Now, this is not Will & Jaden Smith, looking & being cool, and attractive. Nope, this about two overweight black males, father and son, and while the father is likable (and excellent in Mr. Robot) he's no fashion model. That's the first unfamiliar aspect. The film is of course mostly about Morris, seldom has the word 'misadventures' been so applicable to a movie.The second unfamiliar aspect is that father and son Gentry live in boring, nice middle class housing, this is not what is usually seen when we see black people in mainstreaam film. It's usually the 2 extremes, very rich or very poor. There's hardly any serious drama about the non-struggling black middle class, from the suburbs. There's a reason for that: in America, blacks have been RE-segregated to the wrong sideof the tracks, mostly, and there's not a lot of black drama out there. Even this one is both an indie flick AND European made, my point being: big Hollywood bucks aren't going into this type of film.So, the story is about 13 year old Morris, living in Germany, which seems quite strange to him, he's a fish out of water. He doesn't speak the language which isolates him from other people, especially kids his age. His language tutor sends him to a youth home, to meet other kids. This is something with middling success: he doesn't feel like socializing and the German kids react to him in a stereotyping way ("hey come play basketball, Kobe Bryant", which is both an insult and a compliment at the same time). I will give the German kid credits for making an effort, but I totally understand Morris' hostility, he's out of his element and suspicious. He does befriend a super hot blond girl, Katrin, even though it's unclear why exactly she likes Morris, he's not all that charming towards her. But, their friendship grows, which is a good thing.Overall, the characters do not do stupid crap, like in most movies these days, and everyone's actions make sense in the context of the story. The teacher does overreact a bit to Morris' rap, but I get that. She acts responsible in calling the father to go pick Morris up. The father getting mad at Morris' being braggy and not true to himself is one of the best scenes.And when Morris rejects the German boys attempt to include him, their counter rejection is also understandable. When Katrin pranks Morris at the first party, he reacts in a hurt way, which I also get: she thinks this is funny, but he isn't in a self assured place to appreciate the prank. The Germans aren't portrayed stereotypically: The DJ boyfriend getting mad at Morris intruding on him and his girl, I totally get that. He WAS nice to Morris. The only ones which are a bit iffish are the Youth Home leader who clearly lacks people skills to deal with an uprooted 13 year old who's angry about that, and the flutist bully, whose character is too flat.But other than that: normal people reacting normally. It's an excellent film, well acted, precisely because it's unusual and it deviates from the mainstream. 10 for 10.The Melancholic Alcoholic.

"Morris from America" or "Morris aus Amerika" is a German/American co-production from this year and there is also lots of English and German language in here as the action takes place in Germany, but the main character is American. Just like his dad. I as a German was familiar with Löbau and Juri as well as Craig Robinson from the international cast. The writer and director is Chad Hartigan who has also acted in several projects in the past, but maybe this work here and the awards recognition it received so quickly will maybe encourage him to keep making more films in the future. The film runs pretty much exactly for 90 minutes, so it is neither too long or short really. The heart and soul of this one is really Markees Christmas, a definite contender for the best child performance of the year I think. He did really well here and I was as surprised as I was impressed. It's the story of a boy who lost his mother (before the film began) and who lives with his father somewhere in Germany.A big part of the film is about the two being black. But I personally really did not feel this was the center of the story. There are some not so creative moments like the part about the marijuana or also comments like "Blacks are good dancers", but if you manage to ignore these few weak occasions, you will be in for a pretty good watch. It's a solid coming-of-age story about first love, even if unrequited, but also about friendship. I not only liked the way the title character was written, but also the way the big supporting players were written. Lina Keller plays Katrin and she feels very authentic. Not only do we see a strong performance, but we also see a character that has excellent shades. Early on, you still don't know if she is friend or for with the water gun scene and the Ecstasy reference, but she really likes Morris, even if not in a way he hopes she would. She definitely wants to be his friend and her struggles also have a lot to do with the problems she has with her own parents. She just wants to be loved and appreciated like most girls that age really, but the question if she is looking in the right places is eventually not answered because this movie is about Morris and not about her. And I really need to mention Craig Robinson, who proves here that he is also great with dramatic material, even if he keeps mixing it up with the somewhat entertaining approach he gives to Morris' dad. But the phone sex scene and also the speech at the end in the car show how good he is as these were some of the best moments of the film. It's nice to see he already won at Sundance for it and maybe more awards will follow. I would like it.Overall, the film needed a bit to get going and really get me invested, but that's sometimes the case and the way you care for the characters around the 30-minute mark and afterward makes it a deserving watch I believe. The only major letdown here was probably Carla Juri, who not only plays a character that added almost nothing to the story (at least the way she portrayed it), but the approach she gave it (restrained yet hammy) was sometimes pretty painful to watch. I have seen the actress in other works in the past already and there is always something that rings fairly false to me. Also looking at what she starred in I always get the impression that she is all about rising on the career ladder and not really about giving convincing portrayals. But like I said, aside from her, the film is almost entirely a success. There are some great moments towards the end (the rap performance, the talk in the car, the letter) that I actually wished they could have gotten some of these in earlier in the film instead bringing us one after the other in the last 20 minutes, but it is all fine I guess. I certainly recommend the watch and this is finally a film about Black people that also offers something more than boring and uninspired race bait, maybe because it eventually is not about the characters' color at all. I certainly recommend the watch.

Just watched Morris from America even though it got a 5.6 on IMDb. I usually try and not watch movies below 6 as i end up getting disappointed, but Morris from America was different. It was surprisingly short and beautiful!As the title says its about the romantic and coming-of-age misadventures of a 13-year-old African-American boy who moves to Germany with his dad and tries to fit in with the other German kids. He falls for a girl at a youth club and through her own growing up pangs encourages him to open up a little and share his rapping.We've all had that one childhood crush that we fondly remember - puppy love! The director has beautifully narrated a story that captures the essence of growing up and not fitting in, our first crush and pains with our parents and their side of the story and made a pint size gem! So don't go by the rating and watch it when you have the time and want to remember that feeling of puppy love and not really fitting in!

The story is okay, I liked it but the ending terribly sucked. The ending, was not even an ending... Maybe its an episode.. Haha, I don't know...The movie story gets you interested at first and at the end it gets you even more interested on whats going to happen next and THE END. It was so disappointing.Even it was an episode (tv-series) I would not look at the second part of this movie. If anyone else pays for it... Its a waste of money. I never have done a review on a movie before but I felt so bad about that wasted hour of my life I just had to do it. Im sorry for being so harsh on my first review.