Liberty Heights

This movie is sort of like the concept of the TV show Seinfeld-- it's about nothing. By this I don't mean that it lacks substance, in fact, it has plenty, but I mean rather that it does not involve an intense plot line. It's more like a series of snapshots taken out of one family's album, like a brief recording of one year in their lives. It's as if these people were real, simply going about their lives in their times, and we got to peek in on them, and it is acted in just that way. I think it's very true to director Barry Levinson's vision, a vision that is clear upon viewing his other films that he includes with Liberty Heights as his "Baltimore" films. These include Diner, Avalon, and Tin Men. Because this is not the typical problem arises-conflict ensues-climax is reached-conclusion is found film, Levinson shows us that these people's lives were a series of ups and downs, joys and losses, that summarize American middle-class youth in all ages in history. There connections between the different walks of life and the idea of growing up and discovering diversity around you is what makes this film universal and beautiful, all without handing you morals and themes on a silver platter. This film takes a wonderfully objective viewpoint that allows you to make meaning of it rather than spelling it out for you.

While hardly the gems that are Diner, and especially Avalon, Levinson here offers another sweet meditation on his Baltimore roots. The love story between Ben and Sylvia is especially moving to every white boy who ever fell in love with a black girl before it was acceptable, and most of the credit goes to the enchanting Rebekah Johnson. Older brother Van's travels in WASPland are more cliche-ridden, though one must salute the acting of Adrien Brody and his friend Trey, who actually make their unlikely friendship believable. Trey's deb girlfriend is pure cardboard. The real standouts here are Joe Mantegna and Orlando Jones going toe-to-toe in dangerously caricaturish territory. Both manage to pull it off. One anachronistic comment- Scribbles calls one of Nick's men the Pillsbury Jewboy--far as I know that advertising icon didn't appear till 10 years after the film's 1954-55 setting. Again, no one will call this film a classic, but seen as part of a 4 film whole (Tin Men is more the aberration than Liberty Heights) it stands proudly and pulls at these 40 year old heartstrings from a very similar North Bronx background.

I saw all 4 of the so-called "Baltimore Quadrilogy" in sequence, and, while the first three were fantastic, Diner still rose to the top for me. It was the most real, most heartfelt, and most memorable. I put on LH thinking it would be "okay", and was shocked to see it just about right up there with Diner for all the same reasons. If you've seen Scorsese's "The Bronx Tale" with DeNiro, you might notice a resemblance, down to the "forbidden" teen interracial love plot. In Bronx Tale, the "mob" has a part, but with nothing terribly eventful. In both, the family and everyday storyline take precedence, as if the mob aspects were afterthoughts.

I can't say that the Jewish Mob background did LH justice, as Montagna just seemed too wishy-washy to be a front-line mobster. Montagna is a great actor, but I think he should have brought a little harder edge to the mob-orientated moments. He did fine as a father, though he could have had any occupation and the movie would not have been any the less for it. I strongly feel that if the movie did not have the mob element in it, and Montagna had a conventional occupation, the movie would have been perfect, and even more realistic than it was. The burlesque scenes again were a drag on what otherwise would have been a perfect "coming of age" film.

This movie comes very close to "Diner" quality, if not for the somewhat flawed "mob" subplots....well worth seeing though!

This movie is challenging on many levels and best of all is it does not insult the viewer's intelligence with pat plot lines and easy resolutions. It is very much a slice of life movie and provokes serious thought about growing up and the meaning of prejudice and racial barriers. It is a lovely film and I have resolved to see some other efforts from Barry Levinson as his is a rare talent. He lovingly captures Baltimore in the fifties in all its facets of neighbourhoods, the cast is stellar, not a false note among them, the music is wonderful and all the plot lines come together. I felt sad that it was over, I found myself quite involved with the characters who were multi dimensional with teasing snippets of background as in the disturbed Dubbie saying to Van she did not like spending time with her father and his boyfriend. And Sylvia's family being black and wealthiest by far than the others and she was following her mother and grandmother into a Black College so she could preserve the continuance. 8 out of 10. Recommended.

Barry Levinson's LIBERTY HEIGHTS begins telling it's story through a variety of different viewpoints, and at the outset may give off the vibe of being somewhat unfocussed, but do not be misled by the elusive opening! Although unexceptional in terms of it's standard coming of age plotline, as the film progresses it becomes increasingly thoughtful and observant. It is the small details that make LIBERTY HEIGHTS seem so rich--and I wouldn't dream of giving any of them away--but needless to say, by the end of the film anyone who remembers their childhood fondly is bound to leave the theatre with a smile on their face. In a quiet and unassuming way, the movie manages to throw out many messages to its audience. Every single subplot in the film relates back to the family. Joe Mantegna plays the racketeering patriarch of a nice uppper-middle class Jewish family that resembles a lighter version of the Corleone's in THE GODFATHER. One of the sons falls for a Catholic girl, while the other pursues the black daughter of a prominent city doctor. They all live with their grandmother who is blinded to the "gentiles" by the Holocaust. The relationships between the youngsters naturally conflict with the views of their parents, and they are forced to form their own opinions on racial boundaries.

What is so refreshing about LIBERTY HEIGHTS is that it doesn't pull obvious punches or go for the cheap thrills that more sensationalized Hollywood films normally would. Not even in a subplot with an eccentric drug dealer do the characters resort to violence as might be expected with this sort of material. The characters in LIBERTY HEIGHTS are just ordinary people in relatively ordinary situations. It is not a fast paced film, some may find the midsection to be a little over-inflated. Personally I enjoyed the film a great deal. It grew on me to the point that by the end I was drawn to tears. Even fully aware of its old fashioned Hollywood corniness the movie touched a nerve with me. I found the performances very moving--in particular that of young Ben Foster, who we should exepect to see again in the near future. Adrien Brody is appealing and sympathetic as the eldest son. Bebe Neuwirth manages to create some interesting moments in her role as matriarch of the Kurtzman family--particularly in the final scene. LIBERTY HEIGHTS is not a perfect film to be sure, but in a season with a shortage of intelligent family oriented films LIBERTY HEIGHTS is a solid bet.