worked better as a 6-part miniseries, like the one currently running from another Roth novel, The Plot Against America. All the elements are there in this film, but it just feels like it tries to cover too much in only 1hr48 mins.

That said, if you're interested in the 60s, or you're an Ewan McGregor fan, it's worth seeing.

I'd describe it as being kind of like a feature-length version of the entire beginning-to-end run of "Mad Men," in the way it shows the epic sweep of the 60s through the life of one ordinary man in a suit, who is bewildered by all the changes around him.

[TAC]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

It has one of the best trailers of all time:

American Pastoral Official Trailer #1 (2016) - Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly Movie HD - YouTube

The film itself is uneven, but full of great moments, great performances and beautiful imagery.

I think it might have worked better as a 6-part miniseries, like the one currently running from another Roth novel, The Plot Against America. All the elements are there in this film, but it just feels like it tries to cover too much in only 1hr48 mins.

That said, if you're interested in the 60s, or you're an Ewan McGregor fan, it's worth seeing.

I'd describe it as being kind of like a feature-length version of the entire beginning-to-end run of "Mad Men," in the way it shows the epic sweep of the 60s through the life of one ordinary man in a suit, who is bewildered by all the changes around him.

Looks good!

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by TAC

Looks good!

Be forewarned, the film isn't nearly as good as the brilliant trailer. That said, it's worth checking out if you're into the subject matter. It's certainly not terrible, it's just choppy, because it's so extremely short.

[sawdustandtinsel]

Originally Posted by TAC

This any good? Never heard of it.

I think I've posted this before so I apologize for repeating myself. This film is better than the aggregate would have you believe (22% on RT/43 on MC) but I think it needed a rewrite (the novel is one of Roth's best). This probably wasn't the best choice for McGregor's 1st directing job but I think he eventually gets there by the end. I'm a fairly tough grader so I'd give it C or so.

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Be forewarned, the film isn't nearly as good as the brilliant trailer. That said, it's worth checking out if you're into the subject matter. It's certainly not terrible, it's just choppy, because it's so extremely short.

Overall I agree with you. I think it gets better once they get out of Act 1 and it pains me to say it but they should've just cut or rewritten everything with Straithairn.

[hanshotfirst1138]

I read this book in college, and I know it got a ringing endorsement from Harold Bloom. Had no idea there was a movie.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138

I read this book in college, and I know it got a ringing endorsement from Harold Bloom. Had no idea there was a movie.

It was a fall prestige film that premiered at Toronto, where it got bad reviews, which are toxic to prestige films, so it only got a brief token release afterwards. I saw it in the theater, based on the EXTRAORDINARY trailer. It's not perfect, but it's clearly the work of a lot of talented artists, even if it doesn't all come together exactly as they had hoped.

[dbach690]

The book by Philip Roth is better than the film, but that being said, the film is excellent. I have no idea why the reviews are so bad. The Sixties tore families apart. Dakota Fanning captures the radical element within the New Left in extraordinary fashion.