American Pastoral

'I was never more wrong about anyone in my life.'

Philip Roth's superb book has passages of language that crystallizes our thinking, our memories, our association with life. In this cinematic transformation the words are placed in the utterances by Nathan Zuckerman, sort of an Everyman as he states in the opening of the film – 'Let's remember the energy. America had won the war. The depression was over. Sacrifice was over. The upsurge of life was contagious. We celebrated a moment of collective inebriation that we would never know again. Nothing like it in all the years that followed from our childhood until tonight, the 45th reunion of our high school class…30 or 40, a gathering of my old classmates would have been exactly the kind of thing I'd have kept my nose out of. But at 62, I found myself drawn to it as if in the crowd of half-remembered faces I'd be closer to the mystery at the heart of things, a magic trick that turned time past into time present'. John Romano adapted Roth's novel American PASTORAL for the screen. Ethan McGregor directs. We all reflect on a time that somehow, though placed in the 1960's resistance against the Vietnam War, is terrifyingly familiar with the mood of the nation at present, again at resistance rallies – and that is the reason it works so well.

Seymour 'Swede' Levov (Ewan McGregor) was from the Jewish community and is an All- American sports star in high school. He had everything an American idol can dream of - a the tall muscular young man and high school star athlete but he married a Catholic beauty queen named Dawn (Jennifer Connelly) against his father's (Peter Riegert) advice. Swede later became the successful manager of the glove factory his father had founded, which allowed him to live with his wife in a beautiful house in the New Jersey countryside. Well-mannered, always bright, smiling and positive, conservative but with a liberal edge, what bad could ever happen to him? The couple's stuttering daughter Merry (Hannah Nordberg then Dakota Fanning) is their pride and joy until she steps into the 1960s and becomes an antiwar activist, responsible for bombing a little station, killing the owner in what is a senseless and horrifying change in life direction. Merry leaves home and the rest of the film is a father's search for peace with his distraught wife and community while he ceaselessly searches for his renegade daughter.

A difficult film to watch, just as the book was challenging to read. But somehow the mirror it holds up to society as we are currently living it makes the disturbing experience all the more poignant.

American Pastoral a fine flashback look at the 60s and how the events of the day affected one upper middle class family. The father is Ewan MacGregor the star athlete who married teen beauty queen Jennifer Connelly and looked like they were heading for the golden future. They're from Newark and MacGregor now manages the family business which is a leather goods factory in Newark. But they move out to the suburbs of Morris County.

First off it's a mixed marriage with Jewish MacGregory marrying a Shiksa in Connelly. They have one child a daughter Dakota Fanning who growing up in the 60s sees what's going on around her and gets into some truly radical politics. Her parents are traditional liberal Democrats.

Something she does makes her a fugitive. The rest of the film is MacGregor and Connelly's agonized family traditions are blown apart. They want to understand their child and want her back. But that can never be.

This film is adapted from a Philip Roth novel and Roth drew his characters well as this was an era he and I both grew up in.

Besides the main characters I would single out Peter Riegert's performance as MacGregor's father and Valerie Curry who has embraced totally Weatherman style radicalism. Her scenes with MacGregor who is trying to find his fugitive daughter just crackle with intensity.

A real portrait of an era in America we're still trying to understand.

Anti-war protests. Heated political arguments. Police brutality. Social inequality. Race Riots. Calls for violence as a way to set things right. No, I'm not describing the Middle East or some Third World country. I'm talking about the United States – and not in the present day, but in the mid-1960s. The American Civil Rights Movement and opposition to U.S. involvement in Vietnam were both at their zeniths, both yielding positive and negative results for the country and those most personally involved. Can you imagine if much of this turmoil converged where you lived – all at the same time – and directly affected your own family? That's the situation in the drama "American Pastoral" (R, 2:06).

The script is by John Romano, based on the 1997 novel of the same name by Philip Roth, who based his main character on a real person – with some embellishments. And what a character Roth created! The Swede seemed to have it all! He was a star high school athlete (really, a hero and a legend in his hometown), he married a beauty queen (a former Miss New Jersey), he took over his father's thriving business (manufacturing high-end ladies' gloves), he had a house with land (in a very… pastoral setting), he and his wife had a loving, beautiful daughter to care for. What could be bad? All of it. At the 45th high school reunion of Swede's older brother, Jerry (Rupert Evans), he tells Swede's story to an old classmate, Nathan Zuckerman (Oscar nominee David Strathairn), a journalist who was overseas during the 1960s.

Seymour "Swede" Levov (Golden Globe nominee Ewan McGregor) was the pride of the Jewish-American community in Newark (which nicknamed him "Swede" because of his Nordic good looks), but Swede's life became difficult after high school – and went downhill from there. Swede had to struggle to get his very traditional father (Oscar nominee Peter Riegert) to accept the Catholicism of his wife, Dawn (Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly), he struggled to keep his business viable in the face of declining customer demand (and being at the epicenter of the 1967 Newark race riots), and he struggled mightily with his daughter, Merry (played by Ocean James in Merry's childhood and by Dakota Fanning as a rebellious teenager). Merry dealt with a bad stutter, which clearly affected her confidence and self-esteem (besides the "problem" of having such a beautiful mother, as pointed out by Merry's psychologist, played by Molly Parker). But Merry's problems (and her parents' problems with Merry) had just begun.

As she grew up, Merry became disillusioned with the world which she saw on TV as seemingly coming apart. She strongly sympathized with the Civil Rights Movement (especially its more radical elements) and the Vietnam anti-war movement (especially its more radical elements as well). She went from spewing hatred at President Johnson's image on the family's TV set to regularly taking the train into New York to commiserate with like-minded radicals. She rudely rebelled against all authority figures (including her own loving parents) and started talking openly about the need for a revolution in the U.S. One day, a local post office exploded, killing one man, and Merry… disappeared. Her anguished parents insisted that Merry couldn't have done such a thing… unless she was brainwashed and forced by others.

Over time, the movie's characters display very different reactions to the post office bombing. The police and FBI are convinced that Merry did it and they follow the few leads that they have trying to find her. Dawn doesn't want to believe that her daughter committed this horrible act, but gradually accepts it, leading her to a nervous breakdown. Jerry tries to get his brother to deal with the probability that Merry is guilty. Swede, however, never gives up on his daughter. He'll never believe in Merry's guilt unless he hears a confession from her own lips. Either way, all he wants to do is bring his daughter home and he never stops looking for her. The unexpected appearance of a mysterious young woman named Rita Cohen (Valorie Curry), who says she knows Merry, ends with Swede more desperate and frustrated than ever – and putting increased stress on his relationship with Dawn. Regardless, Swede never ever quits.

"American Pastoral" is a unique combination of enlightening, frustrating, inspiring and depressing. I gained a greater understanding of what was going on during the Vietnam Era, how certain social issues intertwined and how all of this affected ordinary people. I was frustrated by the daughter's behavior – and by the way the movie glossed over any real explanation for her unlikely and extreme radicalization. I was inspired by Swede's determination and unconditional love for his daughter… but it was depressing to see what those admirable qualities did to his previously promising life. The story's somewhat shaky, but interesting, the direction of McGregor (directing his first feature) is mostly solid, the characters are compelling and this impressive ensemble of actors are all at the top of their games. This movie won't leave you feeling very pastoral, but it will teach you more about America – and the power of love. "B"

This film tells the story of a middle class family in the a United States of America in the sixties, when there were political turmoil and social unrests. A teenage girl turns radical, leaving behind a trail of destruction and regret.

I often have not liked films that are directed by actors or actresses. Hence, I have not expected "American Pastoral" to be so engaging. The interpersonal dynamics in the film are closing and convincing. I five myself trying to interpret how and why the girl turns out the way she dies. It is also a great plot point that the psychiatrist does know her stuff, and sees what is happening before other people figure it out. The contrasts between the reactions of the father and the mother after the tragedy, and also the contrasts between the speed of the subsequent recovery are astounding. I think this film is an engaging and thought provoking drama. I enjoyed it.

I really like the Fanning sisters so I'll basically watch anything with them. I was also curious about this film because its the directional debut of Ewan McGregor. I went in blind not knowing what the film would bring but it seemed to have a strong cast, and for the little buzz it generated it remained something that I really wanted to check out. I think its a solid debut for McGregor as a filmmaker but can't escape being too dull at times.

The film is based on a novel about a family with a daughter with a speech impediment. She witnesses a traumatic scene of the infamous monk setting himself on fire in television. After this childhood incident Merry (Fanning's character) becomes a radical opponent of war. She starts out vehemently opposing Lyndon Johnson and the war efforts but eventually becomes the culprit in a murder after a bomb goes off. Swede (Ewan McGregor) spends most of the film trying to find his estranged daughter and find out why she is the way she is.

I think the film has strong performances as you would expect from the cast of this caliber. You immediately see the disenchantment of youth in Fanning's character and understand how radical she is in her anti-war stance. Her pained relationship with her mother is stated quite well, and the uncomfortably in it drives her mother mad. I had no problems with the character interactions, however the film cannot escape feeling dull and prolonged. You don't care enough to follow Swede as he tries to find his daughter, and when you finally find her, its just very underwhelming.

Its hard to care for Fanning's character as she's unlikable from the get go. The film doesn't offer much else outside of a quest for a character you'd rather remain lost. The method of storytelling does not always prosper as it goes through periods of stalling and the payoff isn't really entertaining. It gets very lost in an antiwar shuffle and remains shallow despite trying to go deep. I'd say its exciting to see McGregor get behind the camera but his first adaptation does not have enough life.

6/10