In America (2002)

From despair to hope . . .

As someone who lost a sibling as a child, I can confirm that the sentiments in this movie are right on target. One reviewer criticizes these parents, but misses the point. The ET doll scene is not about ego but about how desperate one father is to heal the hole in his daughter's heart and find a sign that somehow things can turn around and be all right again. Is it a dumb thing to do? Sure. Is it believable under these circumstances? Yes.

The bottom line: This movie is about HEALING. It's amazing these parents could even get out of bed every day. What do they say to do on a plane when the oxygen goes out? Use the mask for yourself first; it's the only way to help your children. These parents are trying to find their way back to the living so they can all be well again. It is portrayed from the eyes of a child, and to me, it looks very very real. This is a movie not about bad parenting but about hope. I wish there were more out there like it. December 7, 2008

Break my heart again

Be strong. Grab a cup of tea and shut down the computer and phone. Take deep breaths. Be ready to fall in love, have your heart broken, and fall in love again before the film is over. I love this movie....

With my high school sophomores, I do a unit on the American Dream. I love to show them the scene from this film (would show them the movie in its entirety, if I could) where Johnny decides to buy the swamp cooler for their sweltering loft apartment. If you feel no compassion after what transpires, you are an android, not a human. I love this movie...

When my great-grandparents came from Ireland, they settled on a farm in a rural area. But their dream was the same... the same as it is for many, many Americans: We just want to live out our passions in peace and freedom. This film reminds us that we need each other to do so. I love this movie.... November 11, 2008

Beautiful and Bittersweet

Jim Sheridan has been called as a master storyteller, most popular for his direction of critically-lauded films such as "My Left Foot" and "In The Name of the Father" and his latest effort is no exception. "In America" tells a very personal story, one that is loosely based on Sheridan's own family. With a script co-written by his daughters Kirsten and Naomi, "In America" is a semi-autobiographical film that will incite joy, sadness, heartache and hope a hundred times over.

The film tells the story of an Irish family moving to America for a clean slate after the death of their son Frankie. Due to their limited means, they rent an apartment in the heart of Hell's Kitchen, the building a refuge for prostitution, drug trafficking and just plain strange denizens and happenings. Johnny (Considine) is an aspiring actor but he can't seem to muster the feeling he needs to nail down a part - his emotional core has been numbed by Frankie's passing and it affects his ability to keep a job as well as his relationship with his wife Sarah (Morton) and their two daughters. Everyone deals with their pain in their own way - Christy (Sarah Bolger) makes new memories among the old with her cherished camcorder and has one-way conversations with her brother to ease the pain of his absence. Johnny chooses not to feel anything while Sarah puts on a brave face even though she is dying inside. What no one expects to deal with is the arrival of yet another child, one that endangers Sarah's life. Johnny beseeches her to sacrifice the baby for their well-being, not wanting their family to deal with another tragedy whilst Sarah is instantly attached to the new life inside of her, seeing it as the potential for the healing they all so desperately need.

While they toil with their new way of life and the great change to come about it with the birth of a fourth child, Christy and her younger sister Ariel (Emma Bolger) go knocking about the building on Halloween and one of their strangest and most intimidating neighbors named Mateo (Hounsou) opens the door to them, much to their surprise. They hold their breath as Mateo stares them down, not knowing what to make of him after having heard his agonizing screams behind his closed door the very day they moved in, the words "KEEP OUT" emblazoned in large hand-painted letters. Instead, he is instantly charmed by Ariel's gregarious and boisterous nature and invites them in. It is the start of a dynamic and beautiful friendship for all involved, one that makes them realize that tragedy travels in large circles and cannot be avoided no matter how far they move to escape it. In the end, everyone learns to face their grief head on, their lives fresh with emotional wounds but also the wherewithal to remedy them.

"In America" contains bravado performances from every actor in its small and intimate cast. Morton and Considine are quiet powerhouses, both of them flexing a dramatic muscle that needs no performance enhancement. Hounsou doles a memorable turn as well as the tortured Mateo, a man who finds himself sustained by the strong and vibrant lifeforce of Johnny's family while his own ebbs away. Sarah and Emma Bolger, real-life siblings, are the genuine article of child actors - nothing they give feels forced and that can be attributed to their natural abilities as well as Sheridan's superb direction.

Hell's Kitchen is depicted much as Sheridan himself lived it, warts and all, the family's apartment one of the worst ever seen. Of particular delight is Johnny's trek across several city blocks with an air conditioning unit to combat the sweltering summer temperatures, only to short circuit the entire building the moment he plugs it in. Sheridan's small cast of characters is beautifully depicted as being poor in capital but rich in spirit.

Bottom line: One of the best films you've never watched, "In America" will bring a tear to your eye and a warmth to your heart unlike any drama out there. It is proof that a film's personal touches are what successfully manage to touch someone personally.

October 11, 2008

Okay

In America was a highly regarded film that was released in 2003. I found a DVD copy in the rental store's bargain bin and bought it on that reputation. While not a bad film I again must wonder why is it that critics tend to rave about merely, at best, competent films? Yes, most films, books, CDs, etc. are utter crap so I realize the standard retort would be `you've answered your own query'- yet....still when such an obviously flawed film is boostered and receives Oscar buzz I shake my head. The film was directed by Jim Sheridan, whose best-known prior film was My Left Foot, and is a mish-mash of a film that tries to be many things but fails to be what all films should strive for most- a great film.
In many ways it's sort of a modern Angela's Ashes told from a female child's perspective.... The basic problem is the film simply does not know whether it wants to be a realistic slice of New York poverty/tragedy, an uplifting Frank Capran fantasy, or a mystical allegory, so it ends up a middling piece of mush that leaves the viewer wanting more. As for the DVD features- the film and sound were fine, the DVD commentary rather pedestrian though. Sheridan tends to ramble between comments on the film, the `real' biographical elements that went into the tale, and times when he seems to be speaking just to fill the track. There are deleted scenes, but nothing of any consequence, and an alternate ending that merely consists of a slight twist on the film's use of Christy's camcorder as an all-seeing eye to tell a highly condensed version of the story. Would that Sheridan had concentrated more on what he wanted to tell, rather than how he wanted to tell it, and the film would have succeeded far more than it does. As is, it's one of those films that slightly annoy because, in the hands of a better director, it could have been something as haunting as the couple's dead child is meant to be.
September 12, 2008

Heartwarming true story

Excellent visual story telling. All points of view are respected and portrayed with sensitivity. A must see. August 5, 2008

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