In America

There's some things you should wish for...

and some things you shouldn't.

That's what my little brother Frankie told me.

He told me I only had three wishes.

And I looked in his eyes...

and I don't know why I believed him.

Remember, we're on holiday, all right?

Knock it off, Christy, love.

Christy.

U.S. passports, use the two left lanes.

Passports, please.

We're on holidays!

Are you, little girl?

Yeah. And my dad's not working.

What's the purpose of your visit?

What are your purposes in visiting the United States?

We're on holiday.

And how long have you been in Canada?

Just visiting.

Listening to my mom and dad,

I was scared we weren't gonna get across the border.

And if I didn't talk to Frankie,

how were we gonna get into America?

"Please, Frankie."

"Please. Please help us," I said.

How many children do you have? Three.

Two.

Two.

Says three here.

We lost one.

What's your name, little girl? Ariel.

And who are you?

She's Christy.

What age are you, Christy? She's ten.

Welcome to America. Thanks very much.

And that was my first wish used up.

But I still had two left.

1020 on your AM dial.

We heard Manhattan before we ever saw it,

a thousand strange voices coming from everywhere.

And you're not going to believe this,

but we had to go under the water to get to the city.

No, I swear it. It was a real alien.

And we lost contact with everything.

It was like we were on another planet.

...classics from the '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s.

(radio reception fades in and out)

We looked all over Manhattan for a place to live,

till finally we found the house

of the man who screams.

What are you doing with the camera, little girl?

You the police? What?

Are you the police?

No. We're Irish. All Irish are police.

We're not. Are we going to live here now?

You gonna live in here, in this building? Yeah.

All right. Keep an eye on the car.

Papo's gonna keep you safe now, all right?

Come on in. Welcome to your new mansion.

Come on.

Look! A lift!

That hasn't worked forever. Come on, come on.

Are we going to live here now? Yeah.

Why? Nowhere else will take us.

Why? They don't want kids in Manhattan.

Why? Why do you think they call it "Man-hattan"?

Papo!

Yo, Papo. Don't come any further, man.

Yo, relax, Tony. It's just me.

I know who the hell it is, man. Go back downstairs to your apartment.

I'm clean, man. I'm showing this family the empty apartment.

No way, Papo! All right!

All right, Papo. We'll take over from here.

Why does he scream?

Maybe he sees ghosts.

Is this a haunted house?

It's like Fort Knox. Cool!

Where did you learn that? What?

"Cool." I just heard it.

You're American already. It's disgusting.

Race you in, Christy. Wow!

It's huge! I know, it's enormous.

This is my room! This is my room.

I get top bunk. I get top bunk.

Look, Dad!

There's a bath in the middle of the room.

Wow! There's pigeons! Ariel, come and look at this!

It's a bit of a hole.

It'll be fine when we do it up.

It'll cost us, Sarah.

How are we gonna pay for this place?

We'll sell the car.

Are you OK? Hm.

Are you? I'm great.

Are you?

Dad? What?

Can we keep the pigeons?

Dad, can we keep the pigeons? Dad?

Can we keep the pigeons?

No. We have to leave 'em go.

It seemed like all our problems were flying away.

Dad, can I help?

Go and ask your mom.

Mom, can I help? Why don't you go on your skates?

I'll fast-forward through this bit.

Ariel got to know everybody in the neighborhood.

My mom couldn't get a job teaching.

So she got a job in the ice cream parlor,

so Dad could go to auditions.

I really like the character.

I'm glad you asked me back.

I just wanna say I'm real pleased about that.

How about the part of Vinnie? Has he looked at that?

New York guy.

He's a bit of a stereotype,

but if you want him, you got him.

Can you do a London accent?

What? You 'avin' a laugh? He's only got two lines.

D'you want me to come up there and sort you out?

Do you like him? Yeah.

But acting's about more than just accents.

I wanted to cast you, but you've got to give me more.

Much, much more. Don't you understand?

Get it out of your head. It's from here and from here.

Just give me one more chance.

But he didn't get another chance.

And then summer came, and with it the heat.

And a new word: humidity.

Dad, it's still not working. Wait.

Wait.

It's too hot.

It's still not coming through the holes, Dad.

Hang on there.

Wait.

Wait. It's coming.

It's coming.

It's working.

Well done, Dad. It's lovely and cold. I love yous.

Shh, Ariel. Dad has an audition.

Dad? What?

What are you doing? I'm reading me scripts.

Why?

'Cause I'm learning me lines.

Dad, can we stay here all day? Mm-hmm.

Dad, America's OK.

Great.

Dad? What?

Nothing.

What are we doin' here?

Huh? What are we doin' here?

What are we doin' here?

What are we doin' here?

What are we doin' here, huh?

What are we doin' here? What are we doin' here?

Dad, Dad, Ariel's upset. She spent too long in the bath.

What's wrong with you? My feet are like prunes.

What? They're like prunes.

Oh, Jesus. Where's your ma?

Are you OK?

It's too hot.

Dad, how are you gonna get that air conditioner up and down the path?

Dad, how are you gonna... Jesus!

Come on!

Come on!

Dad, they're gonna shoot you.

Dad, look out! Asshole!

mom!

Look! It's Dad!

You're using, Papo.

You're using. No, no.

No, don't you walk...

Argh!

Hey, can I have some of whatever he's on?

Crazy fucking Irishman.

Christy, open the door.

Mom! Mom, Dad's got an air conditioner!

He's coming! He's coming!

Walk away from me! Go on! Jesus, Johnny! You'll have a heart attack.

Open the window. Open the window, Mom!

Open the window!

Mom, open the window. Open the window!

Open the window!