Rated R
126 Minutes
Released October 28
For his first film as a director, Ewan McGregor has chosen American Pastoral, a weighty novel by Philip Roth published in 1997. The story is filled with troubled people who thought they were shining examples of “The American Dream”, doing terrible things to one another in the name of self-righteousness. What happens to these people and the changes they go through represent the struggles of the society that grew up after World War II ended, an affluent ideal society, at least on the surface.
By the late 1960’s discourse was all about the Vietnam War and the draft. Life in the USA was not so perfect after all. The children born to people who lived through World War II were supposed to flourish without a care, yet the new generation saw through the dream. Society was still full of flaws underneath the surface, as is the predisposition of humanity throughout time. In striving to be good, we must remember that we may never achieve perfection. It’s the striving that is important. As the late great UCLA coach and teacher John Wooden told his basketball players during that turbulent time period in the 1960’s to1970’s, “Success is peace of mind…in knowing that you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” To think that we can be more, or are somehow better than others is dangerous, as this movie will show you.
Seymour “Swede” Levov, represents the post-World War II Dream – the Golden Boy who could do no wrong, who lettered in every sport, married a beauty queen (Jennifer Connelly in a tour de force performance) and had a beautiful angelic blonde-haired blue-eyed daughter (Dakota Fanning in a superbly played complex character role). This story is about the people who were caught on that swaying rickety bridge between the generation of the American Dream and the questioning Baby Boom generation, filled with counter-culture/ experimental/ sexually-free/ civil-rights-oriented rebels.
McGregor has the right pedigree to look at this rift in The American Dream with clear eyes. He was born and raised in Scotland and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and four daughters. He has taken motorcycle trips through many continents with his best friend Charley Boorman as they created a book and TV series called ‘The Long Way Round’. At the same time he often acted as an ambassador for UNICEF and delivered vaccines to children in remote parts. I have found that it is often those people who have seen the world, and who do not belong entirely to any particular viewpoint or segment of society, who have the most insightful and well-defined ability to analyze another culture.
Many of the characters age very realistically over the course of the story. I believe the make-up team deserves an award. A great part of that realism lies in the skill of the actors as well – perhaps nominations for them too? McGregor does a wonderful job directing and an even better job acting, as the tragic “Swede”. The characters stay with you long after the movie ends, as will the psychological and sociological impact of the story. American Pastoral is well worth seeing.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which is the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com. For previously published reviews see https://kwboole.wordpress.com
