Un fils d'Amérique: A dusty con-man tale that hits different

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies that feel like a Sunday afternoon in black and white, sure. It’s perfect for people who dig slow-burn character stuff over big action beats. But if you get bored by people talking in offices or living rooms for half the runtime, you’re gonna hate it. It’s a quiet one.

Un fils d'Amérique is one of those films that doesn’t scream for your attention. It just kinda sits there, waiting for you to notice the little looks the actors exchange. The whole premise is a classic con, but it feels less like a crime movie and more like a soft drama about finding a place to belong.

The guy pretending to be the son? He’s surprisingly good at it. Maybe too good. There’s this one scene where he’s helping the old man with the business side of things, and you can see him realize that he’s actually helping. He stops acting like a grifter and starts acting like a real person. That shift in his eyes is everything.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Un fils d'Amérique (1932) through its definitive frames.

It reminds me a bit of the vibe in Homer Comes Home, where the stakes feel personal rather than global. You aren't watching to see if he gets caught—you're watching to see if he's going to ruin his own happiness because he feels guilty.

The little things

• The lighting in the office scenes is weirdly moody.
• The way he looks at the furniture, like he can't believe it's his now.
• Some of the dialogue is super fast, like they're trying to hide the lie in plain sight.

The pacing is a bit weird. It drags in the middle, then suddenly rushes through the resolution like they ran out of film stock. Seriously, the ending happens in a blink. It’s frustrating, but it also feels oddly honest to how messy real life is when you’re caught in a lie. You just bail. You don’t get a big musical number to explain your feelings.

There is a lot of silence in this movie. Characters just standing there, looking at each other, not saying the things they should. It feels heavier than it probably needed to be, but I didn't mind it. Sometimes you just need to watch a guy walk around an office and worry about his own bad decisions. 🎞️