Just perfect...

An action-packed slog

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

This autobiographical film by director Eva Gardos is about a troubled teen who was reunited with her birth family in the U.S. after spending the first six or so years of her life with a couple in her native Hungary. Her birth parents fled communist persecution in Hungary, but couldn't take the infant out of fear she would cry, and alert the communist authorities. They intended to retrieve her shortly thereafter, but matters were complicated, and she remained. After a few years had gone by and she had grown to love her surrogate parents, the first ones she ever knew, she was taken from them somewhat deceptively by her grandmother. As a teen, she longs to return to her native land to see her surrogate parents, if only for a visit.The film is touching, both sad and joyous, but I was a little disappointed that there were no references, at least that I caught, of the Hungarian revolt against the Soviets in 1956, one that was brutally crushed by the invading Red Army.One thing that led me to this movie, which I purchased on DVD, was that I read that Hungarian actress Eva Soreny was in it, albeit very briefly. She's the elderly waitress in the first scene that takes place in America, in L.A. She has quite a story of her own, worthy of a full-length feature film, a story that mirrors The Sound Of Music. She was forced to flee her native land with her family following the 1956 revolt after communist authorities told her of their interest in using her for propaganda purposes, since she was regarded as Hungary's premiere actress of that era. Her story is told in an episode of the 1950s-60s TV series The Armstrong Circle Theater, entitled "The Hunted: The Eva Soreny Story", in which she plays herself. After coming to America, she had a few other acting jobs, mainly guest appearances in TV series. I saw her in The Twilight Zone (episode:Mute) and Family Affair (A Waltz From Vienna). As far as I know, as of this writing, she is still alive at age 90.

Experienced Hollywood editor of Hungarian origin Eva Gardos threw this movie together more or less about her own life for her first feature film direction. One unfortunately has to be suspicious about any such first film a director puts together about his or her own life. Few could pull that off to produce a masterpiece. The tale, surely a moving, intriguing, even fascinating one, is not told too well. Still I will recommend this film for two BIG reasons. If you're not interested in what I deem to be problems with the film, move on to the last para.The language problem, the constant dilemmas the film-makers had to face about when to use dubbing, when not (also depending on which market you want to sell on), when a character should be speaking in American English, in English with a Hungarian accent, in Hungarian with an English accent or Hungarian, obviously must have posed a great difficulty in handling the task of story-telling, and would have made suspending disbelief a bit more difficult for the audience anyway. But English with a Slavic accent as English with a Hungarian accent really doesn't work well when you hear it. OK, for an American with no Hungarian connection it can be alright. But there were problems if you put yourself beyond this, too. Beside errors in telling the story, the Hungary showed in the movie is just not real. It's interesting that among the comments so far I have only seen a guy from Kent (the UK) point that out, even contrary to some others who found the atmosphere of the Hungarian scenes authentic. I have felt neither the political situation get across to the viewer, nor local culture being authentically presented. Altogether, the mood of the era is not captured at all, not translated to the mainly American audience that may still, of course, feel as though it would be.So why would I still recommend the film? On the one hand Eva Gardos doesn't do justice to herself, for the story is really damn interesting. Not just because of the role history plays in it, but because you have women in the focus here and so you're guaranteed to see strong female characters. Or not exactly guaranteed, for I have seen films with women in the focus end up differently, but in 'American Rhapsody' this is something that actually works well. It's primarily one person's responsibility I believe. She is the other reason you have to check this movie out. After the film I looked up her name on IMDb, thinking it was time for some talent-spotting. 'Scarlett Johansson' – OK, I decided to remember the name. Next week one TV channel played 'Lost in Translation'. She was in it, so I decided to watch it. Just guess if I started disliking her after that… :-). I'll help you out. Whenever I walk across the Széchenyi Chain Bridge here in Budapest I think with amazement of her having walked across there in 'American Rhapsody'.

This is the definition of a Norfolk Library Film. No ones' heard of it. Now really Norfolk Library does have some films that are popular but they also have tons of films I know or care little about. I got this only 'cuz it had Larisa Oleynik in the credtis. What is she doing there? She has like 2 minutes of screen time. Not that this is anything new to films, but I was hoping to actually hear more than 4 sentences from her. Back to the Film...A family wants to leave Hungary 'cuz it's communist. Great Idea but their youngest girl gets left behind. She eventually gets to LA when she's 6 years old but doesn't like it there. By the time she's 15 she hates everyone in her life and wants to go back to the simple world she left beind. This could be really good for a drama, and I'M SURE the real experience was better than the movie. This film was never sure where it wanted to go, starting in Black and White (ala Schindler's List) then switching to color. 99% of the problems that arise are because the mom never tells her daughter about what made Hungary so bad. When the girl does go back, she finds out any ways. What a waste of a plane ticket. PS: That bridge is cool. It's the same picture as on a "Greater Vision" Album called "Far Beyond This Place"

Let me preface this review, by saying that this is indeed my first review, so a certain sense of rustiness will be noticed.With that out of the way, lets get to the meat of the topic. Being of Hungarian origin, it was hard to overlook certain shortcomings with regards to the use of language and music. There are certain situations where i thought the use of the Hungarian language would have been more forceful and certainly more emotionally satisfying, as opposed to using English. And while the movie was made with American audiences in mind, nevertheless, this type of small movie should be able to get away with the use of subtitles all the way through. As far as the music was concerned, it was not even of Hungarian origin in most cases. Considering the title used the word rhapsody, there would have been scope for the use of genuine Hungarian music.The director's stated ambition - in the audio commentary - was to portray all the characters in a sympathetic light, so that we - the audience - do not feel more emotional attachment towards one set of parents over the other. Well, maybe it is me, but I did feel more sympathetic towards one set of parents than the other. Which makes the ending all the more less satisfying and somewhat rushed. As if, somebody said, but we need a feel good ending. If only life would be so simple.On the positive side, the performance of the 6 year old Susannah or Zsuzsi, is quite remarkable. To have such a range of emotions displayed by a child of that age is simply unique. The look of the movie is also well thought out, with the use of the black and white at the beginning and later reverting to full colour.Ultimately, it is a movie that will satisfy the general American audience, but for those that have personal experiences similar to those in the film, will find the whole experience somewhat wasted. The potential was there.... my score is 3/10