In America (2002, PG-13)

I rewatched this movie not long ago and was reminded of how much I love it.  It’s a really lovely drama pulling in themes of family and community, as well as tinges of magic realism, and it’s carried by a number of fine performances.  A great viewing experience every time I watch it!

The Sullivan family has just moved from Ireland to New York, taking a loft in a rundown tenement.  The whole family – father Johnny, mother Sarah, and daughters Christy and Ariel – are all still dealing in different ways with the loss of Frankie, the youngest Sullivan.  As they adjust to life in their new country, feelings of grief and guilt continue to follow them, but New York offers new additions to their family as well.  In particular, they develop a strong bond with a solitary artist living in their building, a fellow immigrant named Mateo.

The utterly-charming film, narrated by 10-year-old Christy, moves fluidly between moving family drama, light fish-out-of-water comedy, and suggestions of the supernatural rooted in childish fantasy and both Irish and West African(?) mythos (it’s never specified where Mateo is from, but Djimon Hounsou, who plays him, is from Benin.)  The story takes us through the course of the Sullivans’ lives, showing the excitement, frustration, and challenge of adjusting to life in America in small and large matters alike.  Whether they’re trying to have their first trick-or-treating experience or dealing with a family health crisis, we see how they’re a family still trying to figure out how they fit together now that they’ve lost one of their own, and even though Frankie isn’t a physical character in the movie, his presence is continually felt by the hole his death left in the lives of his parents and sisters.

I won’t claim it’s perfect – some of the plot beats are a little on-the-nose, and I can see how some might think it’s too earnest for its own good – but I love it.  All the characters are really lovable in their own damaged ways, the direction is simple but effective, and throughout, the emotion is as pure as it is strong.

And yeah, the acting game is totally on point.  Going into the film for the first time, I remember that the only actor I was familiar with was Samantha Morton (who I’d previously seen in Minority Report.)  She’s excellent as Sarah, a heartbroken woman trying to hold life together for the sake of her kids.  I love Paddy Considine’s intriguing performance as Johnny, who felt hollowed-out after Frankie’s death and now struggles to be the dad he used to.  Emma Bolger’s Ariel is adorable and winning, and her real-life sister Sarah Bolger (who later went on to play Aurora on Once Upon a Time and, more recently, Jade on Into the Badlands) does a superb job carrying the film as Christy.  Finally, there’s Djimon Hounsou, by turns understated and electric as Mateo.  Each performer is fantastic in their own right, and when they interact with one another onscreen, magic happens.

Warnings

Sexual content, swearing, drinking and drug references, brief violence, and thematic elements.