Parents' Guide to

Give Me Liberty

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Quirky comedy about immigrants has language, violence.

Movie NR 2019 110 minutes
Give Me Liberty Poster Image

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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
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Jump cuts, abrupt editing, and little narrative guidance regarding where we are in time or place all make this movie a painful mess that nevertheless contains many fleeting, moving moments. Those moments include the tears of a Black family's sobbing matriarch, the joy of a man who can barely speak as he dances with an able-bodied man, and the touching advice lent by a quadriplegic who's fond of the local van driver who visits him.

Sadly, none of Give Me Liberty's individual bits hang together to create the overall sense that we all suffer no matter who we are or where we come from, probably the simple truth this well-intended filmmaker is trying to get at. Characters shout over each other, no matter what the situation. Even more unlikely and unconvincing, people discuss deep personal conflicts in front of strangers. Alice Austen's script is neither competent nor involving, and its weaknesses bring shame to the good work done by an interesting cast.

Movie Details

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