Coming to age in a foreign country in “Morris From America”
Becoming a teenager can be a difficult period of time.
Becoming a teenager while living in a foreign country has an additional set of obstacles that make the transition from child to adult more difficult.
These challenges are what Morris Gentry must face in the film “Morris From America” on Blu-ray and DVD this week.
Gentry (Markees Christmas, “Black-ish” and “Parker and the Crew”) is a 13-year-old American who moved to Heidelberg, Germany with his soccer coach dad, Curtis Gentry (Craig Robinson, “This is the End” and “The Office”).
Morris struggles to fit in with his German classmates and ends up falling in love with Katrin (Lina Keller, “Doc Meets Dorf” and “V8-Die Rache des Nitros”) a girl who encourages him to begin rapping.
Meanwhile, his father is also dealing with his own difficulty fitting in and the grief surrounding the passing of his wife.
“Morris From America” marks the film debut for Christmas who was excited when he received the news that he landed the part.
“I was walking down the street with my friends when I was listening to the voicemail, so I couldn’t look like a weirdo. I wanted to scream, but I just couldn’t. I mean, I was acting like a total weirdo for five minutes, and (my friends) were like, ‘What’s up with you?’ And I’m just like, ‘I’m going to be in a movie.’ I’m trying to make it seem small, like I’m not super excited about it,” he told M. Susi Schmank of the Los Angeles Times.
Reviews for the film have mostly been positive. The film review website, Rottentomatoes.com gave a critic score of 89 percent fresh and an audience score of 66 percent fresh.
“Morris ranks as one of the most indelible, endearing adolescents to hit the screen in a long time, a tough-minded philosopher gamely suffering the vicissitudes of loneliness and unrequited love,” wrote J.R. Jones, a reviewer for Chicago Reader, on Rottentomatoes.com.
Chris Hewitt, an audience reviewer on the site, also enjoyed the film and gave it four stars.
“The relationship between father and son makes this coming-of-age story feel so different than similar movies.
“It’s really refreshing and funny with great, smart cinematography and a wonderful performance by Craig Robinson. Very small and character-driven,” he wrote.
Other films out on Blu-ray this week include:
n “Sausage Party” starring the voices of Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig and Jonah Hill and directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon in this adult, animated film about food discovering the purpose behind their existence.
The film is rated R for strong crude sexual content, pervasive language and drug use.
n “Counting” a documentary that connects 15 distinct but interwoven chapters shot in locations from Russia to New York City. The film builds to the intersection of city symphony, diary and essay film that measures street life, light and time. The film is directed by Jem Cohen.
The film is unrated.
N “Phantom Boy” starring the voices of Edouard Baer, Jean-Pierre Marielle and Audrey Tautou and directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol in this animated fantasy about a boy with super-powers who assists a policeman, bound to a wheelchair, bring down the kingpin of a mob.
The film is rated PG for thematic elements, violence and suggestive situation.
TV series coming to Blu-ray this week include:
N “Daredevil” the complete first season starring Charlie Cox, Vincent D’Onofrio and Deborah Ann Woll in this crime, action series about a blind lawyer who turns into the vigilante Daredevil at night.
N “Black Sails” season three starring Jessica Parker Kennedy, Toby Stephens and Hannah New in this high-seas adventure about Captain Flint and his crew of pirates that takes place 20 years before Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale “Treasure Island.”
N “Into the Badlands” the complete first season starring Orla Brady, Sarah Bolger and Aramis Knight in this action series about a young boy and a warrior that make their way through a ruthless territory owned by feudal barons while on their search for enlightenment.
N “Billions” season one starring Toby Leonard Moore, Paul Giamatti and Kelly AuCoin in this dramatic series about a U.S. Attorney who hunts a hedge fund king in a battle between these two powerful New York figures.
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