SciFi and More from Duane Simolke

America Brown, reviewed for This Week In Texas by Duane Simolke, author of the West Texas fiction collection The Acorn Stories.

Though best known for their gay titles, TLA Releasing
also distributes independent films of general
interest. The best of those I’ve seen is America
Brown. Australian actor Ryan Kwanten takes on a West
Texas accent and an emotionally tortured role as
America “Ricky” Brown, a football player who goes to
New York City to meet his town’s football hero.

Directed by Paul Black, this film starts out a bit
slow and disconnected, but I kept feeling that all of
the characters would keep revealing much more about
their past, their actions, and their motivations. The
movie pays off in all of those respects. The further
the story goes along, the more Ricky and the people in
his life illuminate their pain, their regrets, and
their joy. It keeps getting more emotional, more
engrossing.

Kwanten appeared on Australian TV while growing up and
recently starred in the short-lived WB series
Summerland; I hope to see him in many more roles. The
cast of America Brown also includes Elodie Bouchez,
Frankie Faison, Hill Harper, Karen Black, Leo
Burmester, Michael Rapaport, and Natasha Lyonne.