"AN AMERICAN AFFAIR"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Gretchen Mol as CATHERINE CASWELL James Rebhorn as LUCIAN CARVER Cameron Bright as ADAM STAFFORD Mark Pellegrino as GRAHAM CASWELL Perry Reeves as ADRIENNE STAFFORD Noah Wyle as MIKE STAFFORD Not Rated Studio: Screen Media Directed by: William Olsson Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Adam Stafford (Cameron Bright) is a quiet teenager living in the Washington D.C. area in 1963. He is also smitten with his attractive neighbor Catherine Caswell (Gretchen Mol). Soon, he strikes up a relationship with her by doing odd jobs at her house, and later discovers that she is having an affair with President Kennedy. Soon, the CIA steps in to make threats against everyone from Adam’s family to the president himself.
WHAT I LIKED
Before I talk about anything else, can I express how tired I am of seeing Cameron Bright as the go-to guy for romances with older women. First, it was Nicole Kidman in “Birth.” Now, it’s Gretchen Mol in “An American Affair.” This just irritates me because he’s not that great of an actor... and I would have killed to do this when I was his age. (Honestly, I think I was more honest in the latter part of that confession.)
Still, there are positive elements to “An American Affair.” It does provide a decent loss-of-innocence story with Bright in the lead. The cast also does a fine job, anchored with Gretchen Mol as the morally ambiguous love interest.
There’s a bit of nostalgia to this film that we don’t see all that often. This time in history tends to be idolized, especially when the letters J, F and K are thrown around together. However, “An American Affair” gives a possibly more realistic view of how people viewed the world back then, particularly those who weren’t swept up in the romance of Camelot.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
“An American Affair,” like many independent films, gets in its own way by not knowing what kind of story it’s tell, and by not knowing whose story it’s telling in the first place. On one hand, it’s trying to tell the coming-of-age story of Adam. But then it starts to tell the story of Catherine, struggling with an absent husband and a super-secret affair. Then, in the end, it turns into a cloak and dagger threat with the CIA.
Ultimately, this film is made for someone who wants the nostalgia of the early 60s and want to examine ad nauseum the sexual tensions and political skullduggery surrounding President Kennedy.
While there were aspects of Adam’s character that I could relate to, he just seemed to mope around too much. Catherine was the most interesting character, but even then she made some really terrible decisions. I found myself simply bored with the whole story and not caring who lived and who died.
DVD FEATURES
The DVD comes with a small set of deleted scenes.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
People who just can’t let go of JFK and his era.
