In America

This is a movie about a couple migrating from Canada to United States or specifically to New York City. Unlike many other movies, it doesn't get into the typical "struggle and inspiration" story but eventually it gets more and more personal. It moves along from the eye level of a little girl (older one in the family) and her perceptions about this move. This gets even more personal to the family when she brings in her dead brother "franky" into the story and creates some sort of connection with him through her imagination. It gets even more symbolic and abstract when they gets connected with the african guy living in the same shady apartment building. At some point the movie graduates from being a story to a level of self-reveleation and uses abstracts and visuals to build certain moments or to destroy them. Don't get wrong, abstracts are used very effectively in a limited way so that the audience doesn't loose their track. However their use revealed many words which otherwise would remain difficult to be told.
Finally the connection between the african guy with this family and his death same time when the new baby sees the light of the world is quite dramatic ... but never out of control. Its a well thought of and well managed movie ... worth seeing.