Political
Film Society awardwinner Jim Sheridan has directed many
powerful biographical films, from In the Name of
the Father (1993) to The
Boxer (1998). In America, therefore, comes
as somewhat of a surprise, showing a sentimentalism that
doubtless informed his previous classics but was hidden
from view. The story is loosely autobiographical, portraying
Irish immigrants to America in New York during the early
1980s. Johnny (played by Paddy Considine) and Sarah (played
by Samantha Morton) bring their two delightful daughters,
six-year-old Ariel (played by Emma Bolger) and ten-year-old
Christy (played by Sarah Bolger), but not their son Frankie.
(The film is dedicated to the late Frankie Sheridan). At
age two, Frankie fell down steps and developed a brain
tumor; he died at the age of five. Everyone in the family
mourns his loss and cannot find a way to bury his memory,
at least throughout most of the film. The story is episodic
rather than unilinear, that is, there is no goal other
than that of surviving the uncertainties and complexities
of daily life in America for unassimilated newcomers who
at least can speak the language. Occasional voiceovers
from Christy help to lighten the heavy dose of reality
that falls on a family that, as a first principle, knows
the importance of sticking together. The first episode
is about how they get across the border as illegal aliens,
driving from Canada. Next, they find a dingy apartment
in Hell's Kitchen (now the name of Sheridan's film company),
and they attempt to make the rooms habitable. Johnny, of
course, looks for a job, but his acting ability is found
wanting, so he ends up driving a taxi. Unable to beat the
100 degree heat in their first New York summer, Johnny
dodges traffic one day to carry home a workable used air
conditioner and then scrounges for $1.99 to buy an adapter
so that the treasured contraption will fit into an old
fashioned socket, only to produce a power outage for the
entire building. At Coney Island, Jim risks a lot of money,
even rent money lovingly provided by his wife Sarah, just
to win an ET doll for his daughter. Jim then pretends to
be a monster in order to seduce his willing wife, who then
survives a difficult pregnancy to bear their third daughter.
Unable to afford store-bought costumes for their daughters,
the two show up at a school competition with homemade costumes.
Ariel and Christy then attempt to "trick or treat" in
their ramshackle apartment building, but the only one interested
is a terminally ill reclusive Black artist, Mateo (played
by Djimon Hounsou), whom they enchant with their spontaneous
merriment, so his last days are spent far more happily
as he in effect joins the Sheridans as a family member.
When he dies, once again Frankie's memory revisits the
Sheridans, but the film ends as that nightmare turns into
an uplifting dream, thanks to Ariel's imaginative genius.
Feel-good movies are expected during the holiday season,
and In America does not disappoint. Jim Sheridan, who returned
to Ireland with his family after twenty years in America,
reveals his great love for his daughters, Kirsten and Naomi,
by crediting them as cowriters of the script. MH
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