American Pastoral (film)

Plot

At the 40-year reunion of the graduating class of Weequahic High School in Newark, New Jersey; author Nathan Zuckerman meets one of his old friends, Jerry Levov. They talk about Jerry's brother, former star athlete Seymour "Swede" Levov, who recently died after a long illness.

In a flashback, Swede persuades his father, glovemaking magnate Lou Levov, to let him marry his high school sweetheart, beauty queen Dawn Dwyer. Lou is skeptical because Dawn is a devout Roman Catholic, but gives in. They have a daughter, Meredith, or "Merry", and settle in the town of Old Rimrock, where they acquire a large farm.

For much of her life, Merry struggles with a stuttering problem, but her parents are unable to get a handle on it. By the time Merry reaches high school, she has become increasingly radicalized as the Vietnam War rages, and frequently goes to New York City to take part in antiwar protests. Fearing for her safety, Swede urges Merry to channel her energy into protesting against the war at home.

A few days later, the local post office and gas station are blown up by a massive bomb, killing the gas station's owner. Merry disappears soon afterward, and is the prime suspect in the bombing. She isn't heard from again until Rita Cohen, a student at the Wharton School, comes ostensibly to do a study on the glovemaking industry, and tips off Swede that she knows about Merry's whereabouts. Swede meets Rita in a hotel, but spurns Rita's attempts to seduce him. The strain of Merry's disappearance briefly sends Dawn into a mental hospital. She gets a facelift soon afterward, and tries to get Swede to forget about Merry.

Years later, when leaving a gallery crawl, Swede spots Rita on the street. Rita takes him to a skid-row area of Newark where Merry now lives. Here, Swede asks and Merry confesses to having made and planted 3 bombs, killing 4 people. She also tells of how after escaping capture, she moved into the underground, when she was raped repeatedly. Merry wants to withdraw from society, as a penance for her crimes. She becomes a Jain and vows a life of non-violence.

She has no desire to return home even when Swede tries to trigger her childhood memories at a subsequent visit. We then see him in a series of shots through the years, growing older, outside the abandoned house where he found Merry, waiting and holding to his promise to never abandon her. Swede never sees Merry again.

Back in the present, Nathan and Jerry attend Swede's funeral. Answering himself "how we know we're alive," it is because we realize "we're wrong" about everyone all the time. As the guests are about to leave, Merry arrives, having not since seen her father, and lays her hand on the casket.

Cast

Production

In 2003, Lakeshore Entertainment started the development of the film with Phillip Noyce directing it, titled as Pastoral. Later Paramount Pictures acquired the rights, and in May 2012, Fisher Stevens was hired to direct the John Romano's adapted script and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment also attached as financier and producer along with Lakeshore. Jennifer Connolly and Paul Bettany were once attached for the lead roles, along with Evan Rachel Wood as their daughter. Tom Rosenberg and Gary Lucchesi would be producers. Mandy Patinkin was attached to play one of the film's roles, and filming was reportedly begun in and around Pittsburgh.

On June 23, 2014, Ewan McGregor signed on to play the lead role of Seymour "Swede" Levov, a former high school star athlete and successful Jewish American businessman. Phillip Noyce was hired to direct the film. On August 4, Connolly signed on to play Dawn Dwyer Levov, the former beauty queen and wife of Levov. On August 6, Dakota Fanning was added the cast of the film to play the daughter, Merry Levov. In October 2015 Luke Whoriskey joined the cast as Ewan's son Jacob Levov.

On February 18, 2015, it was announced that McGregor would also be directing the film, making his debut after Noyce left the project. On July 9, 2015, Valorie Curry joined the cast of the film to play Rita Cohen, a mysterious young woman from the group of radicals that has led Merry to bomb a rural post office in protest against the government in general and Vietnam War in particular. On September 2, 2015, David Strathairn, Uzo Aduba, and Peter Riegert were added to the cast to play former classmate of the businessman Nathan Zuckerman, Vicky, and Lou Levov, respectively. Corey Stoll also joined the film for an unspecified role. On October 15, Rupert Evans signed on to play Seymour's younger brother Jerry Levov. Molly Parker also joined the film.

Filming

Principal photography on the film commenced on September 21, 2015, in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Filming continued on location around Pittsburgh through November, including the North Side, Downtown, Liberty Avenue, Wilkinsburg, Lawrenceville, and the grounds of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

Release

On April 28, 2016, it was announced that American Pastoral would be given a limited theatrical release on October 21, 2016, from Lionsgate, followed by a wide release on October 28.

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 23% based on 101 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "American Pastoral finds debuting director Ewan McGregor's reach exceeding its grasp with a well-intentioned Philip Roth adaptation that retains the form, but little of the function, of its source material." On Metacritic the film has a score 43 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Toronto Star said the film "fails to illuminate the audience".