AMERICAN PASTIME  

AMERICAN PASTIME  I’m always grateful of films thatmanage to useits cast ofactors for their talents and not the pigeonholes they’ve hadput upon them. “American Pastime” is one of the few movies I’ve seen in years that usesits Asian American cast toprovide somestrongperformances, and not fightmysticmartial arts of some kind. There’s always talk of African Americansbeing used poorly in America, butthe most suppressedrace inthe filmmedium are the Asian Americans. “American Pastime”brings out astrong turn outfromits cast ofseasoned veterans exploring the plight of the Asian Americans during Pearl Harbor, and manyestablished familiesbeing forced tolive in Internmentcamps.“I Am American” reads onesign inparticular during amontage of Asian ownedbusinessesbeing forced toshut down. “American Pastime” is an Americanamessage film, but amuchmoretolerable kind that explores the otherside of thefence. One of theadvantages to theperioddrama is thepresence of Gary Colewhomanages to play anantagonistwho is utterly obvious, yet isalso ratherinteresting. None ofthe themespresent here are all toosubtle orhidden; it’spretty obvious thewriters will expectaudiences torealize Cole’scharacter Billy and the maincharacter Lyleboth adorebaseball, yet just can’t quitefindcommonground in that respect.They’re somuch alike, yet theirracialdifferences keep them separate. It’s acrude, but altogetherveryinteresting experience to watch. With “American Pastime” I wasveryinterested to seewhat would develop. I cared about thesecharacters, and I wanted to see how they’d end up in thiswar. Sarah Drew, one of myfavoritesfrom “Everwood,” isvery good here as thedaughter of Colewhosigns on to thecamp toteach music andhas an affair withprisoner Lyle. Aaron Yoo is thestand out withhisperformance as Lyle, theprisoner andbaseballenthusiastwho challenges authority often,whichends up gettinghim into hot water. “American Pastime” is a commentary on the Iraqwar, and one that sometimesdoesn’t comeoff loudly attimes, and othertimeshits us over thehead. And yet, I wasfond of itfrom the get go. It’s not an all too poetic orsubtle piece ofwartimedrama and social commentary, that’sprettymuch a given withitssap and obvious plot devices, but “American Pastime”hasitsappeal. Withstrongperformances, and an utterly entertaining story, it works, and I enjoyed it.