Screened Out – Morris from America

[four-star-rating]Markees Christmas, Craig Robinson, Lina Keller, Carla Juri[/four-star-rating]

Coming-of-age stories are nothing new. But when you can do something charming, authentic, and unique with the genre, then it’s worth noting. Morris from America is a small, quiet, and a little flimsy on plot, but it’s still delightful.

Writer/director Chad Hartigan puts Morris Gentry (Christmas) in the most awkward of situations. Morris is 13 years old – a difficult age anywhere, but especially difficult for a black teenager. Furthermore, Morris is stuck in Germany, having followed his dad Curtis (Robinson) for a job. There aren’t a lot of black teenagers in Heidelberg; Morris sticks out like a sore thumb as he tries to make new friends.

“I’m gansta as all get out,” Morris tries to define himself in an alien situation.

To add even more damage, Morris’s mom died a couple years earlier. Both father and son are still reeling in grief. The only things that bond them are mutual loves for both profanity and hip-hop.

Consequently, it’s a good thing this kid has this American English-heavy art to fall back on. Morris doesn’t always understand the German language, much less the culture. He’s always flailing, his adolescent awkwardness made worse. Dad Curtis has hired him a sympathetic translator (Juri).

So, Morris from America plays like Lost in Translation combined with race issues, grief, profanity, hip-hop, and growing up.

This is what Hartigan does well. He piles on the complexity and then just films characters struggling through. (For a prime example, stream This is Martin Bonner, where a jobless Christian philanthropist decides to help ex-prisoners in Reno transition into normal life.) Hartigan’s works are always more slice-of-life, more mood pieces than driven storytelling. Morris from America is no different, though his situation is even more complex than Martin Bonner’s.

So it’s no surprise that Morris’s relationship with his dad provides the biggest draw here. Father and son swap penis jokes and criticize each other’s rap styling.

“We’re the only two Brothers in Heidelberg. We’ve got to be on the same team, know what I mean?” Dad aks.

When Curtis finds a book of his son’s rap lyrics, he lays into his son. Morris writes about “fucking all the bitches, two at a time.”

“I’m not mad at you for writing explicit lyrics,” his dad says. “I’m mad at you for writing bullshit!”

“So I should write about getting yelled at by you. Nobody wants to listen to that shit!”

[rating-key]

In conclusion, all the performances here are pitch perfect. Rightfully so, Christmas and Robinson are the strong, beating heart at the center Sure, the film starts to sag near the end, flinging around a couple more typical coming-of-age tropes. But up until that point, Morris from America quietly and gently presents its character with authenticity.