There are a number of credibility defying moments in this film, but as you watch, you begin to see them as real, or at least wish they were real. A lot of the spark and magic in the story is provided by real life sisters, Sarah and Emma Bolger, portraying the young daughters of Johnny (Paddy Considine) and Sarah (Samantha Morton) Sullivan, newly arrived immigrants from Ireland via Canada. Though it's a modern day story, the picture's cinematography evokes a somewhat earlier era, perhaps a time when New York City might have been a tad safer and more welcoming, even though you might not get that perspective from the run down apartment building the Sullivans are forced to call home. There's a plaintive quality to the life of the Sullivan Family, as they live in the shadow of a young son's death at the age of two, both parents blaming themselves and each other for what was an unfortunate accident, and even more dismally, the specter of a brain tumor that would have taken it's eventual toll. The presence of their screaming-man neighbor Mateo (Djimon Hounsou) turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as the evolving friendship between him and the Sullivans, particularly the girls, reveals a humanity in people that often remains unseen until we take the trouble to get to know them. The story is loosely built around the idea of Christy's (Sarah Bolger) three wishes granted by her deceased brother Frankie. There's only one moment when I thought the script writers took things a little too far, and that was when Christy stated to her dad that she had been carrying the weight of the family around ever since Frankie died. She may have thought so in the deep recesses of her mind, and maybe even felt that way, but no child of her age would have been capable of expressing such a sentiment in words the way she did. But for me, that's a minor nit-pick, as the over all story is one of quiet reflection and inspiration, and not without an occasional tear to share with the Sullivan family.

The movie opens with a young Irish family of four—father, mother, and two young daughters—crossing the Canadian-American boarder in their station wagon. We realize that they are entering illegally when the father prompts his family to say that they are entering America on holiday. But, the younger daughter accidentally blurts out that her dad has no job. When the boarder guard gets distracted while admiring the two girls, he smiles, waves them through and says, 'Welcome to America.' Thus begins the modern story of a brave and persevering Irish family trying to 'start over' while carrying the ghost of their late son and brother, Frankie, with them in their minds and spirits. (They all seem profoundly affected by Frankie's recent death.) The four principal characters in the story are Johnny (Paddy Considine), his wife, Sarah (Samantha Morton) and their two daughters, Christy and Ariel (played by real-life sisters, Sarah and Emma Bolger.) The movie's story is told through the eyes and narration of the older daughter, Christy, who constantly carries her camcorder around with her.After the family arrives in NYC, they are forced to live in a virtually unkept building filled with perverts and drug addicts. One of the inhabitants includes the mysterious recluse 'man who screams' and has a KEEP OUT sign on his front door. Sarah takes a job selling ice cream while Johnny searches for employment as an actor and the girls enroll in a Catholic girls' school. As they struggle to survive, they must sell their car and Johnny has to take a night job as a cab driver. The movie is a thesaurus of emotionally moving scenes and subplots, including the quest to get an air conditioner to survive the New York summer heat and the girls' discovery of an American custom: trick-or-treating on Halloween. As the girls go trick-or-treating in their building, they knock persistently on the door of 'the crazy screaming man.' When he finally answers the door, he is angry. But he is soon won over by these wonderful little girls' vulnerability and openness. This is when 'the crazy screaming man,' a black African artist named Mateo (Djimon Hounsou) first enters the movie as a full character. Mateo becomes very close to the family. But, he is also dying of a terminal disease. (We are led to believe that the disease is AIDS).Sarah becomes pregnant, but her pregnancy is difficult and requires even more sacrifice from the family. (She is determined to see it through to the end, no doubt trying to replace their lost child, Frankie.) We—the audience--are now caught up in three simultaneous struggles: that of Sarah to give life to their unborn child; that of Mateo's death; and that of the family to give up the pain of Frankie's recent death.This autobiographical movie is lovingly put together by the Sheridan family. Jim Sheridan directed this film as well as co-writing its Oscar nominated script with his nieces, Naomi and Kirsten Sheridan. The movie is dedicated to Frankie, who—according to the IMDb-- died of a brain tumor.

After the death of their young son Frankie, Irish couple Johnny (Paddy Considine) and Sarah Sullivan (Samantha Morton) are illegal immigrants with their daughters Christy (Sarah Bolger) and Ariel (Emma Bolger) crossing the border from Canada. While Sarah is waitressing, Johnny tries to make it as an actor. She gets pregnant but the family is still haunted by the lost of Frankie. They live in a rundown drug-infested building in Manhattan. The girls befriend screaming artist neighbor Mateo (Djimon Hounsou), the only one who opened the door for them trick or treating.There is a magical realism to this movie which is so heart-warming. It's not completely real but digs into something truer. Paddy is amazing and the Bolger girls are brilliant. There is one scene at a carnival fair that is incredibly intense. The stakes are so low and yet so high that it is more heart-pounding than most Hollywood car chases.

The most moving point of the film for me occurred during the final crawler where I realized just how autobiographical this film was. Brother and sister Sheridan wrote the screenplay about their own experiences as children. This knowledge made the personal choices of the characters, real and understandable. I suspect that Sheridan's real mother and father would have made the choices we witnessed in the movie. But these same personal choices made watching the film a bit difficult for me. I had trouble liking these characters when they foolishly gambled their rent money and their family's future on a kewpie doll. Or, when they let their little girls trick-or-treat unsupervised in a flop house peopled with junkies and muggers. Or when they sent their girls off to the streets of Brooklyn unsupervised at night in a torrential downpour to get ice cream. Or when the mother allowed herself to have an intimate (but not physical) friendship with a handsome young artist while her husband worked, driving cab -- this shouldn't, but so often can lead to marital difficulties and I think it put at risk, the mother-father relationship which supports a family. The movie deals with the loss of their son -- a baby boy -- who has died by the time the movie starts. We are told that he fell down the stairs. I found myself thinking that, with their parental style, it may actually have been a preventable death. This distrust, even dislike, of this couple made is difficult for me to fully enjoy this drama as it unfolded. True, the movie tells a very real story in very real way (except for one scene where the 12- year-old says a very un-12-yr-old thing when she says, "I'm carrying this family") But, being realistic may not be enough for this viewer. I need to be able to identify with, or root for, my protagonists. In this movie I found myself sometimes fearful for, sometimes pitying and sometimes shocked by this innocent, hapless family as they struggled nobly but sometimes carelessly against the difficulties of life.