Sienna Miller stars as a single mother in rural small town in Pennsylvania whose life is transformed by a tragic event. AMERICAN WOMAN is both a character study and blue-collar family drama. It is the kind of human drama that some worry is being squeezed out of theaters by blockbuster action and superhero movies. The film follows the ups and downs in this working-class woman’s life over several years, but while it has length, it does not have as much depth, although it does treat the characters with respect. Sienna Miller turns in a fine performance but director Jake Scott never lets us really get inside the head of this American woman.
Deb Callahan (Miller) is a 32-year-old woman who still acts a bit like a teen, despite being the single parent of a teen herself. Like her mother before her, 17-year-old daughter Bridget (Sky Ferreira) is a teenage mother, with an one-year-old son named Jesse. While Bridget and her mother kid around affectionately, Deb is getting dressed up for a date, in a too-tight, too-short dress, to meet her married lover.
Deb’s married sister Kath (Christina Hendricks), her husband Terry (Will Sasso) and two young boys, live across the street but the sisters are not close. Kath scolds Deb for dating a married man, with the sisters’ mother (Amy Madigan) chiming in and bringing up their Catholic faith. Deb responds with anger, hinting at long-buried issues.
When Bridget goes missing, everything in Deb’s life changes. The cop in charge, Detective Morris (E. Roger Mitchell), question those who saw Bridget last, and organizes a community volunteer search party. Nonetheless, Deb is left to raise her grandson on her own.
The cast also includes Aaron Paul, as a construction co-worker that brother-in-law Terry introduces to Deb. The story takes place as Deb goes through a number of changes in her life, some wrenching, some more positive, jumping forward in a time twice as Deb raises her grandson to his teen years.
Oddly, although the film spans more than a decade and the children grow and change, none of the adults appear to age, apart from a few gray hairs on supporting characters that disappear and later reappear. It seems a bit strange but maybe it was intended to reflect the characters’ self-image.
The film has potential but falls short of what it might have been, particularly with this strong cast. While Sienna and the rest of the cast do all they can to give the characters depth and richness, they are thwarted by a script and direction that strives to keep things on the surface. It is frustrating at times, particularly when the dialog suggests a deeper backstory or hints at past experiences that shaped Deb’s character, details that are left unexplored. It is a curious choice.
AMERICAN WOMAN is a good film, with some sparkling performances, but one that could have gone deeper and been even better, perhaps even a great film. It opens Friday, June 14, at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema and
RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars
