American Pastoral
Lionsgate | Release Date: October 21, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
43
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
19
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
38
Boston GlobeTy BurrOct 27, 2016
A new movie based on Roth’s 1997 novel “American Pastoral” offers proof yet again that this writer’s great literary gifts are almost impossible to translate to the screen. Roth is a protean American inner voice. The movies, sad to say, remain better at exteriors. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyOct 21, 2016
A staggering misfire on two discrete levels. As an adaptation of the 1997 novel by Philip Roth, it is lead-footed and inept. The screenplay, by John Romano, treats the narrative in a way that strongly suggests what I hope was a willful misreading of the book. But even considered entirely separately from its source material, American Pastoral is hopelessly weak. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 20, 2016
Ewan McGregor is a versatile and durable actor who has spent a lot of time on film sets, and someday he might become an accomplished filmmaker, but his feature directorial debut is one of the most unfortunate literary adaptations in recent memory. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineJake ColeOct 17, 2016
Ewan McGregor’s inert adaption smooths out the Philip Roth novel's eruptions of self-loathing and doubt. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Oct 26, 2016
This is a memory we’re watching, so of course it’s going to be vaguely distorted, its cracks plugged by cliché. Even if you buy that, though, American Pastoral still gives off the strong impression of a rich, complicated story that’s been flattened of its nuance. Read full review
25
ConsequenceBlake GobleOct 21, 2016
The film’s a fundamental fiasco of tone and timing. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversOct 20, 2016
American Pastoral, Roth's magnum opus, needed a film revolutionary on the order of Paul Thomas Anderson, Alejandro González Iñárritu or the Coen brothers to re-imagine it for the screen. McGregor's timid approach does no one any favors, including Roth – and especially the audience. Read full review
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