FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: In America [DVD] [2003]

In America [DVD] [2003]
enlarge	Director: Jim Sheridan Actors: Paddy Considine, Samantha Morton, Djimon Hounsou, Sarah Bolger, Emma Bolger Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£15.99~~ Buy Used: £1.35 as of 22/11/2009 05:05 GMT details You Save: £14.64 (92%) New (18) Used (21) from £1.35 Seller: vanticor Rating: 16 reviews Sales Rank: 6077 Format: PAL, Widescreen Languages: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Discs: 1 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 101 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5039036015783 ASIN: B0001B3YQA Theatrical Release Date: December 11, 2003 Release Date: March 15, 2004 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review IIn America/I stars the incandescent Samantha Morton and Paddy Considine as two young Irish parents who have lost their only son. Trying to run away from their grief, they move (illegally) to a junkie-infested apartment building in New York City with their two daughters, Christy (Sarah Bolger) and Ariel (Emma Bolger). Though they struggle with meagre jobs and suffocatingly hot weather, a friendship with an artist in an apartment below them (Djimon Hounsou) becomes a catalyst that allows them to rebuild their family. pIIn America/I is splendidly acted throughout--of particular note are the two girls, real-life sisters whose on-screen charisma is clearly a family trait. But it's Morton who anchors the movie; her every emotion seems to glow from her skin. The commitment of the actors keeps the movie compelling, despite some dangerously sentimental patches. --IBret Fetzer/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 16 1 2 3 4 Next » A real gem March 22, 2004 Padderz (London, UK) 11 out of 11 found this review helpful Samantha Morton may well have deserved to win an Oscar based on this performance, but having seen the film again on the small screen I take comfort from the certain knowledge that she will one day win. Her performance as a grieving mother holding together her family and herself is subtle, moving and very powerful. brHowever, the role would mean nothing if she was not ably supported, and this is one of those films in which every single character extracts such realism that it is hard to believe that the dialogue spoken was ever just words on a piece of paper.brPaddy Considine is magnificent as the husband and father of a loving family that is breaking down from the inside, whilst struggling to find a role within this blackened unit.brBut, the real wonder and find of this film are the two young girls. brBeing real life sisters may have helped but, my god, they played with such resonance, such force that when watching the hospital scene I cried.brAnd I rarely cry. Emotionally Honest and Fulfilling June 3, 2004 Martin A Hogan (San Francisco, CA. (Hercules)) 23 out of 26 found this review helpful Director Jim Sheridan ("In The Name Of The Father", "My Left Foot") has crafted one of the most emotionally honest and satisfying films in years. Paddy Considine (solid and tender) and Samantha Morton (emanating subtlety) star as Irish parents of two young girls who move to New York City to pursue Paddy's acting. The move is also a distraction from the recent loss of their young son. The summer heat is oppressive, the living conditions are near squalor and the local residents are junkies. Despite this gloom and terrible poverty, the family thrives happily, mostly due to the amazing resilience and resolve of the two young daughters. The loss of their son and an impending dangerous pregnancy are set against a backdrop of constant near danger and immense naivety (yet remarkable intuition) of the girls. Mateo, (Djimon Hounsou) the AIDS stricken painter downstairs befriends the girls and provides some of the most frightening and yet emotionally substantial moments in the film. Sheridan can take simple scenes like gambling the families rent money on a carnival doll for his child and turn it into pure suspense. The family is always in near crisis, yet they survive day by day, relishing everything those 'in America' take for granted. Sheridan portrays a wonderful story of loss, survival and love, but never becomes maudlin or overly sentimental. This is a rare film about real emotions. well worth the money May 19, 2004 9 out of 11 found this review helpful When I first saw a preview of this film I wanted to see it. I have to say that it is the BEST film I have ever seen yet! I rate this film highly, after watching it several times over and over again, in my opinion it is a MUST! I was amazed at how well kristy and angel the 2 young girls performed. This is well worth the money! Goodbye Frankie December 2, 2005 Rebecca Papin (Paris, France) 6 out of 7 found this review helpful An Irish family moves illegally to New York to escape the tragedy of losing Frankie, their only son. Once you know that the character of Frankie was based on, and dedicated to, the Director#x27;s late brother, it becomes all the more poignant. Christy and Ariel, the couples two remaining children, are sisters in real life, and treat each other with an amazing tenderness in the movie. The acting that the children do is incredible.pThis is a movie about carrying on despite being in the darkest place you#x27;ve ever been in. These characters don#x27;t HAVE a choice, they must keep breathing, must find jobs, must comfort each other.pI adored this movie. It was very sad, but so is life sometimes. A young girl carries her family on her back "In America" May 19, 2004 Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) 11 out of 16 found this review helpful At the start of "In America" we are introduced a family of illegal immigrants. This is a bit surprising because Johnny (Paddy Considine) and Sarah (Samantha Morton), along with their two young daughters, Christie (Sarah Bolger) and Ariel (Emma Bolger), are an Irish family driving across the border into the United States from Canada. After all, we have been conditioned to think of people of color as constituting the faces of illegal immigrants and the story of Irish immigration to America was largely a 19th-century tale. pHowever, the idea of this family being illegal immigrants is not important to the heart of the story and there is a sense in which the only reason it is brought up is so that the officials at the border can ask how many children the parents have, because one says "three" and the other says "two." This is how we first learn about Frankie, the young son whose tragic death haunts his parents and is never far from the thoughts of young Christie and her precious cam corder. A gulf has been created between the two sisters, and Ariel complains that she has no one to tell her secrets to. This is a key idea because Christie does: Frankie.pThe family struggles to survive in New York City. They find an apartment in a less than savory building, which makes you wonder whether things were really worse for them in Ireland or if we are supposed to think that they have made a mistake coming to the New World. Johnny wants to be an actor and ends up being a cab driver while Sarah, unable to teach, becomes a waitress in a ice cream shoppe, while the girls are dispatched to Catholic school. There the national anthem has Ariel worried about a blind man named Jose and the girls stand out because their Halloween costumes are homemade. But the debacle of Halloween and the strange American ritual of going trick-or-treat results in the family ends up with the girls making a connection with the "man who screams," a tormented Nigerian artist, Mateo (Djimon Hounsou) who lives downstairs. This relationship becomes important, especially when Sarah becomes pregnant and there are complications.pFor me this film boils down to a final wish. Sarah, who provides the film's sparse narration, tells us early on that she has three wishes that she can ask of Frankie that he will grant her. He told her this before he died and she has absolute faith that this is the case and when her first two wishes are granted we become true believers as well. But as Jim Sheridan's film reaches its climax Sarah is faced with too many choices for that final wish and the only thing that mattered to me was what this 11-year-old girl would wish for in the end. I think everyone who gets caught up in the decision will be surprised by the choice. pBoth Morton and Hounsou were nominated for Oscars, in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor categories respectively, but it was the interplay between the real life sisters playing Christie and Ariel that captivates us. It is so natural and unaffected that its reality comes as a shock. The acting in this film is uniformly strong, which is why it is easy to forgive those points where Sheridan become a bit too manipulative. But for me, in the end, "In America" comes down to Sarah Bolger's Christie, complaining that Ariel has already become an American because she says "cool," singing "Desperado" during a concert at her new school, telling her father" "Don't "little girl" me. I've been carrying this family on my back for over a year," and using the final wish that Frankie gave her. Showing reviews 1-5 of 16 1 2 3 4 Next »

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