The greatest movie ever made..!

terrible... so disappointed.

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

'There's some things you should wish for and some you shouldn't. That's what my little brother Frankie told me. He told me I only had three wishes, and I looked into his eyes, and I don't know why I believed him.' This semi-autobiographical tale of Irish immigrants trying to survive in Hells Kitchen is ultimately frustrating, but has occasional moments of pure cinematic gold. Co-authored by the director, Jim Sheridan, and his two daughters, the screenplay constitutes a composite picture of their combined memories of when the director uprooted his family from Ireland in 1982, after controversy had hit a play he had staged. In addition, interwoven in this work is a tale of grief and mourning taken from a completely different period, and based on the director's father's earlier experiences of losing a child - the director's brother to whom the film is dedicated. The resulting product feels episodic, constructed from disparate scenes, largely from diarised entries from Sheridan's daughters, rather than fixed to a cohesive narrative thread. As such, the content veers from saccharine and sentimental moments of family unity to apparent irrational emotional outbursts devolved of any background for the audience. Sheridan's aim of trying to view the world with a kind of childlike quality works well at times, but the film displays an inconsistency of tone in scenes which are much starker. As instances of the former, there are three pivotal moments where the eldest daughter's belief that her deceased brother has granted her three wishes add poignant charm to the narrative. The first of these occurs at the outset as the family attempt to bluff their entry into the States as mere vacationers at the Canadian border. The next is the most enthralling scene where the father risks all the family savings at a carnival stall in order to save face in order to secure the soft toy his youngest daughter has set her heart on. Finally, there is the final scene, where the last remaining wish is movingly spent to help the father deal with the grief of losing his only son. Another of the film's strengths concerns the scenes narrated by the eldest daughter, presented by means of digital footage from her hand-held camera, thereby highlighting the artistry of cinematographer, Declan Quinn. Finally, there are the capable performances from the majority of the cast. As Sheridan maintains, casting represents 90% of film-making, and in this instance his claim appears well-served. Paddy Considine further establishes his acting credentials with an earnest and convincing portrayal of the father who struggles to safeguard his family once his beliefs have been shaken to the core, and his emotions held in check, by the tragic loss of his young son - this must have resonated with the actor who had lost his own father to cancer just a week before shooting started. The great find here though has to be the Bolger sisters. What is remarkable is that having cast the youngest, Emma, as Ariel, Sheridan was persuaded by the latter to audition, and subsequently cast as Christy, her elder sister waiting in a parked car outside. While her sibling's performance is charming and precocious, it is Sarah Bolger who delivers an amazingly mature performance beyond her years as the insightful chronicler of the family's triumphs and travails. One can never forget her beautiful rendition of the Eagles' 'Desperado', or how steely is her character's retort to her father: 'Don't 'little girl' me. I've been carrying this family on my back for a year.' Although Samantha Morton's performance merits admiration, an Oscar nomination appears exaggerated given the largely passive role she plays, as well as her character's inconsistencies - able to hold her husband responsible for her son's accidental death while comfortable herself to allow her daughters to 'trick or treat' in the apartment block they share with junkies and an apparently crazed neighbour who screams behind a permanently closed door. Even more surprising was the film's other acting nomination for Djimon Honsou's role as the neighbour, and HIV infected Haitian artist, who comes across as nothing more than a convenient narrative device. Despite the equally questionable Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay, the film does contain moments of sheer heart-warming or heart-rending emotional impact, none more so than the closing scene in which the family bid farewell to the dear departed, and which tests anyone's resolve to not shed a tear.

Oh yeah, cause it has "America" in the title. Yanks always ejaculate when they see the word "America" in the movie poster or trailer.Also, it's about Irish people moving to America, so the Academy felt like that it was so important that they have to nominate it. They probably haven't seen the movie and just nominated it anyway.The sex scene was just ridiculous. If you thought the sex scene in Showgirls was bad, here, we have tribal music playing. Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy........Sarah looks more like she is performing a ritual rather than having it off. And after they climax, we hear "And that was how my brother was conceived."It's just so laughable. Also, Jim Sheridan wrote this movie with his daughters. Imagine writing a sex scene with your children.Also, the character of Mateo can perform magic to bring people back to life? How out of place, stereotypical and stupid can you get?The scene where Sarah is dying and Mateo bring her back to life, made put my head in my hands in disbelief. "Really?" I thought. "This Oscar nominated movie has a scene where a character is brought back from the dead? When did this become Pokemon: The First Movie?"And yes, the E.T. doll that is supposed to be a metaphor for bringing the dead back to life. On your bike!

I just saw 'In America' again, on the Sundance channel. I'd seen it years ago, remembered liking it, and it is still a very good movie to me. I'm not sure why, but it's a very moving film. I don't think it's melodrama or sentimentality. It touches a nerve in me about loss and grief and trying to move forward from that pain. It may not do that for everyone (and apparently doesn't, judging from the negative reviews). Also, the undercurrent of this 'magic' in the movie, a view that one of the girls sees in her life. It's a nice little theme (or plot line or ?) in the movie, a part that some may deem 'sentimental' but not a big enough part of the film to be anything more than the sweet look of the world through this girl's eyes.Well acted, good story, nice soundtrack. Highly recommended.

The most moving point of the film for me occurred during the final crawler where I realized just how autobiographical this film was. Brother and sister Sheridan wrote the screenplay about their own experiences as children. This knowledge made the personal choices of the characters, real and understandable. I suspect that Sheridan's real mother and father would have made the choices we witnessed in the movie. But these same personal choices made watching the film a bit difficult for me. I had trouble liking these characters when they foolishly gambled their rent money and their family's future on a kewpie doll. Or, when they let their little girls trick-or-treat unsupervised in a flop house peopled with junkies and muggers. Or when they sent their girls off to the streets of Brooklyn unsupervised at night in a torrential downpour to get ice cream. Or when the mother allowed herself to have an intimate (but not physical) friendship with a handsome young artist while her husband worked, driving cab -- this shouldn't, but so often can lead to marital difficulties and I think it put at risk, the mother-father relationship which supports a family. The movie deals with the loss of their son -- a baby boy -- who has died by the time the movie starts. We are told that he fell down the stairs. I found myself thinking that, with their parental style, it may actually have been a preventable death. This distrust, even dislike, of this couple made is difficult for me to fully enjoy this drama as it unfolded. True, the movie tells a very real story in very real way (except for one scene where the 12- year-old says a very un-12-yr-old thing when she says, "I'm carrying this family") But, being realistic may not be enough for this viewer. I need to be able to identify with, or root for, my protagonists. In this movie I found myself sometimes fearful for, sometimes pitying and sometimes shocked by this innocent, hapless family as they struggled nobly but sometimes carelessly against the difficulties of life.