3 Américas

This movie is certainly a coming-of-age movie in which América is troubled because of her rough family life. She has to sort through all that has happened to her, and find her own voice and path in life. 3 Américas is a tough movie to watch because of the level of disrespect that América shows to her grandmother, after moving in with her in Argentina. However, there are more positive aspects of the movie that definitely shine through when we witness when her grandmother has a stroke, América turns her attitude around, and helps to take care of her grandmother and her grandmother's house. It is nice to see that América has positive role models in her life, like Sergio, who points her in the right direction. It is interesting to note that in this movie, there is not much continuity of time, and many scenes get cut off. After one is cut off, the next scene appears to be much later, and the viewer is left not knowing exactly what had happened in between. This leaves them wondering what they missed which I think the director may have done on purpose to make the viewer think, and fill in those left out pieces with their own imaginations.

This is a truly well-made and heartfelt film about a girl growing up in difficult circumstances. There are quite a few films that cover the subject matter, but very few manage to capture it with as much emotion, sincerity and realism as this once does. I can't understand why films like this one are never given the attention they rightfully deserve--films that have something to say and know how to say them, refusing to compromise their integrity or pander to sensationalism--while cinemas are overflowing with dime-a-dozen films that are either remakes or retreads of other movies that were not very good in the first place. In the .22 caliber world of film-making that we currently live in, movies like "3 Americas" are like a .357 magnum.

We saw 3 Americas at a special screening on May 3rd, 2008 at the Museum of Fine Art in Boston, followed by a question and answer session attended by the Writer/Director, Cristina Cornejo, her co-producer and several of the actors. The story line revolves around America, a 15-year-old American girl who lives in the United States but was born in Argentina. An orphan who lives with her aunt and an abusive uncle, an unfortunate tragedy results in her suddenly returning to Argentina to live with her Maternal Grandmother.

Set in both Boston and Buenos Aires, the movie unfortunately suffers from amateurish acting for the first 25% of the movie, which takes place at its start in the United States. The movie does attempt to redeem itself once the story moves to Argentina, where the local actors were more professional and where the lead actress, Kristen Gonzales (America) obviously was able to benefit from the professionalism and support of the Argentinean cast.

The story itself is a somewhat uneven tale of redemption in the face of adversity once America is forced to face up to her immaturity as a result of an unfortunate circumstance.

I appreciated the effort that the Director/Writer made in filming this story, which she indicated was somewhat biographical. Ms. Cornejo has not secured an agreement to release the movie to-date consequently not very many people may see a decent first effort. It is unfortunate that anyone looking to take this movie on will first need to navigate a poorly preformed 30 minutes before the more qualitative part of the film kicks in.

América is a young girl of Argentine descent who lives a life of mischief with her aunt and uncle in the United States. Her life drastically changes when her aunt dies and she is sent to live with her grandmother in Argentina, where she has a hard time getting accustomed to the new way of life. The story being told by the director is an interesting one with a lot of potential to impact viewers. However, the movie looses a lot of its value with the lack of good acting, rich dialogue, and an upbeat tempo. The main character becomes sort of exhausting to watch after a while because of the way she acts and how she talks to her friends and family. Moreover, the dialogues between América and her family seemed too simple and raw most times, giving off an uncomfortable feeling for the audience. Lastly, the development of various scenes seemed too slow at times, causing the audience to become bored. The very end however, came about extremely quickly, resolving the plot too abruptly.

The points that this movie gets are only earned in the idea behind the plot as provoking and intriguing to both North and South American audiences. Unfortunately, however, all this is lost in a mess of amateur acting and poor writing. América is a sassy teenage doing her best in Boston to leave behind her Argentinian heritage. However, horrible events leave América without a guardian and forced to leave Boston for Argentina to live with her anti-American grandmother. The cultural divide between América and her grandmother is far too obvious; there is little in there relationship that develops or is left up to the imagination of the audience. This lack of creativity is characteristic of every relationship in the movie. América befriends an older man who works on their houses. The relationship becomes somewhat romantic, however it never really resolves and ends awkwardly. This movie fails to provide significant meaning or intrigue with its weak writing and poor acting of a theme that had great potential to achieve both.