American Woman A Pretty Good Heartfelt Drama, as Miller Shines Grade: B+

Source: IMDB

American Woman tells a story of a grandmother Debra (Sienna Miller), whom recently her daughter has gone missing after a late night out. Debra now has to basically raise her daughters son, as she goes through the growing pains of raising a child once again, while also maintaining a job and living place. The Cinematography was pretty good, the film looked pretty nice. I enjoyed the whole epic car driving scene, camera work had some kind of charm towards it. The Score was fine, nothing extraordinary but gets the job fairly done. The cast honestly I enjoyed everyone as a whole in this film, even the child actors. Sienna Miller plays a great performance as Debra, brought a lot of raw passion and emotion towards this character. Although early on I would say she was trying to generate tears, as an aftermath of her daughter going missing, as she wiped away nothing on her face which is Sienna’s only flaw, other than that no complaints for her performance. Early on it looked like Debra was going to be an unlikable character, as she was known as a reckless woman whom slept around the town. Once her daughter goes missing... Her character grows as an individual, becoming a strong independent woman right before our eyes, earning our respect and even our hearts. Couple of flaws to point out. The first time gap was pretty unexpected, would’ve liked to see how her relationship with her first new man was developed. Some pacing issues here and there. I also thought one character honestly didn’t deserve the silent treatment, I mean what he did was shallow indeed, but he actually cared about Debra and the kid so I felt at least she could’ve hear him out. If you’re wondering how I came about American Woman, I saw it was hitting theaters nearby and I liked the poster... A good poster sells tickets. American Woman became an actual surprise towards me, I felt it was going to be good, but I didn’t think I was going to really like it as much as I did. What looked like your typical “My daughter got kidnapped” story, actually became more than just that. Rarely ever did they go back towards that side plot, the main story is how Debra moves forward and takes on a challenge right in front of her, and that’s raising the grand child and developing herself into a grown woman. The story works, you can even say based on the title, it’s basically a metaphor towards the modern day American woman even. The American woman can’t go outside in the dark alone, without having fear they’ll be likely abducted. The American woman is called a Whore for sleeping with a married man, however the married man is called absolutely nothing, as cheating on your wife is expected by the married man. The American woman is abused. The American woman becomes broken, she doubts but somehow gives in to trust even when all odds are against the idea that loving a man is possible, when enough is enough she loses hope in all men after failure time and time again. You get a lot out of what the film maker is trying to say, because this is exactly how the American woman is treated today’s world, in segments of Debra’s life. The scene where Debra gets into a car crash, is just an example of her losing her grip towards life. She lost her daughter, she was fooled that a married man could actually loved her for her, as he wasn’t sleeping with other girls other than her, has to take responsibility of raising a kid... Her life has taken a turn for the worst, as now she just lost a grip towards life. I like how this film has some charm moments, whether it be clever transitions, it’s nice to see the little things in films. In the end the film makes us care about Debra, as you can say there are a couple tear jerking moments in this, it’s a well written story and effective as well. Overall, American Woman was a pretty good film. I recommend this film, I feel if you don’t get a lot out of it like I did, you’ll still enjoy it either way, check it out! -Mitch Smietana