America Brown

In this award-winning film festival drama, Ryan Kwanten stars as America “Ricky” Brown, a naïve East Texas high school football superstar who mysteriously leaves his small town just before the new season. Arriving in Brooklyn, Ricky locates John (Hill Harper), a troubled African-American priest who was formerly Ricky’s hometown football hero. John hasn’t been back to Texas in years, Ricky is fleeing a recent family tragedy, and the two men are united by the scars left by their hometown’s obsession with their sport. While Ricky struggles to adapt to New York, John must face his Texas past. Featuring sterling performances by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Karen Black and Michael Rapaport as Ricky’s damaged family, and Natasha Lyonne (Slums of Beverly Hills) and Elodie Bouchez (The Dreamlife of Angels) as the women in Ricky and John’s lives, America Brown is American independent cinema at its finest: an intelligent, character-driven drama that is thoroughly gripping and powerful viewing.