Morris from America a charming coming-of-age story
Morris Gentry is 13 years old, loves rap, has a crush on an older blonde girl and is trying to learn German – all of which would be unremarkable, except in this case Morris is actually living in Germany, and, as his dad Curtis puts it, they’re “the only two brothers in Heidelberg.”
Portrayed in a sturdy, solemn feature debut by Markees Christmas, the title character of Morris From America is a sympathetic if slightly recessive protagonist, who weathers the inevitable trials of his comingof-age – heartbreak, bullying, first forays with drugs and alcohol – with carefully cultivated nonchalance. His white contemporaries take it for granted that he’s a good dancer and basketball player, and the girl he’s crushing on, a femme fatale named Katrin (Lina Keller), makes a more lascivious assumption. Morris takes it all in stride, working on his freestyle raps and fitting in without suffering the indignity of seeming to try too hard.
Written and directed by Chad Hartigan, Morris From America possesses un-insistent charm, even when it uncritically celebrates the misogyny of some of rap’s rankest lyrics.
If the film’s pace is sometimes as awkward as its hero, and the story a little thin, it still brims with authentic life and affection for the characters (even the dubiously attentive Katrin). The most lively moments of Morris From America are when Hartigan turns the camera on Curtis, played in a winningly funny and poignant breakout performance by Craig Robinson. Best known for his work in broad comedies, Robinson delivers the finest work of his film career here, as a father desperately trying to do right by his son. And, like his son, he just as desperately needs to appear cool while doing it.
Filmed in beautiful locations in and around Heidelberg, Morris From America captures the strangeness and promise of being a fish out of water.
What from a distance looks like drowning turns out to be a deceptively self-assured young man taking the deepest and most life-giving breaths of his life.
— Two and half stars out of four