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Review

Ricky Brown plays high school football in his small Texas town, where the game is both religion and obsession. Hounded by an engulfing trauma and overwhelming guilt caused by a single act of provoked violence, he flees to New York City just before the start of his senior year. Ricky tracks down John Cross, who was once a football god at Ricky’s high school, and is now a Catholic priest in Brooklyn. Ricky is in a state of permanent flashback, reliving the events that continue to haunt him, while finding some solace in the caring arms of waitress Vera. Father John is in the midst of his second major crisis of faith. The first, of course, concerned football; this time, it concerns a relationship outside the dictates of his vocation. Ricky is soon tracked down, hunted by the town’s keepers of the faith, who don’t care what he’s done as long as he plays football. John finds his own memories of Texas high school football revived by Ricky’s plight. Ryan Kwanten, with arresting screen presence, is spellbinding as Ricky. He portrays a boy becoming a man while discovering a new worldview and a new definition of loyalty; a child saddled with adult remorse leavened by the possibility of redemption. The rest of the ensemble play their parts with authenticity, with special mention to Hill Harper as Father John. America Brown is raw and powerful, a worthy almost-homage to Midnight Cowboy, which it especially recalls in the opening sequence.

 -- Ann Yarabinee