User Reviews

"American Woman" follows Debra, a thirty-something single mother in small-town Pennsylvania, whose young adult daughter, Bridget, disappears mysteriously. Debra is left to raise Bridget's infant son, Jesse. A volatile and reckless personality as it is, Debra does not take Bridget's disappearance easily, and finds comfort in her older sister, Katherine, who lives across the street from her. The film charts the family's lives together over the next eleven years.

One of the better dramas I've seen in recent years, "American Woman" is a well-written and evenly paced character study that follows a woman in the precarious situation of having her child go missing. Surprisingly, though, that is only halfway what this film is really about. The bulk of the script's weight lay in the fallout of the disappearance, and the ways Debra navigates life and raises her grandson.

In the wrong hands, this kind of story could easily go sideways, but the writing here is strong, and the performances are stellar. Sienna Miller brilliantly portrays the small-town wild-child mother who begins the film as a drunken, chain-smoking grocery store worker, and finds her in a much different state by the conclusion. The character arc is fraught with emotion, and Miller handles it beautifully. Playing counterpoint (also brilliantly) is Christina Hendricks, who has a softer presence as Debra's regimented, responsible sister. Pat Healy and Aaron Paul portray two of Debra's troubled lovers, while Sky Ferreira appears as Bridget, who is only in several scenes in the beginning, but whose presence haunts the film like a ghost. What is truly great about the film is that it captures human relationships in a manner that feels authentic; everything from the dynamics between the family members, to Debra's small-town ennui, to her various relationships with men feel true. If you aren't one of these people, you know one of them, and the slice-of-life nature of the film never manages to devolve into caricature or cliche.

Another surprise here is that the film is genuinely moving. The last thirty minutes contain several moments that are fraught with emotion, including one that had me fighting tears. I am not someone who tends to cry during films (in fact, it's only happened with one other), but the emotional thrust of the film snuck up on me without my really seeing it coming. Several reviews have complained that the film sidelines the missing person/crime plot in favor of exploring other components of Miller's character, but I think those people are missing the point here; this is not a "missing person" film, but rather a drama about people who experience having a missing family member. We tend to forget that the lives of families of missing persons go on, albeit under the pressure of the past resurfacing at any moment. When it does, it brings the audience to their knees as much as it does Miller's character. I think it precisely because the film follows this chronological, true-to-life trajectory that it manages to strike an emotional nerve.

As well-done as the film is, I unfortunately don't believe it will get the audience it deserves. It appears to have received essentially zero marketing, and has been quietly dumped in theaters at the beginning of the summer blockbuster season. The title is also a bit misfitting for the film, which doesn't help either. It's truly a shame, as "American Woman" is a moving, brilliantly-acted drama that finds human truth more often than many of its counterparts. 8/10.

Gripping performance by Sienna Miller as a smalltown young mother / grandmother, coping with the mysterious disappearance of her teenage daughter and left to raise her grandson on her own. The film spans over many years and exhibits interesting character growth as life goes on. Christina Hendricks also delivers an excellent performance as her next-door sister, as well as the rest of the family. It's been awhile since I've seen a good drama and American Woman has delivered the goods. Best film I've seen in the Toronto Film Festival so far.

"American Woman" is one film that is well done it's a moving touching type picture of life and how with love and family one can get thru struggle and pain. It proves that life is up and down with emotions that come from tragedy and loss as thru change closure is finally found. The movie showcases all of these themes so well! Set in rural and blue collar Pennsylvania Debra(in a raw and gritty performance from Sienna Miller) is a single and bed hopping mother who has her world shattered one day after her daughter goes missing as now she has to raise her grandson alone. The movie spans thru her life for 11 years as it's really a roller coaster of highs and lows the pain and drama becomes daily trials of life for Deb. It all ranges from anger and hope the movie makes you really feel like you are going thru life too just like that of Deb's character as we all remember the hardships of life and it's pain. Overall good emotional drama of life and how change happens and spans thru the years before closure.

Coming fom the writer of Out Of The Furnace and the producers of Manchester By The Sea, this portrait of a blue-collar Pennsylvania woman wasn't going to be champagne and roses. While those films boasted well-rounded female characters, they played second fiddle. Here, Sienna Miller's Deb is the main attraction - in all her contradictory, pedestrian glory. Following Deb from 32 (a hot mess grandma) to 40 (taking control of her life), American Woman builds a rich picture of a flawed, recognisable female character. Deb dates unsuitable men while living with her teen-mum daughter, Bridget (Sky Ferreira), and baby grandson, Jesse. Her sister, Katherine (Christina Hendricks), helps when things go wrong - and they go horrifically wrong when Bridget disappears. But Bridget's absence is almost happenstance to Deb's tale of survival, as she weathers an abusive relationship to ensure Jesse has a home. It takes years for her to feel worthy of a decent partner. Maybe Aaron Paul's brickie is the one... You'll guess the outcomes, but what works is the slow-burn combo of convincing dialogue and Miller's unvarnished turn. She should be in the awards conversation - but the performances outstrip the film, so American Woman may not sufficiently linger in audiences' imaginations.

But i think this is the essence of what a drama feature should contain. its a slow walk alongside a sad brittle and broken mum and grandmum, as time goes by after losing her only child who disappeared without a trace.

its a film that cotains hope,loss,domestic violence, adultery, bitterness, strive, but most of all love that may take strange ways of expresion, and the main character may fall into the cathegory as the unfortunate among some of the viewers.

its a slow paced film , full of social realism and humanity on many levels, but its well worth a watch thinks the grumpy old man

I never leave reviews. But this film just had me hooked, amazing journey through this woman's ups and downs, amazing genuine stunning performance by sienna, in fact whole cast was great, the story rolled along perfectly, you can't help feeling emotional watching this. Ignore the low reviews, some people just want explosions and cgi, but when you get a film with great actors and actresses coupled with great story then nothing beats it.

Great story, great cast, and the best film I have seen in 2019 and I watch a few hundred a year. It surprises me the overall low score, and don't get it why people scored it so low, sure no action, no superheroes or vampires that walk in sunlight, just a well written drama that hooked me from the minute it started, the last 20 minutes gave me shivers.

Superb film 10 out of 10 and shame on those that scored it so low, or is it just an indicator of what the public deems a great film these days?

The plot is basically just a device to show us a glimpse of the daily life of low class white Americans. The same thing could have been done better with a documentary.

So if you like fast paced action, don't bother. If you like sublimely acted, well paced, brilliant character development, please give this a watch. This isn't a film about a mother trying to find her daughter, this is about an incredible journey of one woman and watching Sienna Miller's character develop over the course of this film is breathtaking. I cried. A lot. And I rarely, rarely cry watching films. There is something incredibly authentic about this film that draws you in and leaves you feeling as if you were some way involved in the lives of these characters. Bravo

A lot of good things in this as we explore the lives of two working-class sisters, one of whom goes on multiple journey's. Got to support intelligent film-making and that is certainly what we have here (title aside).

To be honest I thought the males were less nuanced (stereotypical, really) but it did allow the females to shine through, and Miller and Hendricks weren't shy in taking their chances: great roles and excellent performances.

Maybe an underrated thread of this was the dual mum/gran role and how it related to the son and his father - modern families, eh ..

I liked how it resolved.

I never heard of this movie before and it came on after something else I was watching so I continued to watch the whole movie.

I'm not a big fan of Sienna Miller (Deb) but she was pretty good in American Woman. At first I thought it was going to play out kinda like Three Billboards where the whole movie she was searching for her daughter.

Christina Hendricks is really good as Deb's older sister Kath, although Sienna looks at least five years older than her. Will Sasso proves he's good for more than a quick laugh as Kath's husband.

One thing I didn't like was the whole cheating thing, Deb had already been through so much and it wasn't necessary to add that.

An easy film to dismiss, But this film deserves two hours of your time and then some.

It's as if American Woman can't quite make up it's mind whether it's a series of domestic incidents or a thriller. The one good thing about it is Sienna Miller's powerhouse performance of a woman whose life has gone awry due to her poor choices of men. The weaknesses in the film are it's overlong running time of two hours, the lacklustre male actors and flagging script. It starts well with the scene being set up for a mother losing her teenage daughter to the night, a major police search for her in dense countryside and the tense performance of Miller as the mother. Unfortunately the film doesn't maintain this tension and quickly descends into a domestic drama about the mother having to raise her grandson and the many bad choices of men she encounters. If this were a film in four acts, the third act, where she marries one of her bad choice of men, could have been cut and the film would have gained for being much tighter. The film would have lost nothing by cutting that half hour out as the actor had no chemistry with Sienna and we are supposed to believe she wanted to marry him after eight weeks of meeting. I'm convinced that a better script and director could eventually get Miller the recognition I think she deserves as an actress. Sadly this film isn't it although she's riveting for the most part. Christina Hendricks and Amy Madigan as her sister and mother help with the acting firepower where the men are lacking. Seven stars for Sienna.

It's too seldom that we get to see small, character driven films on the big screen, and I'm sad that this film is showing on so few screens in my area. All of the performances were excellent and it was nice to see so many underused actresses in this film. Seinna Miller was wonderful, as were Amy Madigan and Christina Hendricks. I loved the story and being given the time to watch the main character change and grow. Please see this excellent film.

Very well done Film without a doubt , however I think they should find a new Title. American Woman used up and storyline too. It is almost as if we as a society are expected to accept the gruesome crime depicted (very subtle at least) as the norm. Granted the Fish wraps and Tv Series about missing people etc abide, just seems overdone. That said the characters click and develop nicely. See if you are in to DRAMAS Musical Score average ?

Siena Miller gives a terrific performance. Christina Hendricks and Aaron Paul are fine, but most of all the story and script really moved me. I saw the last 3/4 of this in a hotel on pay-per-view. Couldn't rewind it to the beginning, so the very next night, I watched the first part just to get the back story on the characters . Highly recommended if you're looking for something other than a comic book-driven action story.

But i think this is the essence of what a drama feature should contain. its a slow walk alongside a sad brittle and broken mum and grandmum, as time goes by after losing her only child who disappeared without a trace.

its a film that cotains hope,loss,domestic violence, adultery, bitterness, strive, but most of all love that may take strange ways of expresion, and the main character may fall into the cathegory of ''dum,blond bimbo'' among some of the viewers.

its a slow paced film , full of social realism and humanity on many levels, but its well worth a watch thinks the grumpy old man

"American Woman" is one of those movies that seems obsessed with making middle America look like the most depressing place on the planet. The filmmakers must have been in a bad mood and looking to take it out on somebody, so they chose to do so by heaping crisis after crisis on top of their heroine, a troubled wild child of a woman played by Sienna Miller. The film follows her trajectory from single mom of a teenage girl in the 1980s, to 40-ish single woman raising her teenage grandson. In between, she suffers the disappearance of her daughter, a couple of lousy men, and a contentious relationship with her mom (Amy Madigan) and sister (Christina Hendricks). She's a total pain in the butt and annoying as hell at times. Some of the things that happen to her are out of her control, but much of what happens to her is the result of her own terrible decisions. So why should we care?

Because she's played by Sienna Miller, giving one of the most underrated performances of the year. I always find myself saying that I don't have to like characters in a movie or book in order to enjoy it, but I do have to find them compelling enough to spend time with, and this movie is a good example of that. I don't know that I ever liked Miller's character exactly (I certainly wouldn't want to spend much time with her), but I did warm to her tremendously and found myself feeling compassionately toward her, and that's entirely due to Miller's fierce performance. There are a couple of gems to be found in the supporting performances as well, notably those of Hendricks and Madigan. Aaron Paul pops up half way through the film as one of Miller's guys, and he's decent, but why he decides to talk like Christian Bale in "Batman" I couldn't ever quite figure out.

Grade: A

Great acting! Sienna miller is sensational. Sadly all the way through the film you are wanting or expecting something to happen and nothing does. Nothing happens.