Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of my favorite films, May 11, 2000
This movie is probably not for everyone. It is slow in places, and it does not involve cars being blown up and people getting shot. It is a very personal portrait of one immigrant family. It is peculiar that it makes me feel nostalgic even though I was born in the 70s and in another country at that. In any case, as someone who grew up around immigrants I enjoyed the accurate depiction of relationships within immigrant families. The turkey scene, for example, is an absolute classic. It is funny on the one hand, but, believe it or not, it is also tragic for it very accurately shows how little arguments can ruin relationships between close relatives. We have all seen it happen. The film also accurately depicts the tension between the haves and the have-nots within a family. I have seen this movie many times and I never get tired of it. It is very poignant and beautifly acted. I especially love the scene of the grandfather coming to America. I want to cry every time I see it. It is sort of surreal and you know when watching it that it is just his memory we are seeing,not reality.... I loved this movie. By the way, the score is wonderful also.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Barry Levinson's Personal Epic Is Also His Forgotten Masterpiece, January 11, 2007
Looking back at some recent comedies by Barry Levinson ("Envy" and "Man of the Year"), it's hard to remember the not-so-distant past when he was a major Hollywood director. A primary creative force behind TV's lauded "Homicide," he also won accolades for film projects as diverse as "Diner" in 1982 to "Wag the Dog" in 1997. And for a few years, he was on a real roll of serious minded and critically acclaimed movies--"Good Morning, Vietnam" followed by an Oscar for "Rain Man" and then another nomination for "Bugsy." Well, in between "Rain Man" and "Bugsy" (both films that I would rate at 5 stars for different reasons), he made his most personal film yet. While "Avalon" doesn't have the high profile of some of these other films (it did secure some writing awards for Levinson, however)--it is my favorite. It's a little film, a quiet character study, a wistfully nostalgic look at a more innocent time--but it's done on an epic scale.
"Avalon" is a fictionalized (and idealized) account of Levinson's own history, a Jewish family from Russia emigrates to the United States to seek prosperity and happiness. Set largely in the Baltimore of the 1940s and 1950s, "Avalon" gently examines family and the discovery of new opportunity. Plot-wise, there isn't a lot to account for--this film doesn't just seek to tell a story, but to strike a mood and create a feeling. There are just great scenes of familial interaction, funny scenes about growing up, scenes of wonder at the progress of a new country. The film might be one of the strongest family films ever. In a day where every film represents dysfunction and quirkiness, "Avalon" is a sweet throwback. This film is based on love, communication, and how people can naturally drift apart. It can come across as innocent and sanitized, perhaps, but the writing is so crisp and observant and the performances are beautiful. To further set a mood, the film is shot beautifully with gorgeous colors and expanses and the score is spot on.
The film stars a young Elijah Wood (as Levinson's surrogate, we presume). Much of the film's wonder comes from seeing things from a child's perspective. It's easy to forget how long Wood has been around what with the "Lord of the Rings" phenomenon--but this is one of his earliest starring roles. His parents are played by Aidan Quinn and Elizabeth Perkins--both giving perfectly nuanced performances. But if the film belongs to anyone--it's Armin Mueller-Stahl as the grandfather. I've always felt that if this film had a slightly larger profile on its release, that this could have been his Oscar.
"Avalon" may not be for everyone--there isn't a lot of action. But for me, it's a near perfect film. I'm not warm and cuddly, by any means, and like entertainment with an edge. But "Avalon" captures me every time. It's so charming, so thoughtful, so engaging, so literate, so beautiful to look at. I recommend this film wholeheartedly, and hope to see a DVD reissue someday that mirrors the quality of the production. It's time more people discover this lost treasure! KGHarris, 01/07.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A family's love is tested by changing times, November 15, 2005
Barry Levinson's sprawling "Avalon" tells the story of Polish Jewish immigrant Sam Krichinsky as he joins his four brothers in Baltimore, 1914. The movie opens with a beautifully shot montage of fireworks, American symbols of liberty such as the eagle, and an immigrant's wonder at the lights and joy surrounding him on the Fourth of July. We cut to the present, where Sam's large family is introduced at Thanksgiving dinner, where the various brothers and their wives bicker in the way that large families do. Sam's son, Jules (Aidan Quinn), and his grandson Michael (Elijah Wood, in his first major role) become the focus of much of the story. Sam and his cousin Izzy (Kevin Pollack) engage in a series of risky business deals to expand their small department store into televisions, then a discount store, then a discount warehouse, all the while swept along by the tide of modern technology (television).
Levinson based the character of Sam on his own immigrant grandfather, and Avalon paints a poignant portrait of family dynamics and the intrusion of commercialism and technology on their lives. Avalon feels like it could have benefited from a little extra trimming (the subplot of Eva's long-lost brother coming to America fades in and out in the blink of an eye), but overall was a beautiful look at a family's changing traditions across the generations. Armin Mueller-Stahl is amazing as Sam, and Joan Plowright as his long-suffering wife brings a fire and charm to the character that reminded me of my own Polish grandmother.
The one element that seemed too transparent was the family's Jewishness, or lack of it. We never see the Krichinsky family at seders, Shabbat, Hanukkah, or other holidays, which seems in a way to strip them of the freedom sought in America (there is some Yiddish spoken, we do hear that Eva's brother was in a concentration camp, and see a Jewish cemetery, but that's about it). The next generations become more and more Americanized, changing their names. Kudos for the excellent period music (1940s Big Band and swing, jazz) and vintage television serials, costumes, and cinematography. This is a beautiful film that embraces family and tradition in turbulent times.
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