Review of In America (2003) by Dawdlingpoet — 24 Nov 2021

I quite enjoyed the movie, although I did feel that, personally, it suffered a bit from confusion. Perhaps it was just me, as I have alot on my mind at the moment but I did find that the story was a bit confusing, when the character of Mateo gives a rather surprising outburst and some of what the daughters said, trying to keep track of who their referring to (the character of Frankie, thats often mentioned during the narration, I found I got confused as to who exactly they meant, though after having checked this after seeing all of the movie, im more clear on this now and it makes a bit more sense).

I think that for some, it'll seem a bit slow and probably rather more sad than they might like or expect, possibly, as well as giving slightly confusing messages, as I say. It would have been classified by myself as a rather negative movie, in terms of being full of sadness from whats learnt about the families past but actually it is pretty uplifting too, especially when the character of Mateo is shown his real colours beneath the different surface and this in a way saves the movie, I feel. It would be too depressing, had the ending not been what it was and I suppose for others, maybe they would feel that the ending makes it a bit too Hollywood-ised but I don't, I think, to me, it all happened in a believable way that made me left feeling hopeful and yet still sad but in a reminiscent way for the family. I suppose this won't make a great deal of sense until you watch the movie but perhaps it helps you decide if this is of interest to you(?).

All in all, I felt that the movie was somewhat different to what I was expecting, there isn't a great deal of mention about how the family feel about the country and it isn't any kind of a roadtrip movie or exploration of the American culture really either. Its alot more insular and it doesn't have so much of an obvious 'goal' that we wait for the end to see the outcome of, its a movie that plods along and instead as the movie continues, we're given more insights into the family and their background instead. In that way, its not really that fast paced and its not got any real romance elements, though there is a sexual scene, which I also mention under classification.

This is a good general movie that is heartwarming and touching, if not rather confusing as well. Its a shame, if it had been done possibly in a different way, it would have got a better rating from me but I do feel like I did still enjoy it, hence my 7 out of 10 rating.