Morris from America

A great coming of age story and an even better fish out of water story.

Morris from America is about a black kid from the states trying to survive in Germany after the death of his Mom and forced to live with his Dad who coaches football in the country.

Although living with Craig Robinson as your dad was made to be a joyous experience. Mr. Robinson was a great supporting actor for this movie. He comes on the scene and shares time with this new kid in the acting scene and the chemistry of father and son between them sparks magnificently. Such a touching relationship between father and son put on camera. You could tell that from the moment these two come on the screen in the first scene  and Robinson tries to convince his son that his Old School Hip Hop was the joint, It set the tone for what I knew was going to be a humorous and touching connection.

The adventures of Morris from America follows Morris as he attempts to learn the language and learn the culture of Germany. It’s a hard task with Morris missing his home and his mom and having to deal with the stereotypes place upon him for being an African American.

In a sub plot that reminds me of Melvin Van Peoples’ The Story of A Three Day Pass, Morris develops a crush on an older hot blonde whose giving him mixed signals.

Lucky for him, he has the love and support from his father and his German language tutor, both looking out for his best interest.

Morris From America is one of the best movies about growing up there ever was, using an extreme metaphor of a kid alone in a land of a different language to relate to all of us.