The Angel Levine

When I looked up Harry Belafonte on netflix.com, this movie was listed as available for streaming. And so it is that I'm now reviewing what was previously unknown to me. Zero Mostel is unemployed because of a bad back and his wife (Ida Kaminska) is bedridden. Belafonte claims to be an angel in order to help with his problems but he has some of his own like a woman named Sally (Gloria Foster) who can't forgive him for his condescending attitude toward her. I'll stop there and just say part of me was confused by the narrative especially when Harry just keeps on making one uncomfortable with his profanities and not-always-trusting manner. Mostel also makes himself hard to identify with especially when he argues with his wife. Still, it was fascinating to watch and I was never bored. So on that note, The Angel Levine is at the least worth a look. P.S. I have to mention that Ms. Foster was born in the same city I was which was Chicago, Ill.

Only viewers who are partial to stories that don't clearly differentiate between the real and the imaginary are likely to respond positively to this picture. But the fuzziness of that dividing line is one of the major themes, and as such is rendered effectively. Levine may be an angel from above, or merely a hoodlum with a snappy line of patter - along with a conscience. To its credit, the story works both ways. And if Mishkin has the same beneficial effect on Levine's spiritual life that Levine has on Mishkin's, then the story works on yet a third level of interpretation. The picture slows noticeably in a few spots: as an adaptation of a short story it cannot quite sustain a hour and forty minutes of running time without flagging a bit. Zero Mostel is outstanding, bringing the character to life with every gesture, inflection, movement and facial expression. Harry Belafonte's limited range is barely adequate, but the small supporting cast is a strong one. Those who savor the real/imaginary byplay are also likely to enjoy "Finding Graceland" and "Bronco Billy."

Morris Miskin (Zero Mostel) is a Jewish man whose faith in God and mankind is at all all-time low. His wife is bedridden and they can barely afford her medications, he's lost his business after it burned down, due to back trouble he's unemployable and he's disowned his daughter for marrying a non-Jew. And, when the film begins, he's applying for welfare benefits as he simply cannot pay his bills. Into this messed up and depressing life arrives a man who claims he's an angel (Harry Belafonte). Not surprisingly, Morris isn't convinced the guy is an angel...especially since the angel curses God and steals. Later in the film this 'angel' even slaps his girlfriend. Clearly, if he is an angel, he's NOT a very good one. But this guy who claims to be angel promises to help Morris if only he'd believe in him.

The acting in this film is excellent...very nice and well done by Belafonte and Mostel. As for the movie itself, it's incredibly depressing...and a bit like a modern telling of Job....just a bit. But is it good and should you watch it? Well, if you are dealing with depression, my suggestion is you skip it. The film is so downbeat and hard to watch...it'll likely make you more depressed if you see it. This actually is likely for ANYONE watching the movie...it's oppressively sad to watch. And, after all is said and done, you might just feel miserable yourself. Interesting? Yes. Enjoyable, good grief, no.

... and I DO mean it. If not literally (after all, I have not seen every movie ever created!), at least, obviously, among the ones, the many I know.

5.3 ??? The rule of thumb with IMDb is this: sometimes movies rated very highly (for example, the piece of Kannes-Kompetition-Krowned-Korean-Kraap called "Oldboy") can be truly bad. But rarely a movie worth watching is actually rated under 6. This movie, very much worth watching, is. A disgrace.

True, I give it a 10 in protest. The movie is not perfect. Its true rating should be an 8 or a 9. It has some acting flaws (Belafonte especially), the script wanders around, sometimes. However, what we have here is one of the greatest directors of all times, the Czech Jan Kadar, directing two of the greatest actors of all time, the beloved, larger-than-life Zero Mostel and the sublime Ida Kaminska in an acting/poetic/moral tour de force. A pair made in Heaven! It's true that this movie, little flaws apart, does not pander to the average audiences, but those interested in watching an excellent (while, again, not beyond criticism) movie of the incomparable director who gave us "The Shop on the Main Street" (the best movie ever about Holocaust) should not miss this just because some silly IMDb rating system decides that "American Beauty" is better than "The Angel Levine".

It isn't.

The unlikely duo of Zero Mostel and Harry Belafonte team up to give us some interesting performances and subject matter in The Angel Levine. It's one interesting twist on the themes from It's A Wonderful Life.

Zero is married to Ida Kaminsky and the two of them belong to a special class of elderly Jewish poor in New York. Mostel used to be a tailor and proud of his trade, but his back and arthritis have prevented him from working. Kaminsky is mostly bedridden. He's reduced to applying for welfare. In desperation like Jimmy Stewart, he cries out to God for some help.

Now maybe if he had gotten someone like Henry Travers things might have worked out differently, but even Stewart had trouble accepting Travers. But Travers had one thing going for him, he was over 100 years off this mortal coil and all his ties to earthly things were gone. God sent Mostel something quite different, the recently deceased Harry Belafonte who should have at least been given some basic training for angels before being given an assignment.

Belafonte hasn't accepted he's moved on from life, he's still got a lot of issues. He also has a wife, Gloria Foster, who doesn't know he's passed on, hit by a car right at the beginning of the film. You put his issues and Mostel's issues and you've got a good conflict, starting with the fact that Mostel can't believe in a black Jew named Levine.

This was the farewell performance for Polish/Jewish actress Ida Kaminsky who got a nomination for Best Actress in The Shop on Main Street a few years back. The other prominent role here is that of Irish actor Milo O'Shea playing a nice Jewish doctor. Remembering O'Shea's brogue from The Verdict, I was really surprised to see and hear him carry off the part of the doctor.

The Angel Levine raises some interesting and disturbing questions about faith and race in this society. It's brought to you by a stellar cast and of course created by acclaimed writer Bernard Malamud. Make sure to catch it when broadcast.