Roger Ebert (fin)
It is a very hot summer in New York, the apartment is sweltering, and there is a sequence involving the purchase of a cheap air-conditioner that is handled perfectly: We see a father trying to provide for his family and finding shame, in his own eyes, because he does not do as well as he wants to.The film is also about the stupid things we do because we are human and flawed. Consider the scene at the street carnival, where Johnny gets involved in a "game of skill," throwing balls at a target, hoping to win a prize for his daughters. The film knows exactly how we try to dig ourselves out and only dig ourselves deeper.
The mother is played by Samantha Morton, who in film after film (as the mute in "Sweet and Lowdown" and one of the psychics in "Minority Report"), reveals the power of her silences, her quiet, her presence. The two young girls are played by real sisters, Sarah and Emma Bolger, who are sounding boards and unforgiving judges as the family's troubles grow. "Don't 'little girl' me," Sarah says. "I've been carrying this family on my back for over a year."
Paddy Considine is new to me; I saw him in "24-Hour Party People," I guess, but here he makes an impression: He plays Johnny as determined, insecure, easily wounded, a man who wants to be an actor but fears his spirit has been broken by the death of his son. Djimon Hounsou, given his first big role by Spielberg in "Amistad," often plays strong and uncomplicated types (as in "Gladiator"). Here, as an artist despairing for his art and his future, he reveals true and deep gifts.
From Ireland and Nigeria, from China, the Philippines, Poland, India, Mexico and Vietnam, we get the best and the brightest. I am astonished by the will and faith of the recent immigrants I meet. Think what it takes to leave home, family and even language, to try for a better life in another country. "In America" is not unsentimental about its new arrivals (the movie has a warm heart and frankly wants to move us), but it is perceptive about the countless ways in which it is hard to be poor and a stranger in a new land.
