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American Pastoral
Stars: Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, Dakota Fanning, Peter Riegert, Rupert Evans, Uzo Aduba, Molly Parker, Valorie Curry, Hannah Nordberg, Julia Silverman, Mark Hildreth, Samantha Mathis, David Strathairn
Director: Ewan McGregor
American Pastoral (told in flashback by Strathairn and gently scripted by John Romano from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel), follows McGregor, unexpectedly credible and surprisingly moving, too, from his days as a legendary high school jock who marries, becoming a successful businessman in his fathers glove-making business in Newark, and enjoys an idyllic white-picket fence up-market suburban life married to former beauty queen Connelly.
Until the troubled 1960s, that is when his up-market suburban existence is shattered.
His 16-year-old daughter Fanning ("Everything is political. Brushing your teeth Is political!"), having unexpectedly become a (then fashionable?) 1960s anti-Vietnam war protester, is accused of being involved in the bombing of a local post office (seconds after its owner has raised the Stars and Stripes in front of the store) and vanishes
.
McGregor handles the innate melodrama of the story well on both sides of the camera. Performances are good, as is the pacing of the increasingly emotional drive of the narrative.
McGregor, Connelly, Fanning and Riegert as McGregors father give excellent performances in an unpretentious but unexpectedly enjoyable melodrama - semi-glossy storytelling that makes unexpectedly potent sociological points in a style pleasurably reminiscent of those now fashionable vintage Douglas Sirk/Universal-style melodramas.
Alan Frank
USA/Hong Kong 2016. UK Distributor: Entertainment. Colour.
103 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.
Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 2, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 1, Swearing 2.
Review date: 20 Mar 2017