Home Again

A terrific, must-see movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat. the film engages your mind and emotions with superb acting, great production values and a gripping storyline.

Some people who see the Caribbean solely as beaches and sun and all- inclusive resorts may be surprised by this slice of life.

The movie raises questions about choices, justice and citizenship.But it is, in the end, a great drama. It doesn't preach. It tells the story of three young people who made bad choices, including, in one case, a stupid favour for a friend.

A movie well-worth the money and time.

(2012) Home Again DRAMA

Sensationalized dramatization regarding three deported blacklisted from Jamaica as a country. It first makes a footnote regarding the percentage of Jamaican immigrants immigrating to other first world countries before failing us to engage it like another "Crash" or "Babel" movie with multiple characters intertwining with one another. It basically showcases a single character from each country, in this instance it's Canada, the United States and Great Britain solemnly reveals why these three in particular, were deported back to Jamaica again and branded as criminals that cannot be trusted, in which their lives do not get any easier. One of it's major problems is that the stories feel very imposed which shows us their lives without much thought, since much of it almost seemed that their information about them can be collected by a newspaper or by on-line. Co-produced, co-written and directed by Sudz Sutherland.

What is most amazing about this film is the subject matter. Who wants to hear about deportees? Our government ships them out of our tidy little society and it is not our problem any more. But from the opening scenes we realize that they are real people too. What separates them from us, is that they made a mistake and the law applies unfavourably and unequally to them.

The three deportees have their own stories, with one thing in common. A bad choice leads to no choices. They are no-class citizens in their land of birth and have to live at the outskirts of society just to survive day to day. The narratives are gripping and realistic. Even good choices don't always lead to happy endings.

A couple comments on filming on location in T&T: I am familiar with both Trinidad and Jamaica and the former does a decent stand-in for the latter. There are times when a location is obvious to me (the Mall, the market, the airport, North Coast) and I feel a little discombobulated with the Jamaican accents, but this should not be an issue with a general audience :) It was a real treat to have a cast with Caribbean roots, Tatyana Ali and Fefe Dobson in particular will give you goosebumps in their respective scenes.

I saw this movie when it came out and I loved it. I saw it recently on rogers on demand and I had a few friends over who never saw it and they loved it too. I couldn't believe that they never heard of it but oh well. My favourite actor in it was the guy who played the Don who was the badman. I liked the girl from Fresh Prince too, she was nice and you don't see her too much in movies. The British kid I have seen in some other movies too I think Selma, the one about Martin Luther King last year. He was good. This story made me cry because I have a cousin who got deported and it reminded me of him. I found it true to life and there is a lot more deportations happening all over, not just back a yard. I hope more people watch this movie because I think that if people heard more about this kind of story they wouldn't be so hard hearted to people who find themselves in this situation.

I thoroughly enjoyed Home Again and would highly recommend this movie to anyone loves films that are truth to the power. The storyline depicted a honest view of what happens to the lives of several people from different walks of life who are deported back to their place of birth. The arc of the various stories were compelling, the soundtrack was excellent and the actors did a great job in portraying the complexities of how lives are drastically impacted when you are sent home to a country that really is not your home. The plot was interesting in that the main characters seemed distinct from each other at first but the interweaving of lives that occurred later was a surprise and really well done. After seeing this movie, I had to give my mom a big hug for having the fore-thought to getting citizenship for all her kids in our non birth country done at an early age so that our family feel secure no one in our family will be deported at the whim of the government.