Entertainment Ave! The Movie Theater - A movie review of In America.

In America Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Paddy Considine, Samantha Morton, Djimon Hounsou, Sarah Bolger, Emma Bolger
MPAA Rated:	PG-13
Released By:	Fox Searchlight Pictures
Web Site:	foxsearchlight.com/inamerica/
Kiddie Movie:	More for the teens and adults. Keep the young ones at home.
Date Movie:	She'll be impressed at your sensitive side.
Gratuitous Sex:	There is a scene where clothes come off and adults would know what is going on.
Gratuitous Violence:	There's a couple of intense scenes.
Action:	Not really.
Laughs:	Some really touching and cute scenes.
Memorable Scene:	I have two of them. One is when the sisters are going trick-or-treating, the other is at the carnival.
Memorable Quote:	Christy to her dad: "Don't you 'Little girl' me." and one sister to the other: "Go ahead and knock. I dare you."
Directed By:	Jim Sheridan
Produced By:	Jim Sheridan, Arthur Lappin

The story revolves around a family of Irish immigrants trying to find the American dream. Johnny (Paddy Considine), the dad, wants to be an actor, but he has to drive a cab to bring some money; Sarah (Samantha Morton), the mom, really just wants to be a mom but she ends up working as a waitress; Then there are the two sisters, Christy (Sarah Bolger), she’s 11, and Ariel (Emma Bolger), she’s 6ish. They find themselves living in a tenement house where a family doesn’t seem like it should belong, especially amongst the junkies, transvestites, and just seemingly scary individuals. But as we watch the story, told through the eyes of Christy, there is a definite perception difference from the wondrous eyes of an immigrant child and those of an adult. An example is easily seen when the family opens the door to their new apartment only to find it dirty and dreary, filled with pigeons, and we can see the look of "is this really a good idea to live here" in the parent's eyes, versus the two girls, giddily running around the place and asking dad if they can keep the pigeons.

But the movie isn’t just about the struggles of an immigrant family, it’s also a story about any family just trying to be a family and cope with tragedy. The underlying tragedy in this movie is the earlier death of the families youngest son, Frankie, which doesn’t get detailed explicitly, but that’s not really important, what’s important is the guilt that parents have when a son or daughter dies from something that might have been prevented, in this case Frankie fell down some stairs and developed a brain tumor. We see the pain the parents feel, but there is also the other perspective, the perspective of an 11 year old sister that has come to terms with her brother’s death, and in the closing of the movie that really comes to light.

"In America" has some sad moments that will bring a tear to your eye, has some happy moments that will bring a tear to your eye, will have you fearing the worst things that can happen when two little girls knock on the tenement doors at Halloween, and will have you rooting for that last ball to go through the hole, set up by a dad just wanting to make his daughter happy by winning an E.T. doll and finding himself in a horrible situation. There is also an underlying story of mysticism in the likes of Mateo (Djimon Hounsou), the scary neighbor who lives below, but rather than a burden on the film, I found it touching on multiple levels, especially as his character begins to get exposed.

The ending of "In America" really shows the contrast between the views of the world as seen from a child of wonder compared to and adult not knowing how to face reality. Happily Christy had one wish left for her Dad. See the movie and you will understand.

Unless you are completely devoid of feeling, "In America" will touch you in some way, and not in a "this movie sucks" kind of way. Yes, even you "Pizza and beer and all I want in a movie is something blowing up" movie goers will probably like this movie, although I doubt you’d admit it. It’s 5 stars out of 5 for "In America." It’s just a great film.