It seems Kerry Washington is capable of portraying only one type of character: loud, preachy, narcissistic and entirely incapable of empathy. The biggest problem with American Son is not her acting but the script: no mother in a state of crisis over a missing child would expend so much energy on tirades over racism, incompetence, marital dissipation, grammatical errors, etiquette, enunciation, and the list goes on and on. There is only one scene in this entire movie that seemed to ring true - when the parents reflect on their son as a child who in his innocence thought he could push his moms tears back into her eyes. But that one scene can't carry an entire movie. It was so overly-drawn out, so void of eliciting any sympathy (or any emotions at all) until the very end when they learn their son is dead. By then it's too late, we don't get back the time we wasted watching this film.

I thought this movie was extremely poignant and important especially in the hateful society in which we currently live. Reading the reviews for this movie is a great snapshot of the current climate in our country. Those of you saying reverse racism (which isn't even a thing) and saying that this movie was one sided are close minded and not trying to understand what so many people of color go through on a daily basis. Btw I say this as a middle aged white woman who happens to be the child of a cop just so some of you don't think I'm just another "angry black woman" being a "reverse racist". Please wake up! Please try to understand why this movie is so important. And Kerri Washington is simply amazing. Do yourself a favor and watch it and really listen.

Weak weak and weak. Dig up every race related conversation and throw them and two weak actors in a room and you end up with American Son. Random and irrational screaming and accusations and typical race related stereotypes are exhausting to watch. Some judge a film on its message, well in this film I missed it. Unless it is the cliche of the angry Black woman who just happens to be in a relationship with a clean cut successful semi-rational White man. Who swings from caring father to part of the problem of the African American. (so why marry and procreate with him then?) No black men around syndrome? I wonder who wrote this comedy of race issues in America? The best and most exciting dialogue comes with the only actor to hold the screen Lee enters--now we are talking. I would say worth watching to the end but the dead dialogue is exhausting. You deserve a medal if you can put up with it. Like waiting for something to get good because you invested so much in watching it and just do not want to hit the back button. I do not know what a spoiler is because I already said the film is a mockery of race issues in America.

Its the same narrative on race. Boring and predictable

If you love theatrical plays then you will enjoy this one.... Kerry Washington was heartbreaking... the dialogues were so into the point... the whole play was just breathtaking... so many truths in that broadway play!

Kerry's depiction of a mother worries for her missing son is highly believable. The fact that she, who is black, is met by a young police officer, who is white, and that they have to grapple with their individual reactions to each other i.e. inexperience and all too common micro aggressions on his part and a different lived experience and suspicion on her part made for uncomfortable but riveting scenes. Also loved the scene between her and the more seasoned cop which, besides displaying an overuse of force by a black officer, also delivered some difficult truths. I love that there were so many layers to the plot besides the scenes between the mother and the police officers. The film also succeeds in showing the aftermath of a marriage that has completely broken down and just how far people can drift from those first blissful moments in a relationship. Anyone whose ever been through a bitter break-up will surely recognize the truths in these scenes. The transition from Broadway to television was, in my opinion, extremely well done. The focus was squarely on the four performers which is where it should be and not on a whole lot of Hollywood-type frills. Makes me wish I had seen the original play.

I really was expecting a lot, I love Kerry Washington but all I heard for the whole film was constant reminders of Jim Crow Laws, Pigeon Language, segregation, black stereotypes, police brutality etc... besides all of that the film wasn't as exciting as I hoped, there was no flash backs or secondary stories building it up. It was honestly so boring it's unreal. If I was you I wouldn't watch it. The overall cinematography was nice though, lovely sound and acting but wow it's a dry film that has too many references to black history, you can't escape it, it's constant.

I read the reviews before watching and thought I was going to be disappointed. I was so wrong. Kerry Washington was amazing as she always is. Steven Pasquale and Jeremy Jordan were amazing as well. This movie captured so many things that we are going through as a society. At first I thought I was going to be watching a movie from the vantage point of a black mom raising a black son. But no, it was so much more than that! It was the white officer, white father, black police office and of course the black mother. It was emotions that all of them must go through when faced with a situation such as this. It wasn't about right or wrong. It was about validating each of their feelings and letting it be just that. It gave you a small window into what each felt. I was left with a feeling of brokenness and sadness. As a mother, not just a black mother, a mother raising a child in the world of today.....I am so scared. And just like the movie ended...I am left with no answers. Wow!

The whole film is based in one room and I felt like I was waiting for it to get started the whole time I was watching it. It never did get started and a happy ending never came. Dissapointing to say the least.. Not because there wasn't a happy ending but because there was hardly anything going on other than a woman getting angry and crying and a man turning up late to the party who we find out is the child's father. Why do we not get to find out what she said to him? I felt invested in it all the way through thinking it would get better... But it doesn't. Dissapointing.

I totally get the point the director tried to make, but after some time the whole "I'm black, you're white, you don't get it" thing got annoying. This story could've been told with a different dialogue. More educational, and less defensive.