If you're looking for an under-the-radar movie pleasure this weekend, check out Morris From America. It's a fish-out-of-water character study that actually feels like a fresh catch.
Thirteen-year-old Morris (Markees Christmas) has moved to Germany with his dad, Curtis (Craig Robinson, funny even in a dramatic role). Morris is black, so his schoolmates assume he can play basketball. He can't. But he does have aspirations as a rapper, and some freestyle skills.
Robinson, known for his roles on TV (The Office, Mr. Robot) and movies (Hot Tub Time Machine, This is the End), has a killer scene near the end of the film in which he explains to Morris the meaning of life, parenting and friendship. When the film showed at SXSW in March, he said Chad Hartigan's script was the main reason he took the role.
"I identified with Curtis, and I saw I saw it as an opportunity to toe that line between fatherhood and friendship," Robinson said. "It seemed like a really delicate thing to blend. It let me spread my wings."
