Morris from America

While countless coming-of-age indies have followed the standard mold of following a new teen boy's first awkward steps ahead, writer/director Chad Hartigan's compassionate mix of charm, heartache and hip-hop ramps up this version handsomely.

While "Morris From America" trundles along familiar tracks, Hartigan's eye for detail and individuality yields enough dividends to keep the film moving tartly and congenially along.

"Morris from America" feels thin at times. But at its best, its themes of growing up, culture gaps and the power of music take the specific and make them universal.

The truehearted insights in Chad Hartigan's Sundance award-winner - about adolescence, about alienation, about parenting, about race - make it a must-see.

Morris [is] played by marvelous newcomer Markees Christmas in a breakout performance.

Morris ranks as one of the most indelible, endearing adolescents to hit the screen in a long time, a tough-minded philosopher gamely suffering the vicissitudes of loneliness and unrequited love.

Slight, but just sweet enough to come off.

Morris from America isn't shy about rolling around in genre tropes - it manages to be a fish-out-of-water story, a coming-of-age story and a slice-of-life all at once - but it rarely comes across as false or forced.

Yes, it's the old fish-out-of-water scenario, but Hartigan does so much with it that it actually seems fresh.

As a European, albeit one whose country is apparently leaving Europe, I found the cliched approach to 'otherness' a little annoying.

"Morris from America" is funny and unusual, and while it teases storytelling disaster as it unfolds, the production remains amusing and periodically genuine.

Slight but engaging fish-out-of-water coming-of-age tale.