Focus

One of Arthur Miller's finest works, Focus, comes to the screen and while there was a lot to like about the movie, some of it seemed like it was almost unreal (though I'm not sure if that's in a good or bad way).

William H. Macy, great as always, plays Lawrence Newman, average Joe and good guy in Brooklyn, NY in the early 1940's who finds he needs a new pair of specs. Unfortunately, his choice of glasses makes him appear to be, well, Jewish, as this seems to his mother from the start. Lawrence tries to ignore the ignorance and bigotry in his neighborhood against the Jewish people, but with a string of events involving his neighbors (Meat Loaf, David Paymer), and a new girlfriend (Laura Dern in one of her best performances) who knows what trouble Lawrence is in, push him into the conflict of his life.

Often, Focus, delivers a poignant, startling and smart story in showing a character with so much at stake it is making him insane. Macy and the rest of the cast are so close to perfect and if only for them make this a must see. Not to dissapoint the fans of Miller's book, I suppose, but if it does then that is just another flaw. B+

William H. Macy is incredible in this! There's a lot of discrimination and bigotry in this movie but it doesn't take away from a great movie about people in a neighborhood and businesses against Jews. I love that the director/writer wanted to do this project since college; I wish I was at least a famous writer or consultant of some kind. Not bad at all except I must say I can't stand Laura Durns acting!

In 1947, two films, "Crossfire" and "Gentlemen's Agreement," opened a queasy Hollywood's examination of anti-Semitism in our society. "Gentlemen's Agreement" dealt with religious bigotry at the level of high, or at least upper middle-class, America while "Crossfire" exposed the brutal violence that always accompanies irrational hatred and bias. Both films made, and continue to make, an impression.

Overall, Hollywood has left anti-Semitism in the U.S. pretty much alone. That many Jews have found success at both ends of the movie camera is well-known. That some of those Jews, many with Anglicized names, particularly feared the sting of the anti-communist fervor of the HUAC and Mc Carthy era, is a still disturbing and lasting legacy of a difficult time in our history. The controversy several years ago about the special Oscar for Elia Kazan brought the issue to the attention of millions ignorant of the heyday of Hollywood's involvement with the anti-communist campaign. Kazan, incidentally, directed "Gentlemen's Agreement."

"Focus," which is showing in remarkably few theaters (only two in Manhattan and I wouldn't bet on a long run) both exaggerates and encapsulates a strain of anti-Semitism in New York City during the Second World War that, even today, few who recall it say much about its pervasiveness.

The War Department was discomfited to learn through surveys that a surprising minority of servicemen thought the war was being fought for Jewish interests or that actually it had been caused by Jews. These beliefs, possibly spawned by the virulent rhetoric of Father Coughlin, the near treasonous utterances of Charles Lindbergh and the organized pro-Nazi rallies of the Bund (the U.S. arm of the Nazi Party), were more widespread than most accounts of the war recognize let alone explore.

"Focus" takes place in a Brooklyn neighborhood of seeming homogeneity marred only by the presence of Finkelstein, the candy store proprietor on the corner. To insure that the audience understands the depth of the community's fear of Jews, quick shots of his unmistakably "frum" (Orthodox) relatives from the Lower East Side are presented several times.

The cohort of organized thugs who harass both the nerdy-with-glasses-mistaken-as-a-Jew guy, William H. Macy, and his glamorous-in-a-forties-way, also mistaken as Jewish, bride, Laura Dern, didn't exist in New York City. Anti-semitic assaults occurred but they were sporadic and involved local youths, not followers of a priest who in the film is the spitting image of Father Coughlin back from hell.

What is so chilling is that the married couple's abhorrence of the growing and organized anti-Semitic harassment is not matched by any introspection as to the baseness of their own feelings about Jews. Both Mr. Macy and Ms. Dern are extraordinary as actors in a small, local drama that recasts their lives without, perhaps, causing them to reshape their own bigoted views. Or do they change?

This is a moving drama that invites exploration of part of the reality of World War II on the Home Front not covered in the continuing outpouring of Greatest Generation memoirs. When available for rental or purchase it should secure the much wider audience it deserves.

For many, perhaps Arthur Miller is most famous for his 4 1/2 years married to Marilyn Monroe. For me, it is his Death of a Salesman for which I did a lengthy report as a college assignment in the mid-60s. I had never heard of Focus, and it is a movie that few have seen. An interesting premise, well-executed. His WASP-ish everyman character in 1943 (during the war) comes under attack after he gets a pair of new eyeglasses, which apparently makes him "look Jewish." His Americanism is questioned, his garbage is overturned, is forced to quit his job, he gets thrown out of a union rally when he fails to stand up and clap, he and his wife get roughed up by thugs on the street at night. The film is an examination of our tolerance for prejudicial treatment of others, then our own reaction towards such treatment.

The critic Ebert has a fine and complete review. William Macy, David Paymer, Laura Dern, and Meat Loaf Aday are all fine in their roles. A worthwhile 106 minutes of thought-provoking entertainment. The DVD, which was a free loan from my local library, has a sharp picture and good use of DD 5.1 sound. There is a very interesting extra which includes Arthur Miller discussing his book and the movie.

First I must admit that I have not read the story on which this movie is based. Secondly I have to confess that I am always highly suspicious of movies which depict actions that are supposed to have happened more than fifteen years before production and try to create an authentic setting.

That much said, I would like to explain why this film disappointed me so deeply. I presume the aim of the story consists in denouncing the outrageous absurdity of racism and prejudice and not in setting up the period piece this movies tries to be. In the center of this story should be a pair of glasses generating prejudice (hence the title focus)! Instead we have performances of brilliant acting talents such as Macy (at one time absurdly, "artfully" distorted like a comic book character), Paymer, Dern and Meat Loaf, clean sets with theme park quality, flawless fotography, brilliant colours. Everybody is striving to give his or her best – and it all confounds the issue. Ambition and ultimately vanity prevailed and killed the story to a large extent. In my opinion the whole approach to the story was a wrong one.