Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Morris from America Blu-ray Movie Review

8 Kilometer.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 7, 2016

Being young, gifted and black takes on a whole new meaning, or at least context, with the engaging Morris from America, a film which resolutely defies certain strictures while broadly fitting into what might be termed a “coming of age” dramedy. Morris (Markees Christmas) is a sweet if occasionally surly 13 year old American kid who is attempting to matriculate into German culture with the help of his recently widowed father Curtis (Craig Robinson), who works in Germany as a soccer coach. The film rather cheekily introduces the pair’s locale, the picturesque city of Heidelberg, only after a prelude which is simply a father and son bantering with each other about rap music, in what many will assume is the good old United States of America. The fact that there are layers to this story is one of its most appealing features, and director and writer Chad Hartigan wisely chooses not to play the situation for traditional fish out of water laughs. This is instead a surprisingly heartfelt enterprise that finds a young boy in the throes of puberty attempting to come to terms with his own growing libido as well as his dreams of rap stardom, while also trying to navigate a foreign culture and all that that entails. While Morris from America may ultimately rely on genre conventions a bit too handily in its endgame, it manages to create a real bond between the audience and both the father and son at the core of the story, as well as creating a realistic bond for those two very characters. Some stodgy types may take umbrage with the language that’s thrown about by both Curtis and Morris, despite Curtis’ occasional warnings (along with those of Morris’ German tutor), not to mention some of Curtis' parenting decision. Some of the sexual situations on display may strike others as questionable, but it’s notable that the film ends up being rather innocent feeling, despite the prevalence of f bombs and simmering amorous behavior that occurs once Morris falls for a 15 year old German girl named Katrin (Lina Keller).

Those of us with teenagers, especially teenage boys, know that they often withdraw from the world into their own private paradises courtesy of their phones or iPods and earbuds. That tendency is evident in the case of Morris as well, though in a way it’s understandable—Morris is a stranger in a strange land, and his incessant playing of rap music perhaps provides an emotional shield for him as he traipses through the streets of Heidelberg. With Curtis often busy with his coaching duties, Morris shuffles between German lessons with Inka (Carla Juri), a sweet but no nonsense woman who wants Morris to integrate more completely into German culture, and a youth center (it’s summer, so school is out), which is where he first becomes infatuated with Katrin.

The two year difference between Morris (who initially lies about his age) and Katrin is telling, and it’s obvious that Katrin has at least a bit more experience in the romantic (and sexual) arts than Morris does. When he more or less stalks her and a friend of hers, she turns the table on him, hiding in a park and then springing out, asking if he’s following her, which of course he denies. A halting but generally sweet relationship seems to be developing, even though Morris is kind of the butt of jokes by the German boys at the youth center, especially since he doesn’t want to play basketball with them (the film rather hilariously pokes at stereotypes the Germans slather over Morris because he’s black). When Katrin invites Morris to a “secret” party, he feels like perhaps he’s finally making some inroads into a social circle in his new home.

The party turns out to be something of a disaster for Morris, and it seems like the film may be about to tip over into the sort of swirling psychological angst that has informed any number of other teen dramas like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but again it’s to Hartigan’s credit that he steers the film away from genre tropes and instead continues to forge an awkward relationship between Morris and Katrin. In the meantime, Morris and Curtis have engaged in more banter about the history of rap, and when Curtis provides Morris with a cassette tape of his old attempts at rapping, Morris is willing to overlook some of Katrin’s patent cruelty when it turns out she has an old boom box that he can listen to his Dad’s music on.

The main thrust of Morris from America gets a lot right, at least when that focus stays resolutely on Morris. Christmas is a bit of a revelation in the role, bringing a kind of honest vulnerability that still makes at least passing attempts at swagger (Morris’ insistence that he’s “gangsta” tends to be undercut by his love of hot chocolate with one marshmallow, not to mention the fact that the only “piece” he gets his hands on is a squirt gun). The film falters a bit in trying to get into Curtis’ work life and relationships, when there’s more than enough content being mined simply in terms of Morris’ stumbling approaches toward Katrin (who actually takes up with an older EDM DJ), and the almost sibling like interchanges between father and son. Other stylistic "flourishes", like a silly scene in a museum where Morris imagines patrons and art objects bopping along to the music, or some later quasi hallucinatory material when drugs enter the fray, aren't especially helpful in maintaining the film's generally very intelligent tone.

The film’s unusual setting and equally unexpected combination of elements tends to work in its favor, though, with Morris’ attempts to impress Katrin with his rapping helping to give the middle section of the film an appealing focus. Things get a little more hackneyed as it becomes clear that Morris and Katrin are not exactly a match made in heaven, and it’s notable that Hartigan kind of reverts to using Curtis as an afterthought to help provide a little reassurance in a more traditionally parental way than the character has sometimes behaved previously. Morris from America has charm to spare in any case, and certainly augurs well for a great career for Christmas.

Morris from America Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Morris from America is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The IMDb credits the Arri Alexa for this shoot, and this has a nicely detailed image in all of the brightly lit scenes, with some of the German locations offering great detail levels and nice depth of field. Hartigan and cinematographer Sean McElwee opt for extreme close-ups a lot of the time (several are shown in the screenshots accompanying this review), and fine detail levels in those are also excellent, even in some fairly dimly lit sequences. There are noticeable (and understandable) drops in detail levels in some of the heavily graded material, as in a party sequence (see screenshot 13) where drugs are being passed around. Aside from these moments, the palette looks fresh and natural. Black levels and contrast are also both consistent, and there are no issues with image instability or compression anomalies.

Morris from America Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Morris from America's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix benefits immensely from its rap and EDM milieu, with Keegan DeWitt's music regularly thrusting through the surrounds with quite a bit of vigor. A couple of party scenes or otherwise crowded sequences also provide nice use of the side and rear channels to evoke a lifelike sonic ambience. Dialogue is always cleanly rendered and well prioritized (even in the noisy party scenes) on this problem free track.

Morris from America Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Chad Hartigan and Actors Craig Robinson and Markees Christmas


• Making Morris from America (1080p; 11:22) includes interviews and snippets from the film.


• Bloopers (1080p; 2:35)


• Deleted Scene (1080p; 1:18)


• Casting Tapes (480i; 4:28)

Morris from America Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Had Morris from America jettisoned a couple of needless subplots, this feature could have really totally hit it out of the ballpark for Hartigan. As it stands, it's a hugely commendable effort that has a few problems, but it offers fantastic performances by Christmas and Robinson, and it certainly is a rather heady mixture of ideas and characters. Technical merits are strong, and Morris from America comes Recommended.