American Pastoral (2016)

Review

108min

Genre:       Drama

Director:    Ewan McGregor

Cast:         Ewan McGregor, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Connelly…more

Writer:      Philip Roth and John Romano

-Synopsis-

Ewan McGregor makes his directorial debut and stars in an adaptation of Philip Roth’s prize-winning novel; following the fate of a respected and successful Jewish-American man, whose idyllic life unravels after his daughter becomes politically radicalized in America’s period of social upheaval during the Vietnam war and Civil Rights struggles.

It’s perhaps surprising that a Scottish actor would chose a quintessentially American story of broken families and troubled recent history for his directorial debut; but in adapting Roth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel for the screen, McGregor boldly takes on the work of a master lyrical painter of both the Jewish experience and a modern American identity, in the constantly changing landscape of 20th century good ole’ USA.

McGregor himself stars as “Seymour ‘Swede’ Levov”; the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jewish-American former high-school star athlete and hero to his peers, now living an idyllic upper middle-class living in rural New Jersey in the 1960s with his former beauty queen wife “Dawn” (Jennifer Connelly) and young daughter “Merry” (Dakota Fanning).

But “Swede’s” piece of the American dream soon turns into a nightmare when Merry’s childhood emotional struggles conspire with teenage rebellion, putting her on an anarchical path of no return; leaving a family in tatters in a country ready to ignite, and a father searching  for a daughter who is physically and existentially lost to him, as the colours of this pastoral of idyllic 20th century America start to run and reveal the charred canvas beneath.

‘American Pastoral’ has already garnered some early criticism from fans of the Philip Roth novel, for not effectively capturing the story’s complicated context of a country in social and political flux, while building a captivating family drama on top of it and all within a less than two hour runtime, no mean feat. But even if you’re not familiar with the novel, or indeed a fan of the author at all, it’s clear to see that the criticisms are well-founded.

It seems that McGregor & co. are in a no-win situation; either the film sticks too close to the basic plot of the novel and misses an opportunity to expand on the fascinating social and historical context of the story, or the adaptation misses the mark made by the novel and fails to capture the nuance of the characters and their situation. Either way the result is a rather cold and clinical family drama which god forbid could have done with a pinch of melodrama, or something to bring out a measure of heart, either overtly or subtly and without resorting to cliché.

Ewan McGregor himself is just about believable as the all-American high school star and illusory success story, doing his level best but we can’t help thinking he might have been better served by sticking to single duty in his directorial debut. Meanwhile Jennifer Connelly is striking and solid as always as the “stepford wife” whose mask of perfection begins to slip, while Dakota Fanning continues her cinematic maturation with a further move away from her precocious child-star origins, to be made complete next year by her role in the disturbingly dark western/drama ‘Brimstone’.    

But even the talented cast can’t quite bring enough heart or emotional gravitas to a story which ultimately falls dramatically flat, while only scratching the surface of a fascinating historical setting which is the most interesting element of the story and remains depressingly contemporary. After all, this is a story set in a nation divided along racial, generational and ideological lines, during a time of political upheaval and social unrest… sound familiar?

Ultimately McGregor’s ‘American Pastoral’ is a perfectly decent and reasonably well-executed little family drama with hints of a wider societal themes, set in a fascinating but underdeveloped social context. Essentially amounting to a moderately captivating tale about the folly of youth and the adults who keep them, and the destructive implications of “revolution”, by youngsters trying to change a world they barely understand and setting it on fire.

The Bottom Line…

Despite a solid cast and celebrated source material, director and star Ewan McGregor can’t make this cinematic adaptation stick; ‘American Pastoral’ is a reasonably well-executed and moderately captivating but emotionally flat drama, which doesn’t strike the right balance between an unconvincing family drama and its more interesting historical yet timely setting, ultimately feeling more like a missed opportunity than an impressive effort.

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