Indie Gems: Morris From America

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And you thought you didn't fit in.

Morris (Markees Christmas) is a 13 year old boy who moves to Germany with his father, Curtis. (Craig Robinson) Morris doesn't have friends yet, the only people he interacts with are his father and his German teacher Inka. (Carla Juri) He finds his solace in hip hop and freestyle rapping. Then he sees Katrin (Lina Keller) and develops a crush, now it's time for him to come out of his shell.

I liked how minimal this movie is. It's not really coming of age, it's more about trying to find your place as you navigate your new home. Morris' relationship with Curtis is strained at times, of course it is. Being a teenager is terrible. (Katrin tells Curtis about how her mom is a bitch and I feel like I probably said those exact words more than once as a teen) 

Robinson's performance is very underrated. He was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award but I wish more people were talking about what he does here. A lot of it is subtle, but he perfectly portrays the dad who really wants his son to like him, but also bring him up the right way. Christmas also proves to be a very talented lead, giving one of the best young performances I've seen this year.

Another thing I enjoyed was how the film is almost half/half in German and English. That's very true to Germany, most Germans I encountered there did speak quite a bit of English freely. (Especially if you're like me and aren't that great at it)

Grade: B

Watched on: Netflix DVD

Memorable Quote: "We are not friends." - Morris (Markees Christmas) 


Comments

  1. Courtney YoungDecember 30, 2016 at 11:49 AM

    Great post, and I'm glad you got to see this one, because I haven't yet. I remember watching the trailer months back, and I thought it looked great. Did this film get a theatrical release? I didn't see it hit theaters :\

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 30, 2016 at 7:53 PM

      It must have been really limited. I had never heard of it until I saw the Spirit Award nominations and I threw it in my Netflix queue because of Craig Robinson.

      Delete
  2. Candice FrederickDecember 30, 2016 at 12:14 PM

    interesting....i need to check this out

    ReplyDelete
  3. thevoid99December 30, 2016 at 2:18 PM

    I keep hearing a lot of good things about this as I'm interested in seeing Craig Robinson in a dramatic role as I think he's got the chops to do these kind of roles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 30, 2016 at 7:52 PM

      I love Robinson, he's so good here too. He's come so far from being horsedick.mpeg lol

      Delete
  4. AnonymousDecember 30, 2016 at 3:45 PM

    Oh, I remember this one, I never saw it theatres and haven't seen it since. Thanks for reminding me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 30, 2016 at 7:51 PM

      I had never heard of it until the Spirit Award nominations were announced. I'm so glad it was nominated there, I might have missed this.

      Delete

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