Review
IN AMERICA
Starring Paddy Considine, Samantha Morton, Djimon Hounsou
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Opens Friday, December 19
Globe Cinema
Personal films – the pet projects of directors – are always a gamble.
Some of the greatest films of all time have been pet projects: Schindler’s List, The Matrix and Star Wars – but for every masterpiece there is a Heaven’s Gate, The Postman or The Phantom Menace.
Often the same factors that can make a pet project great are the very things that can make it awful. Artist ego, uncompromising vision, emotional attachment and an intimate understanding of the text can destroy a film as easily as it can make it transcendent.
The fear when Jim Sheridan’s In America begins is that it will be just another movie about saccharine sweet children and the "American dream" immigrant experience. It is neither. Instead it’s an unassuming, unflinching film about love and family that falls decidedly into the category of pet project masterpieces.
Everything about this movie is perfect.
And the perfection begins with the honesty of the screenplay, written by Jim Sheridan and his daughters Naomi and Kristen Sheridan after the death of their son and brother Frankie Sheridan. They have ripped their souls open for us to see and turned their family’s great tragedy into a victorious story of renewal.
Jim Sheridan then conjures the magic from the page and puts it on the screen. From the kaleidoscopic opening credits to the film’s closing dedication, there is not a shot out of place. The film begins with an Irish family's tricky illegal entry into the United States – through Canada – and after the death of their son, Frankie, the family's grief becomes the film's plot.
Every frame of the film tells the story – nothing is wasted. Christy’s (Sarah Bolger) video camera gives us the family’s history in sparing flashbacks, Mateo’s (Djimon Hounsou) screams of rage and blood-soaked paintings reveal the torment of AIDS, and the juxtaposition of a love scene between Johnny (Paddy Considine) and Sarah (Samantha Morton) with their daughters eating dessert in a little place called Heaven – a Hell’s Kitchen ice cream shop – tells us everything we need to know about how these people love.
Sheridan never allows himself a moment of self-indulgence. His direction is clean, crisp and dedicated to bringing characters to life rather than driving an obligatory plot. It’s a personal mastery that only truly great directors can achieve when they’re in the midst of their pet project.
The final piece of Sheridan’s puzzle is, of course, the acting. In America might still have failed, despite brilliant writing and technique, if the actors were not up to the challenge – particularly the children. But in this case the actors solidify In America’s brilliance.
Djimon Hounsou proves why he is one of today’s finest supporting actors, turning in yet another powerful performance that reveals an inner strength and conviction that few leading men possess. Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine make us believe that they are actually going through the pains and joys of their characters. But Sheridan’s greatest piece of casting is the discovery of Sarah and Emma Bolger, the real-life sisters who play Christy and Ariel. There is nothing actor-ish about these girls. They are not the product of beauty contests and smiley, happy children’s acting schools. These girls simply exist, which makes their performances both genuine and refreshing.
In America is unlikely to get the recognition it deserves come award season, but it is the best film of this year. Another movie will need to be miraculous to reach In America’s emotional core and simple brilliance.
Quite simply: it won’t happen. |
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