Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nostalgic, wonderful entertainment, April 11, 2000
Written and directed by Barry Levinson, who gave us the other Baltimore classics of Diner(82), Avalon(90), and Tin Men(87), as well as Rain Man (87), Good Morning Vietnam, Bugsy, Wag the Dog, and the Baltimore based Homicide tv series. This can be considered the "most Jewish" of these four films, especially since the word "Jewish" appears three times in the first 60 seconds. The period is the 1950's (1954) in the Jewish neighborhood of Liberty Heights in Baltimore. It is Levinson's personal homage to growing up Jewish in a time of Eisenhower, school desegregation, and rock and roll. From one Rosh haShana to the next, the world is changing: Jews meet non-Jews, whites meet blacks, burlesque meets television, running numbers meet the state lotteries. Nate Kurtzman (Joe Mantegna) is the daddy who happens to run numbers. He also owns a dying burlesque house. Ben (Eli from Freaks and Geeks) and syl-Van (Adrien Brody, Summer of Sam, King of the Hill) are Nate's two sons. Bebe Neuwirth plays the Ada, the mommy. While sensitive high school student Ben falls for Sylvia (singer and actress Rebekah Johnson), a black classmate, and ventures into the unknown world of black neighborhoods and families, college-student Van (the Levinson surrogate) falls for Dubbie (Supermodel Carolyn Murphy), a harsh uni-dimensional stereotype of the white, Protestant, country-club member. Some say that the second half of the film becomes a tad too melodramatic; others criticize the portrait of Little Melvin (Orlando Jones from Mad TV) and Dubbie, but the film remains a touching, wonderful nostalgic homage nonetheless. As for some inside scoops: Take note of the diner scenes which use some of the original "friends" from Levinson's feature debut "Diner." Also the composer, ANDREA MORRICONE, is the son of Ennio Morricone. This is his first film score. Take note of the graduation robes colors at the end of the film. Also, take note of the high holiday prayer at the film's end? Sheldon is played by Evan Nuemann, and Murray by Gerry Rosenthal. The character of Ben is based on Levinson's cousin Eddie (who lived three houses from the house used in the film). The location of the James Brown concert was filmed in Frederick, Maryland, since Pennsylvania Avenue was destroyed during subsequent riots. The synagogue location is Rabbi David E. Herman's Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue on the corner of Liberty Heights and Holmes Avenue. The Cantor is played by Barry Black, who was discovered at a wedding in Woodbury Long Island. He was asked to record Bayom Hahu. Also, take note of the car driven by the Pillsbury Jewboy (a Studebaker).
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Levinson Brings Back the Past, March 4, 2000
Liberty Heights, a new movie written and directed by Barry Levinson, shows gives a complex portrait of what it was like to be a teenager during the mid-Fifties in Baltimore, MD. In many of his movies, Levinson uses a character as a cinematic equal to himself. If Elijah Wood was the young, wide-eyed representative of Levinson in Avalon, Ben Foster plays the curious, more mature teenage version in Liberty Heights. The change in the age of Levinson's cinematic emissary is reflected strongly in the film. Taking place in 1954, the film covers such topics as racism, segregation, and anti-Semitism with a more cynical and much less reverential eye than the beatific Avalon. Foster's character, Ben Kurtzman, is a high school senior with one African-American girl in his class as a result of the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision. Partially as a result of a friendship with her, he begins to see the world for what it really is, exiting the sheltered world of his youth where everyone was Jewish and no one had a problem with that. It is apparent that this movie will not sugar-coat this era from the very beginning when Ben's mother, Ava (Bebe Neuwirth), refers to anyone not Jewish as "the other kind" moments into the film. Ava is certainly a kind and sympathetic character, but like everyone else, she is real. To wit, Ben's father (Joe Mantegna) is the proprietor of a burlesque theater and runs a numbers game on the side for real income. The film revolves around the three men of the Kurztman household: Ben, his father and his older brother, Van (Adrien Brody). While Ben is literally discovering African-Americans for the first time, Van, a student at the University of Baltimore, is confronted with anti-Semitism and the barriers that exist for him because he is Jewish. One of the most interesting aspects of this film is the comparison of anti-Semitism with racism against Blacks. It becomes evident that though the civil rights movement was beginning to make headlines during those times, Jews faced a similar, yet subtler brand of discrimination. The performances in Liberty Heights are excellent across the board. Foster quite ably carries the film, aptly conveying a cynical yet curious outlook on the events that unfold. Also good is Rebekah Johnson, who plays Sylvia, the Black girl in Ben's class whom he befriends. Though the same was true of all the performances, Johnson's was particularly free of any of the conventions of acting, coming across as simple and genuine. With Liberty Heights, Barry Levinson has managed to paint a compellingly complex and accurate picture of what the mid-Fifties were like. This multi-faceted story shows it to have been an era where discrimination knew no color or religion, but where change happened rapidly and, in many cases, for the better.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Charming but scattered, September 14, 2000
Barry Levinson writes and directs a story about growing up Jewish in Baltimore, MD in the 1950's, a topic he knows a lot about being a native of that city born in 1942. As a period piece, this is outstanding. As a comedy/drama, it has its moments but is too scattered to have much impact. The story follows the lives of Nate Kurtzman (Joe Mantegna), and his two sons, Van (Adrian Brody) and Ben (Ben Foster) over the period of one year. Nate's subplot shows his life as a small-time racketeer. Van develops a crush on a wealthy gentile girl at a party, and spends much of the film pining after her. When he finally gets to know her better he finds that she is much different than he had imagined. Ben develops a crush on a black girl in his class and embarks on a friendship with her that flies in the face of the taboos of the times. The entire film revolved around a single theme, i.e. how hard it was to grow up Jewish in the 1950's. Much of the material was amusing, some disturbing and some charming, but Levinson was so intent on relieving (or reliving) his angst that he kept wandering from the main storylines. If he had focused more on the relationship between Ben and Sylvia (Rebekah Johnson), it would have been a much stronger film. As a period piece on the `50's, this is outstanding. The costumes and props were perfect and the entire film had a genuine 50's feeling to it. Levinson captured not only the images, but also the attitudes. The ensemble cast was very solid. Joe Montegna is always terrific, especially when he is playing a crook. He is extremely believable in those roles and though he has tried to break out of the type, he keeps coming back because he does it so well. Ben Foster gave a wonderful performance played with a great deal of wit and sensitivity. He and Rebekah Johnson had excellent chemistry and made the forbidden relationship enchanting. This film had potential, but Levinson' mission to expose injustice kept distracting him from the storyline and dissipated its overall effect. I rated it 6/10. Add a point if you are Jewish and another if you are nostalgic about the 1950's. Not bad, but it could have been much better.
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