Our America

For what ever it worth this movie/documentary is extremely boring from the beginning to the very end. The keep on ever going of using both black/white and color film that keep on switching is really annoying and very much unattractive.

The story is same old same old, talking about the bad black people neighborhood and tried to bring out the truth and tried to make us the viewer feel bad for them. At end (if you even watch it to the end) you will actually feel bad and asked one self "How did I managed to watch this entire film?"The film is sure not worth a watch cause it is damn boring.

Rating: 4/10

The movie is based on a true story of two boys growing up in the projects of Chicago. They get the opportunity to be reporters for NPR. They bring equipment with them to school and around the community to show what goes on in their daily lives. The documentaries they made were controvercial and original. This movie gave an insightful look at the situation and the lack of future image the residents of the inner-city projects experience. One of the boys had no future and the other may have had a future, with help they both had a bright future. Anyone studying a career in Justice or Juvenile Justice should watch this. Related movies of interest if you liked this one include: Fresh, and Boys in the Hood.

"Our America" tells of two black juvi's who are given recorders so they can do a radio documentary of their project/ghetto. An unfortunate but well intentioned flick, "OA" has nothing new to offer and appears to be a misguided attempt to expose the real truth behind the projects (drugs, gangs, crime, cockroaches, etc.) as if we haven't had our fill of ghetto flicks. What is worse, our heros play a game called "Knockout" which involves dropping rocks from a freeway overpass which everyone knows is as potentially lethal as the gangbangers shooting up the "hood" with their Uzzis and for which they receive a mere reprimand. Stupid tripe not worth the time. (F)

I don't agree with the first reviewer at all. The movie does show illegal activities on the part of the main characters as he pointed out, but that reality needs to be shown for the movie to be the least bit credible. The vandalizing of private property is not, unfortunately, and uncommon occurrence for young people. The movie shows that if you can reach these young people before random acts of vandalism grow into more serious criminal acts, you can save lives and improve society. The movie does have a unique message because it depicts, in a powerful way, the negative "world" that many similarly situated inner-city youths face. And.. it is inspiring because it reminds us of the untapped potential that may be festering beneath the surface, just waiting for inspiration and guidance. As I usually find with these kinds of movies, it takes both an intellectual thirst, and intellectual maturity, to truly appreciate the film in the way it was intended.

I was caught off guard by this film for the only person that I recognized in the cast was Peter Paige from Queer as Folk, he only plays a tiny role of public radio producer. Anyway this film is based on a true story of 2 adolescents from the housing projects of South Chicago that are asked to document their lives by a public radio station. The producer from the radio station is accused of exploiting the youths and tempers flare. The film is a harrowing and brutal portrait of life in the projects and how many residents there don't see much hope of improving their lives. While many detractors of the film will see that this film concentrates on the negatives there are several positive characters also. The character of LeAlan Jones and his family are beacons of hope. Overall I enjoyed this film.