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American Pastime

Play trailer Poster for American Pastime 2007 1h 45m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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33% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 69% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
The lives of Japanese-Americans upend during World War II.
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American Pastime

Critics Reviews

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Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times 05/11/2007
A moving, heartfelt drama. Go to Full Review
Ryan Cracknell Movie Views 08/24/2010
Full of interesting characters and placed in a charged setting, but the preachy and obvious spin it takes is ultimately melodramatic and predictable. Go to Full Review
Don Willmott Filmcritic.com 11/15/2007
3/5
American Pastime asks what it truly means to be an American. What better question to ask these days? Go to Full Review
David Cornelius DVDTalk.com 06/09/2007
2.5/5
While everything else about Pastime is very good, it's all rooted in a mediocre screenplay. Go to Full Review
Donald Munro Fresno Bee 05/16/2007
C
While historically sensitive and thought-provoking, the film has serious flaws. The story line is scattered and the direction uneven. Go to Full Review
Bob Strauss Los Angeles Daily News 05/11/2007
2.5/4
American Pastime's inclusive, forgiving message could hardly be more admirable. It could have been more exciting, though. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Cory S 08/30/2024 American Pastime is personal favorite of mine on many levels of appreciation. The forced removal of loyal Japanese Americans and their families sent to concentration camps with their Civil Rights denied, has hardly been mentioned in our education system explaining the Executive Order 9066 signed by FDR for placing 120,000 Japanese American into 10 concentration camps throughout the United States during the beginning of WWII. American Pastime tells the how baseball served as a distraction to the incarcerees to help uplift their spirits during this very dark and shameful period of American history. My family was incarcerated from San Jose and sent to Topaz, Utah where this film takes place. My mother and father never talked about their incarceration and it wasn't until I was in college did I learned about this atrocity inflicted upon upstanding and loyal American citizens. American Pastime reveal the strength and dignity of the Japanese Americans and the will to be loyal to a country that so ill-treated them as citizens. See more 11/19/2022 This is the best movie I’ve ever seen See more 03/16/2013 The only words I can come up with, to discribe this movie is, moving, inspiring, thoughtful, but most of all WATCH IT! Nine 'critics' can only come up with 33%? They better get retrained for some other type of employment! See more 02/17/2013 A nice little drama gem I found on Netflix. Could it have been better? Sure, but the film does it's job and I think is a good introductory film to a very dark period in American history- when hundreds of thousands of American citizens were denied thier rights, great loss of property and livelihoods. Set against the backdrop of baseball and jazz music, the actors did a really good job and told it's tale. See more 08/19/2012 I am a complete sucker for these kinds of movies. This movie touches the heart. It is a good reminder that the American-Japanese went through a hard time during WWII, not just the Jews. Though America was not so harsh on Japanese, as Germans were to the Jews, they still deserve recognition for their plight. Add a little baseball rivalry, forbidden romance, and questions of honor to this story, and we have a nicely done little film... See more 10/07/2010 During WW 2 Japanese -Americans were sent to a internment camp were lots of prejudice and bitter feelings existed. Through a baseball game a lot of tensions are dealt with and some even healed. Pretty good movie all the way through. See more Read all reviews
American Pastime

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Movie Info

Synopsis The lives of Japanese-Americans upend during World War II.
Director
Desmond Nakano
Producer
Tom Gorai, Barry Rosenbush, Terry Spazek
Screenwriter
Desmond Nakano, Tony Kayden
Production Co
ShadowCatcher Entertainment
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 19, 2016
Runtime
1h 45m
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