An American Rhapsody

The first half of film editor-turned-director Eva Gardos's loosely autobiographical first feature is a remarkably sure-handed, almost unbearably suspenseful thriller chronicling one family's escape from Communist Hungary and their struggle to recover the infant daughter they left behind. It's also a heartbreaker anchored by Hungarian preschooler Kelly Banlaki, who gives one of the most naturalistic child performances ever captured on film. The self-contained second half, however, is a trite, blocky, Afterschool Special about a bratty 15-year-old who learns to love America because Hungary is, like, so old and gross. More than 20 years passed between the project's ince...