Der amerikanische Neffe

I always enjoy the "little sleeper" films, and believe me this is one. It's very interesting to see how sometimes the outside world views we Americans. Nevertheless, Chad seemed accepted by almost all, except his competition....I enjoyed all the characters and the brief glimse into another culture and spent a delightful time there.

The film also shows a life "lost" due to lack of communication, forgiveness, and crowned with stubborn self-righteousness, but just perhaps at the end when all is revealed, a new beginning. Other critiques have noted it was a "pat" ending, but I'd like to think that it was just a beginning... As Chad remarked, to Patsy "Believe it or not, I am Irish".

OK, I enjoyed the movie. A good part of what I liked about the movie was simply learning a little about the daily life of people in Ireland. Take that away, and I'm not sure that the somewhat flawed script and story would hold up. The story holds your attention in that you get to know the characters and you want to know what happened 20 years ago. The revelation is fairly predictable, and not overly satisfying.

I give it a 7, and that's probably a little generous...

It is a touching movie about characters with cultural differences which are instrumental in the resolution of unspoken injustices. The scenery of Ireland is breathtaking and the pace of the film is soothing. Pierce Brosnan is to be commended for bringing out the nature of his people and how their sentiments merge with the beauty of his native land.

I only viewed this movie because it was a previously-viewed video on sale for $3 at Blockbuster. I didn't expect too much but was very pleasantly surprised how good it was. I almost rated it 8, but settled on 7, mainly because the ending was a bit too "neat", and because some of the dialog was very difficult to understand.

Chad is the 19-yr-old son of an Irish woman who had been "exiled" to America 20 years earlier by her guardian, her older brother. He traveled to visit his uncle Tony upon the death of his mother. Once there, he finds a lot of secrecy and unhappiness, and the rest of the movie is about his attempts to get everything, especially about his mother, out in the open. Along the way he, of course, finds love. Very well cast and acted, this is definitely worth the almost two hours to see.

The pace and method of unfolding the story reminded me of Lone Star, but Lone Star is a significantly better movie overall.

Initially this film was advertised as being like Waking Ned evine,( another great Irish film )but it is nothing like it. Instead, it was comical in parts, but more dramatic in character development, and really made you feel for the characters. The lead actors were all strong, the visuals were very striking, and the music especially memorable ( I have not been able to find the soundtrack) I loved this film, and to have two boys aged 14 and 16 sit through it and appreciate it, says alot. 10 out of 10.