In America

Jim Sheridan's autobiographical film, IN AMERICA, begins as Irish immigrants Johnny (Paddy Considine), his wife Sarah (Samantha Morton), and their two daughters drive their wood-paneled station wagon across the Canadian border and into the United States. As they enter New York City at night, 10-year-old Christy (Emma Bolger) records the lights, skyscrapers, and general excitement on her camcorder. Her little sister Ariel (Sarah Bolger) coos at all there is to see, and the whole family is filled with new hope. With no money to live on, they settle into the top floor of a flophouse tenement inhabited by transvestites and drug addicts. The dilapidated building is at first intimidating, but with a little redecorating and a change of perspective, the family turns it into a bohemian paradise. While Johnny goes to auditions, trying to get his break as an actor, Sarah works at the ice cream shop down the street and the girls go to Catholic school. A budding friendship with their ominous neighbor, Mateo (Djimon Hounsou), brings a much-needed spirituality to the family's happy but difficult struggle to survive. (official distributor synopsis)