In America - Il sogno che non c'era

As a film director I attend many screenings. As a film lover I have been going to films all my life since I was a "kid" in the Bronx. This film, "In America" is one for the ages. Not one false note or as we say in the "biz"--not one hiccup. Jim Sheridan has been a extraordinary film-maker since "My Left Foot"--but this film is simply beyond words!

If you're of a sensitive caring disposition, are empathetic, loving and genuinely see the best in people then this is a film for you. No leaps of faith needed here as Paddy Considine and Samantha Morton share with us the plight of those less well off than most. After suffering a traumatic family event we find them in a new country, a new city, with all its cultural variations and contradictions to overcome - a landscape of limited opportunity. Join them on their journey but be warned, their daughters Christy and Ariel will steal your heart, break you in two, stream tears from your soul. Join them on their journey and let it remind you what it means to be alive.

Johnny, Sarah and their young daughters Christy and Ariel move to New York from Ireland. With barely any money they find an apartment in a run-down building that is overrun with drug addicts. Johnny, an actor, struggles to get a role and the family eke out an existence. Also hanging over them is the death of their son, Frankie. Then one day the little girls meet and befriend the mysterious, solitary neighbour, Mateo.

Written and directed by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In The Name Of The Father), the movie is a bitter-sweet experience. The trials and tribulations of an immigrant family struggling to make ends meet, mixed with the recent tragedy in their history and the complexity of the Mateo situation make for an emotional journey. The daughters also provide a sweet, innocent perspective to proceedings.

Yet it all feels underdone. The family's situation is not as grittily shown as we imagine it should be. The basic summary of this movie reminded me of another Irish movie, Angela's Ashes, and that was a harrowing journey, where no positive outcomes are assured, making for an incredibly interesting and engaging experience. This movie is too neat and non-confrontational to feel like there are any really negative plot developments ahead.

In addition, certain key aspects are not developed very well. We never really get to know Mateo well enough to feel totally engaged by his character. Even the Frankie story, possibly the most emotional aspect to the movie, feels it is in there to demand our emotional energy rather than earn it, and the conclusion to that feels a bit clumsy.

Can't fault the performances though. Paddy Considine and Samantha Morton put in solid performances as Johnny and Sarah, as does Djimon Hounsou as Mateo and Sarah and Emma Bolger steal the show as Christy and Ariel.

Overall: an interesting, emotional movie but far from perfect.

"In America" is about an Irish family of four who enter America at the Canadian border, sell their car for money, take up residence in a slum-like walkup in NYC inhabited by losers and druggies, and proceed to do really stupid things like let their little girls eat ice cream across the street unattended or bet all their money on a stupid carney game or enter an unknown black man's apartment while trick or treating. The film continues from there fabricating, manufacturing, and contriving moments with the obvious purpose of evoking emotions...joy, pathos, angst, woe, etc. And it worked. I could go on but anything I write will simply be lost in the wake of plaudits from all corners. "In America" is a hugely popular flick with a good cast, excellent performances, and solid production value recommended for everyone but me. (B)

I'm not really big on this kind of film, but this one won me over in a big way. Jim Sheridan has such a sure hand as a director that even as the story meanders along, and you're not quite sure where things are going, you know HE knows and you end up trusting him and going along for whatever ride he wants to take you on. The characters and the actors portraying them are so winning, you don't want the movie to end. You just want to stay with them forever.

Every role, right down to the two border guards and the hospital administrator are perfectly cast and performed. The two sisters playing the daughters are amazing. But the acting in the film really belongs to Samantha Morton. It really is a high wire act. In lesser hands this character might have been completely unbelievable. But her love for her husband and children is so palpable, you completely buy everything she has to go through with them.

There were so many chances for cheap sentiment here, but the movie never went there. Really beautiful.