Movie Friday

It's very interesting to look back and see that most of the movies I watch and recommend aren't American films. I suppose it's my inevitable search for what's beyond the horizon.

This week's film is set in the U.S., but features an amazing Irish cast. It was released in 2002 and is entitled In America. This film is likely in my top 5 films of all time. It is amazing, raw, magical, breathtaking, I'm running out of adjectives. In America garnered several Academy Award nominations, but unfortunately the narrator of the film Christy Sullivan (played by the amazing 11 year old Sarah Bolger) did not receive an Academy Award nomination. New Zealander Keisha Castle-Hughes garnered a nomination for her performance in Whale Rider the same year, so apparently the Academy felt it couldn't nominate two young actresses in the same category.

The movie tells the story of a family that moves to New York City in the early 80s in the wake of the death of a child. The film is loosely based on the true story of the director Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father) and his family's move to New York City. Samantha Morton and Dijimon Hounsou were both nominated for supporting acting Oscars and Paddy Considine also gives a strong performance as the father of the family who is emotionally detached from everything in his life.

A good part of the film is shot through the eyes of Christy's camcorder and I was completely transfixed. Growing up in a Catholic family and being part Irish, I related to a lot of the issues that surfaced in the film. The film is so powerful, it leaves you an emotional wreck, albeit a good one at the end of the film. Few films move me the way this one did. I highly recommend you rent or purchase this film. If by chance one of your best friends in the whole universe gave it to you as a birthday gift and you've never watched it, I suggest you dig out of the your dvd collection and watch it. (Cough...Suzanne Daniels...Cough Cough...)

Have a great weekend all. Cuidate.