The 8.1 average for this film is almost as absurd as the film itself. I must say my girlfriend rented the video and I didn't have high hopes - it had a small girl on the front cover which normally doesn't bode well - but nevertheless I really tried to give it a chance. The problem was that while this film was intended to make me cry I have to shamefully admit that once or twice I actually found myself laughing at the sheer ludicrousness of it all. The desperate Irish family sneaking into America after the loss of their son - in the 1850s I might have believed it, but in 1985...why? How about the hilarious African music that played whenever Mateo appeared on the screen or the fact that this caged animal turned from lion to pussy cat after one knock on his door. And the fact that he was in the far advanced stages of AIDS yet had a strong, musclebound body that features in adverts for growth steroids. And I am not a medical man but I am sure that you can't get a brain tumour from falling down the stairs. I could cope with these absurdities if the film had been redeeming in any way, but the number of needless clichés in the film just ruined any hopes it may have had about trying to explore the nature and feelings surrounding the death of a child. Clichés like the smiling and cheery black waitress, the tramp with a heart of gold, the heartless hospital clerk clocking up the five figure childbirth bill, the idea of one life ending as another is beginning. At the end the family were even gazing wistfully at the moon. From start to finish this film was farcical. And while I have every sympathy with the fact that the film was made, that does not make the film worth watching.
Review of In America
