The American

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The American ★★ 2001

Heavy-handed adaptation of Henry James's 1877 novel. Christopher Newman (Modine) makes a fortune in California and heads to Paris in the 1870s where he hopes to acquire both culture and a wife. He meets mysterious widow Claire de Cintre (Sullivan) but his proposal is rejected by her snobby aristocratic family, which is headed by Claire's imperious mother, Madame de Bellegarde (Rigg). Then Newman learns a family secret that could win him Claire's hand. 90m/C VHS, DVD . Matthew Modine, Aisling O'Sullivan, Diana Rigg, Brenda Fricker, Andrew Scott, Eva Birthistle; D: Paul Unwin; W: Michael Hastings. TV

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