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Synopsis:
To begin all over again is a classic American dream, but it's remarkably hard to do, as Irish emigres Johnny and Sarah (PADDY CONSIDINE and SAMANTHA MORTON) discover when they hit the streets of modern-day Manhattan, their two spunky young daughters in tow, and emerge into a realm as comical and adventure-filled as it is strange and terrifying. The family faces a dizzying new future, but first they must face down a past that haunts every single one of them.With no cash to spare, Johnny and Sarah settle into a chaotic New York tenement populated by junkies, drag queens, and assorted low-lifes, and attempt to turn a Gothic horror-movie setting into a true home. From dragging an iffy-looking air conditioner across Manhattan to finding make-do jobs, nothing comes without a fight for the couple. While they see America as rife with challenges, dangers, and weirdness, their daughters see it as a magical place where anything can happen: a place that might release them all from the anguish of what has come before. Then on Halloween, Christy and Ariel (sisters EMMA and SARAH BOLGER) dare to knock on the door of "the screaming man," a mysterious neighbor named Mateo, and everything changes. As the family heads for a crisis, Mateo becomes their unlikely ally in the territory where hope, faith, and even magic hold sway.
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Screen Format: Color
Language: English
CRITIC REVIEWS
Lew Irwin
It's not likely to set the Thanksgiving box office afire (it's set during Halloween and it will open in only a handful of theaters), but writer-director Jim Sheridan's In America is garnering the strongest reviews among a slew of holiday contenders. Joel Siegel on Good Morning America describes it as one of the year's best films (a quote for a studio ad if ever there was one). Megan Lehmann in the New York Post calls it an eloquent, transcendent human drama about the trials of an Irish family who immigrate illegally to the U.S. A.O. Scott in the New York Times observes that Many of the elements in this film ... seem to promise a sticky bath of shameless sentimentality. However, he says, thanks to Jim Sheridan's graceful, scrupulously sincere direction and the dry intelligence of his cast, In America is likely to pierce the defenses of all but the most dogmatically cynical viewers. Claudia Puig in USA Today describes the movie as a classic story of losing and finding faith told with heart, humor and emotional heft. Stephen Hunter in the Washington Post suggests that the title suggests a Woody Guthrie-like paean to America. Thank God, it's not that. It's far too specific, too odd, too funny, too unusual to fit any mold other than its own. Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times warns that emotionally, the film is going to shake you up and hang you out to dry if you give it the chance. Still, several critics were left unshaken. John Anderson in Newsday comments that when Sheridan goes for the big, emotional, set piece, there's a whole lot of clanking going on. And Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe found In America to be a lesson-laden, tear-jerking fairy tale.
Lew Irwin
It's not likely to set the Thanksgiving box office afire (it's set during Halloween and it will open in only a handful of theaters), but writer-director Jim Sheridan's In America is garnering the strongest reviews among a slew of holiday contenders. Joel Siegel on Good Morning America describes it as one of the year's best films (a quote for a studio ad if ever there was one). Megan Lehmann in the New York Post calls it an eloquent, transcendent human drama about the trials of an Irish family who immigrate illegally to the U.S. A.O. Scott in the New York Times observes that Many of the elements in this film ... seem to promise a sticky bath of shameless sentimentality. However, he says, thanks to Jim Sheridan's graceful, scrupulously sincere direction and the dry intelligence of his cast, In America is likely to pierce the defenses of all but the most dogmatically cynical viewers. Claudia Puig in USA Today describes the movie as a classic story of losing and finding faith told with heart, humor and emotional heft. Stephen Hunter in the Washington Post suggests that the title suggests a Woody Guthrie-like paean to America. Thank God, it's not that. It's far too specific, too odd, too funny, too unusual to fit any mold other than its own. Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times warns that emotionally, the film is going to shake you up and hang you out to dry if you give it the chance. Still, several critics were left unshaken. John Anderson in Newsday comments that when Sheridan goes for the big, emotional, set piece, there's a whole lot of clanking going on. And Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe found In America to be a lesson-laden, tear-jerking fairy tale.
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System Requirements
- Windows Media Player 10
- Windows XP
- Internet Explorer 6.0
- High-Speed Internet (DSL or higher)
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