Someone Else's America

The magic realism intent of the finale is spoilt by poor optical work, and in general the movie is a catalogue of good ideas indifferently executed, or undermined by an affinity for hammy acting, boisterous comedy (the bantering between Conti and Manojlovic gets tiresome quite early on), and a disappointingly straightforward style - the whole thing looks overwhelmed by compromise. It comes close to so many things though - potentially acting as a kaleidoscope on the complex possibilities of America and the vast cultural compromise (in parts both sweeping and subtle) that's required of the immigrant: the eldest son effortlessly becomes an entrepreneur (portrayed with a cold-lipped hard-edge to him that can't help but distance us); Conti achieves the thinnest illusion of success; Manojlovic remains in the past, defiantly clutching his rooster (typical of his experience in the New World, when he obtains an egg in order to provide the rooster a chicken, it hatches into another rooster) and mourning his son who died in crossing from Mexico; others find a self-deluding equilibrium between past and present; but the ultimate arrival-point of old Granny shows all steps are possible. It's a great theme and a great title, worthy of a film of astonishing range and potency, but that's not achieved here - maybe the logistical challenge of making this all coalesce was just too ambitious for a director who's himself a stranger to America.