The second adaptation of a Philip Roth novel in as many weeks, following Ewan McGregor’s American Pastoral, this represents a rather more assured take on the work of an author whose writing is notoriously difficult to bring to the screen. James Schamus, Ang Lee’s regular screenwriter, makes his directorial debut here with an elegantly muted, unashamedly talky period drama. The story focuses on Marcus (Logan Lerman), a bright working-class Jewish boy from Newark who struggles to fit into college life. The 1950s backdrop is handsomely evoked and the use of colour is particularly effective: the oppressive worry of Marcus’s father sucks the light tones out of his family home, while his damaged dream girl, Olivia (Sarah Gadon), exists in a world kissed in pale gold and peach.
