An American Affair (2009)

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

OMG! The CIA whacked Jack! Come back to reality. The movie has great actors (Noah Wyle, James Rebhorn, Gretchen Mol, among others); however, the Libtards in Hollywood simply cannot tell a story without their crazed anti-American, Anti-CIA, anti-whatever being the core of the story.JFK was murdered by Oswald (with perhaps the aid of Sam Giancana). Bobby Kennedy was a ruthless and LAWLESS man. JFK had many flaws but was a great leader surrounded by lousy advisers! The movie is still worth watching as every 14 year old boy's fantasy comes to life and love is not what it is all cracked up to be! Had Jack lived he most likely would NOT have been re-elected as Goldwater was way ahead in the polls and the American public was still quite angry at the poor handling of Cuba and Kruschev!

An American Affair is a shamelessly anachronistic picture. The characters may dress in period clothes but their performances are very much of this era, 2009. There is liberal use of "modern" swear words that feel out of place in a movie set in this period. My first thought was that racial integration looked to be working a charm in this impression of 1960's America, as Black and White students go to class together, hang-out in the playground and even socialise at each others homes. Racism, still so prevalent in modern day America, is not broached in this movie.The picture begins as a point of view of a young student played superbly by the photogenic Cameron Bright. Cameron Bright is this movies saving grace and all the scenes without him feel forced and unnecessary. If it is established to be his view of the world then how can scenes take place in which he is not present and would have no knowledge? The integration of these scenes is forced and awkward.At one point he follows and listens to some evil CIA types. How would he be able to hear such a guarded conversation? Let alone be undiscovered. The scene is utterly implausible. Also the boy takes photos at night of his alluring next door neighbour. How could he do this with a normal 1960's manual camera? Suspension of disbelief is fine if presented plausibly.Finally the famous Washington stairs location that was used so definitively in The Exorcist (1973) makes a conspicuous appearance. This took me out of the movie completely and cheapened any impact of the ending.

Some of the reviewers here obviously have never heard of, or read a book of, historical fiction. This movie did not begin with "True Story". Hence why expect it to be? Indeed, if a film about historical events was 100% accurate it would be so boring we'd then complain about that. Gretchen Mol did a superb job as usual. I first saw her in "Forever Mine". If she gets the right part she always delivers. The part of the young man was also well done. It is difficult to give much info without spoiling the plot. It has drama, romance and tragedy. All well done; the components of good movies. So watch it for yourself. And don't try to make historical comparisons as you do. That's not what this movie is about.Most of the bad reviews here come from those who did not see the typical Hollywood template film they expected. There are no Quentin Tarantino type influences here. It's not the typical American type template that has won the US only 5 Palm D Ors in drama at Cannes in the last 25 years even though we've put out tens of thousands of films! Yes if you expect the usual steamy sex, filthy talk, things blowing up, chase scenes, gun battles and bloody gore-filled murder scenes you will be disappointed. Sadly, there are few American made movies worth the time or expense at a cinema these days but this is one of them. You get to have your cake and eat it too.

COA=Coming of Age. It's a set and somewhat stilted genre by now, and _An American Affair_ does little to change that. Young Adam Stafford is isolated in the all-too-predictable World He Never Made: parochial school, iconic period parents cloaked in gray clothes and rote emotions, and females constantly pushing him away for no clear reason. We get the sense Adam's supposed to be Somehow Special - maybe because he's an only child, maybe because he's the big-eyed, callow, Pure Boy - but he's really just inert, a force to be acted upon by the grown-up world.Gretchen Mol's Catherine is really the only flame of real humanity in the film, the only one not acting out a role of someone acting out a role. The actor who brought Betty Page back to life a few years ago had matured fascinatingly since her days as a pretty bauble. Now we see her without the black wig and fetish gear, and she's a real presence. Her role as Sexy Bourgeoise Bohemienne is contrived - cool jazz, drugs, and a patently silly finger-paint ballet with Adam - but she has a genuine emotional vulnerability that most of the film lacks. The subplot of neighbor Catherine's involvement with Jack Kennedy - who apparently will talk to the CIA only through her - is not well integrated. As a result, it feels obligatory, as if it's there to beef up the COA story (and perhaps add a little commercial zing). It does provide a counter-irritant to Catherine's sensuality in Lucien and Catherine's ex Graham, the Agency men easily reduced to masculine role-icons. Lucien is so buttoned up he seems almost deliberately awkward, and Graham taking what we're supposed to believe are the only outlets from his masculine role - drinking and rage towards Catherine. Director Olsson is, of course, working with archetypes - Cold War Washington folk - but he never lets them get beyond their icon status. Particularly telling is his handling of the JFK assassination moment - the parochial school kids left to stand pointlessly in line as all the sisters gather at the television. The news is spread only by Adam, the special boy, who whispers to the pupils - and a silent overhead shot as they scatter like birds in a Paris park. Again, a dance of roles and distance, too stylized by half. Here's a hint, Mr. Olsson: Camelot wasn't so long ago that you have to play it as somber as a medieval allegory. (What does it say that _The Tudors_ had more men in crew cuts than your vision of 1963?) People - CIA men maybe excepted - did approach one another as people, and European directors often miss that American ease. Ironically, that same ease was what made John Fitzgerald Kennedy so irresistible - not just to his many feminine liaisons, but to his country and the world.