An American Affair
Screen Media Films | Release Date: February 27, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
31
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
4
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The reason to see An American Affair is Gretchen Mol. She has a mild, natural way of holding herself that's likably unactressy--in every film, she seems both smart and grounded. Read full review
70
Washington PostDan Zak
The film rises above its conventions. Just when it seems to be a fable of sexual initiation, An American Affair pivots away from sex. Just when it seems to be a re-dredging of the Kennedy mystique, it pushes past history. Thoughtfully and imperfectly, it dramatizes the flight from childhood, the surrender to adulthood and the pieces of us that survive. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
Even Oliver Stone would giggle at the notion that the CIA couldn't reach JFK through any means except via one of his blond playmates. Read full review
40
Village VoiceVadim Rizov
Only Noah Wyle, as Adam's unreadable dad, rises above the muck; he deserves his Tarantino-aided resurrection sooner rather than later. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A coming-of-age tale and a JFK assassination conspiracy movie. The first half of that equation works nicely...But the assassination story line is absurd. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
A mess of a film that can't quite figure out what it wants to be: an illicit love story, a political thriller or a coming-of-age set piece Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia Puig
An American Affair is sordid business blandly portrayed and not worth meddling with. Read full review
30
VarietyJohn Anderson
Like many aspects of An American Affair, the music and the lopsided dramatic priorities take the viewer right out of the movie. Read full review
30
NPRBob Mondello
Hard to say what's dumber, the premise or the characters in William Olsson's trashily preposterous An American Affair. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Were it a farce instead of an earnest, paranoid thriller with pretensions to historicity, An American Affair might not seem so offensively exploitative. The fact that it is quite well acted, especially by Ms. Mol, who has the air of a sophisticated 1960s party animal down pat, only compounds the insult. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
This is one of those films in which almost every element is done in such an embarrassingly amateurish way, you want to put it out of its misery. Read full review
0
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
I have no idea how such shameless prattle found its way to the screen. Read full review
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