AMERICAN SON Out On Netflix Today

[quizking101]

The film adaptation of AMERICAN SON was released on Netflix this morning.I watched it and it definitely does not benefit from being filmed up close and in their faces. I liked the play as a whole, however thin and idea-driven it was, but it feels like the acting was not toned down for the screen AT ALL and that they are still performing to the back of the Booth.

 

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One weird addition is a few cutaways during extended monologues and soliloquies of the characters, including one at the end that cheapens the payoff at the end. I have a distinct, haunting memory of Kerry Washington wailing and falling apart before my eyes as the curtain fell, but the film slowly fades out her screams and Pasquale saying “I can’t breathe”, cutting away through the window (where the rain machine was painfully obvious), ending on the scene of the incident.

 

[n2nbaby]

I’ll watch in the hopes that Netflix produces more things like this (like Slave Play) but I’m not looking forward to it.

I hated the play. It took an important subject and turned it into a cringy, Lifetime melodrama. It was just as manipulative as Crash. And that dialogue... ugh.

[LightsOut90]

one of the most manipulative pieces of theater I have ever seen,. the end was absolutely disgusting 

[CATSNYrevival]

I’m still confused. Is this a film of the Broadway production or did the same cast film a movie version?

[GiantsInTheSky2]

CATSNYCrevival, the same cast and creative team filmed the show on a soundstage after it had closed.

[n2nbaby]

CATSNYrevival said: "I’m still confused. Is this a film of the Broadway production or did the same cast film a movie version?"

I believe it’s considered a film, it premiered at TIFT.

I watched the first half hour before work and oof, it somehow has become even more manipulative than the stage production thus far (the water fountain scene). 

[ModernMillie3]

I think they should have just filmed it when it was on Broadway. I watched it for Steven and Jeremy, but it's really not a good play. However, I hope Netflix continues doing this for theater lovers. I look forward to The Prom and The Boys in the Band. 

[RWPrincess]

They filmed it at the Booth right after the show closed. Kerry posted about it on social media at the time.

I hated the ending but I'll watch again on Netflix because Steve's understudy was on when I saw the play so I'd like to see his version. Plus I also want to encourage Netflix to give us more content like this,

[ModernMillie3]

On Broadway meaning in front of an audience. 

[VotePeron]

They filmed it on a film set in Brooklyn, not live on Broadway. I think it was cheaper to do it there then film in a broadway building with broadway staff. Thus, the Netflix adaption straddles a really strange line between being a “movie” and being a “play.” They should’ve forked over the money to just film it at the Booth, it would’ve translated so much better.

[Alex Kulak2]

I didn't see the play, but I thought the film was pretty decent. I agree the acting's kinda stagey, but Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale's performances are pretty great, and kinda carry the film.

I think the presentation's pretty good too. I like the idea of a film taking place in one room. With a play, you don't even think about it taking place on one set, but a film set in one place gives it a claustrophobic, almost purgatoryesque aesthetic, and I really like it.

The claustrophobic setting also feeds into the tension the direction is able to create, especially in the final third of the movie, when everyone's arguing and fighting, it's pretty dicey.

Spoiler wise:

 

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The part of me that's a writer says that the ending is about as blatant as emotional manipulation gets. However, the audience member in me says that the ending, seeing the two characters process and sob over the death of their son was absolutely devastating. It's something you don't want to even think about a parent going through, but seeing them endure it was heartbreaking.

I don't regret seeing it, and I think you should check it out if you want. Again, I didn't see the play, so I don't know how it measures up, but I liked it fine.

[ModernMillie3]

Contains spoilers:

The last minute seems like a bad Lifetime movie. The way the man talked about their son's death, the 10 seconds of them reacting before it ends, Steven saying he can't breathe yet says it in such a monotone way. It's really, really bad for professional actors of their caliber. And having him utter Eric Garner's last words as the last thing you hear was obviously very much intentional, but strangely had no emotional impact. It was just abrupt and weird. 

[IdinaBellFoster]

It’s a film, but I believe Netflix is pushing it as a TV movie in terms of awards consideration.

[Alex Kulak2]

How does Netflix differentiate them? Does it have to have a limited theatrical release like Roma to be a film, or is it just who they send the Consideration packages to?

[SweetLips22]

Dear Lord,did people PAY to listen to two people scream at each other?

This was 10mins of over acting and some of it really bad[especially the husband] and if I were the cop I would have slapped her.

Fast forward to the ending for the wrap up and final scream then to start season 6 of The Walking Dead[well, I have been busy].

AS sure needed a few zombies to lighten the mood.

[IdinaBellFoster]

Alex Kulak2 said: "How does Netflix differentiate them? Does it have to have a limited theatrical release like Romato be a film, or is it just who they send the Consideration packages to?"

Exactly! They need at least two weeks in NY and LA.

[bwayphreak234]

I just watched this and enjoyed it for the most part. The rain machine was EXTREMELY obvious (obnoxiously fake looking) to the point of being just distracting. I hated the scenes that took you out of the world of the play (i.e. where they first met and the final shot of film). I think that this would have been much better if they just filmed the play live, or filmed this directly on the set without the weird occasional cuts that just made this feel like a Lifetime movie... Also, FWIW, I loved the play when I saw it on Broadway.

[Call_me_jorge]

I’m watching this right now and I honestly can’t stand Kerry Washington. I mean. I’m not sure if it’s her or the character, but she’s giving me way too much anxiety. Like I wish her character was just a bit more patient instead bullying Jeremy Jordan’s character around.

[n2nbaby]

Call_me_jorge said: "I’m watching this right now and I honestly can’t stand Kerry Washington. I mean. I’m not sure if it’s her or the character, but she’s giving me way too much anxiety. Like I wish her character was just a bit more patient instead bullying Jeremy Jordan’s character around. "

Look, I hated this on Broadway and I hated the movie but calling Washington’s character a bully to Jordan’s character is RIDICULOUS. Jordan’s character was blatantly racist to her multiple times.

[GiantsInTheSky2]

This just...really misses the mark.

I love the basic skeleton of it - the characters, themes, the arc/ and flow make sense, but this could have used a lot of changes prior to being adapted. Everyone is miscast. Kerry Washington is pretty one note throughout the whole thing (and only has one facial expression for 90% of it) and everyone else is Acting so hard that it’s cringey. Definitely needed a different director and several dialogue rewrites.

I’m bummed because this subject matter is extremely important and there’s just SO much potential. Was it truly better on Broadway or did it just read better in the setting of a stage?

Shotty writing and directing aside....there are tons of well respected actors that could have lifted this piece and I can’t help but think they took an easy & cheap route of filming what they already had.

[Call_me_jorge]

n2nbaby said: "Call_me_jorge said: "I’m watching this right now and I honestly can’t stand Kerry Washington. I mean. I’m not sure if it’s her or the character, but she’s giving me way too much anxiety. Like I wish her character was just a bit more patient instead bullying Jeremy Jordan’s character around. "

Look, I hated this on Broadway and I hated the movie but calling Washington’s character a bully to Jordan’s character is RIDICULOUS. Jordan’s character was blatantly racist to her multiple times."

This became clear after I posted this. Jordan’s one line regarding the water fountains was uncomfortable to say the least. 

[ModernMillie3]

Among the other dozens of racist, offensive, and egregious remarks towards her, right? 

[SweetLips22]

If someone, black or white were screaming in my face,relentlessly, I would certainly lash out, more in anger than racist.

And the water fountain?--it was already there from times past. Could have been removed but left for, drum roll, more racial tension. Even the lighting went sub dungeon.

The whole thing was a nightmare on elm street--until the bodies at the end.

[Fordham2015]

I'd love to see how a writer of color would've handled this story. He or she almost definitely wouldn't have ended it by having a white person appropriate Eric Garner's final words.

[Alex Kulak2]

The playwright is also a trial lawyer by day, and I wish we had this story told by someone not so closely tied to the criminal justice system