The film was an Irish, American and British co-production, and was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay for the Sheridans, Best Actress for Samantha Morton and Best Supporting Actor for Djimon Hounsou.

The family settles in New York City, in a rundown Hell's Kitchen walk-up tenement occupied by drug addicts, transvestites, and a reclusive Nigerian artist/photographer named Mateo Kuamey.

Hanging over the family is the death of their five-year-old son Frankie, who died from a brain tumor discovered after a fall down the stairs.

The devout Roman Catholic Johnny questions God and has lost any ability to feel true emotions, which has affected his relationship with his family.

After finding the apartment, Sarah gets a job in the local ice cream parlor to support the family while Johnny auditions for any role for which he is suited, with no success.

Despite their poverty, the initial joy of being in the United States and the closeness of the family gives them the energy to make the most of what they have, and Christy chronicles the events of their life with a cherished camcorder.

Eventually Johnny finds work as a cab driver to augment their income and help pay for the girls' Catholic school tuition.

With the birth of the new baby and the death of Mateo, Johnny finally is able to overcome his lack of emotion and put his grieving for Frankie to rest.

[2] In The Making of in America, a featurette on the DVD release of the film, Sheridan explains Christy and Ariel are based on his daughters—and co-writers—Naomi and Kirsten.

He says they wanted to make a film showing how people can learn to overcome their pain and live for the future instead of dwelling on the sadness of the past.

[3] Though the character of Mateo appears to be a signifier of the early AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Sheridan said it wasn't his intention to set the film in the 1980s explicitly, saying, "I didn’t want everybody from the art department running around changing the license plates on cars in New York.

[2] The soundtrack includes songs performed by The Lovin' Spoonful, Culture Club, The Corrs, The Byrds, Kid Creole and The Coconuts, Evan Olson, and The Langhorns.

It eventually grossed $15,539,656 in the US and $9,843,255 elsewhere, for a total worldwide box office of $25,382,911[1] Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 89%, based on 177 reviews, and an average rating of 7.75/10.

But instead, thanks to Jim Sheridan's graceful, scrupulously sincere direction and the dry intelligence of his cast, In America is likely to pierce the defenses of all but the most dogmatically cynical viewers .

"[15] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times observed, "In America is not unsentimental about its new arrivals (the movie has a warm heart and frankly wants to move us), but it is perceptive about the countless ways in which it is hard to be poor and a stranger in a new land.

There's no questioning the director's ability to wring moving moments from potentially sentimental and decidedly familiar material: the story of penniless immigrants trying to make it in Manhattan.

"[17] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone rated the film three out of a possible four stars, calling it "forceful, funny and impassioned" and "an emotional wipeout".