Starring:
Ben Foster, Adrien Brody, Joe Mantegna, Bebe Neuwirth, Rebekah
Johnson Directed by: Barry Levinson Written by: Barry Levinson
Rated R, for crude language and sex-related material Running
Time: 2 hours, 8 minutes Released by Warner Brothers
When
we look back on history, it sometimes seems like change -
be it social, political, or economic - only exists in an atmosphere
of upheaval; as though it would occur during moments of sudden,
passionate bursts of rebellion. Yet change is a gradual process.
It just seems like it detonates from a self-contained bomb
of anger when we put it in a historical context.
Change
is at the center of Barry Levinson's "Liberty Heights," his
latest look inside the day-to-day lives of a Jewish family
in Baltimore, and their growing awareness of the alterations
in the world they inhabit.
The
story is set in the Liberty Heights section of Baltimore -
a part of town primarily made up of Jewish families. The year
is 1954, and America is undergoing some modifications... schools
are being integrated for the first time, the contagious fever
of rock and roll was making its way to the younger generation,
and automobiles were more accessible to the working man -
the kind of changes which could bring people closer to anything
previously unknown to them and vice versa. It is these modifications
that stir the curiosity of the young Kurtzman boys.
Ben
Kurtzman (the likable Ben Foster) has a strange fascination
with the new African-American girl in his class. The girl's
name is Sylvia (Rebekah Johnson), and each morning he gazes
at her as the class recites the twenty-third psalm. What does
she think about as she prays, this strange and beautiful young
girl? What goes on behind those gently closed eyelids? Soon,
he gets up the courage to talk to her, and they discover they
have very little in common - a trait which draws them closer
than any other two kids at the school. They are able to spend
great stretches of time together not for any physical desire,
but rather for the love of learning about the other's cultural
background.
Meanwhile,
the older son named Van (Adrien Brody) has a fascination of
his own. At a Halloween party, he is entranced by the angelic
Dubbie (Carolyn Murphy), a young woman from the side of the
tracks where Van wouldn't be welcome. He is so smitten with
her that at one point, not knowing her name or where she lives,
he actually drives around the rich section of town in the
hopes that he'll spot her in all her heavenly beauty. It is
when he gets to know her on a personal level that he discovers
her life is a bit more complicated than it would appear.
We
also get to know the boys' parents. Their father, Nate (Joe
Mantegna) makes his living running a burlesque club (in addition
to a numbers racket) - and their mother, Ada (Bebe Neuwirth)
is a woman whose devotion to her husband and children is only
matched by her devotion to her family's heritage. (When she
learns of Ben's interest in a black girl from school, she
sarcastically replies "Just kill me now. Please, just kill
me now.")
Levinson
does a nice job of keeping the film's message clear while
at the same time not pounding it into the viewer's conscience.
He is a master at writing dialogue which feels natural, and
allowing his camera to simply absorb the ideas and concepts
being discussed by the participants. In a couple scenes he
even uses a mirror-image camera positioning technique so that
we can see the faces of both characters as they talk about
what is most important to them.
Ben
Foster is an actor unknown to me, but he does a wonderful
job playing a character who is unflinching in his desire to
understand that which has been a mystery to him in his life.
He is not inhibited by fear, but is rather driven by curiosity.
Also good is Adrien ("Summer of Sam") Brody as Van, whose
performance houses a potentially unwelcome desire that is
so genuine, it ultimately wins over those individuals who
have never felt a need to be won over in the first place.
Some
people go through their entire lives without ever really learning
the lessons passed on to them during their childhood years.
The fact that Barry Levinson has seemingly mastered the life
lessons learned during those years is commendable - that he
has incorporated them into a movie that is funny, sad, touching,
and triumphant is some kind of miracle.
Copyright
2001 Michael Brendan McLarney Critically
Ill
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