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In America | 2003 | PG-13 | - 5.4.5

Set in contemporary times, a young Irish family moves to New York after losing their son to a brain tumor in order to pursue the husband's (Paddy Consadine) dream of becoming an actor. After moving into a rundown apartment building occupied primarily by drug addicts and transvestites, they try to adjust but are unable to find work they like. Eventually, they are able to find some peace through the help and advice of a dying neighbor (Djimon Hounsou). With Samantha Morton, Emma Bolger and Sarah Bolger. Directed by Jim Sheridan. [1:43]

SEX/NUDITY 5 - A woman takes off her top (we see her in her bra), then removes her bra (we see her bare back), a man touches her bare chest (he's blindfolded), they kiss, lie back on a bed, they kiss again and caress each other and we see her bare breasts. We see a man's bare chest while he changes his clothes, and another man is bare-chested in a few scenes. A woman wears a tank top that reveals cleavage. A girl talks about a baby having "been conceived." We see a group of transvestites.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A man holds a straight razor to a man's throat to get his money, the man flips him around against a wall and pounds the blade out of his hand. A woman screams and panics when she goes into labor fearing the baby is too early and may not survive (we see the baby in an incubator). A woman appears delirious, screams and cries remembering the death of her child. We hear a man scream from behind an apartment door and we see him cutting up a painting with a knife. A man grieves over the death of his son, and a girl grieves over the death of her brother. A girl appears terrified when she has a bad dream and her father pours cold water on her head. A man hits himself on the head a few times in anger. A woman is told that her baby will not go full term and if it does it may be dangerous to the woman's health. A man yells and kicks things. We hear that a child has died from a fall down stairs and a resulting brain tumor. We hear that a baby needs a transfusion or she will die. We see a bloody hand print and drops of blood on a canvas. A man has sores on his face and lips and goes in and out of consciousness and we later see him die (he moans, gasps and dies). We see the drying, scabbed umbilical cord on a newborn baby's abdomen. It is inferred that a man has contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion. A man lies unconscious on a landing, and a girl performs mouth-to-mouth and pounds on his chest. A man has a scar on his hand from being cut by a knife. A man walks in the middle of a city street with cars zipping past and around him. People suffer from the heat and humidity.

LANGUAGE 5 - 1 F-word, 1 scatological term, 5 mild obscenities, 1 religious exclamation.

SUBSTANCE USE - A man snorts a drug. People drink alcohol. We hear that people living in an apartment building are drug addicts.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - The American Dream, death of a child, dreams, wishes, luck, AIDS, transvestites, guilt, blame.

MESSAGE - There are some things that you should wish for -- and some that you shouldn't.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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