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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
AN AMERICAN AFFAIR An American Affair takes the time period of 1963 America and squeezes it down to reflect the point of view of a pubescent, sexually frustrated 13-year-old boy living in Washington, D.C., across the street from the most gorgeous and sexy woman he’s ever seen. At least half of the film works, if only up to a point. Adam (Cameron Bright) goes to Catholic school, gets into fights, and is moody around his parents. One night, he sees a naked 30-something blond in her apartment window. Snooping around, he enters her home to look through her mail, but when confronted by Catherine (Gretchen Mol), he sneaks his way out of the situation, saying he just wants to help out with any work around the house. Adam’s parents, who happen to be connected D.C. journalists, warn Adam not to hang out with Catherine—she’s supposedly “known” around Washington. This might be because she’s an ex-wife of a CIA agent and that she is also “in” with President Kennedy as one of his women on the side. There’s also another complication, one a bit more muddle and unclear, in the character of James Rebhorn’s Lucian Carver, a highly connected upper-level CIA agent who is after Catherine’s diary, which has many a possible secret about the president who, as we also learn (though this isn’t a new factoid), didn’t trust the CIA and wanted to take it apart piece by piece. She’s the CIA’s only connection to the president, until the diary goes missing. At this point, the CIA/JFK angle disconnects the film from Adam and his sexual confusion. By the time of the president’s assassination, An American Affair becomes more like Oliver Stone’s JFK (yes, Castro is a player here too), but without the sensational filmmaking and too much backstory crammed into Rebhorn’s character. The
direction and writing are just average, with enough sex thrown in to
secure an R rating, but the performances by most of the cast are drawn
out well enough, limited as the roles are. (The ex-husband played by
Mark Pellegrino gets the short end of the stick with only one very good
scene with Mol). The two stars, Mol and Bright, do what they can with
their characters, but Bright still has a ways to go as an actor.
Formerly seen in Birth as Nicole Kidman’s reincarnated husband,
he has an interesting face and is successful as a typical boy when Adam
simply observes the goings-on around him. It’s when he has a big
emotional scene, however, that he completely comes apart and is
unconvincing. While there’s plenty of material for two good movies,
there’s not enough for one.
Jack Gattanella
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