Liberty Heights | | Cast : | Adrien Brody, Bebe Neuwirth, Joe Mantegna | | Director : | Barry Levinson | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | November 17, 1999 | | DVD Released Date : | February 03, 2004 | | Language : | English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | April 10, 2005 | | Summary | Excellent film, valuable history lesson... | Content
 | A lot of Americans---especially the younger generations---are breathtakingly ignorant of their own very recent history, and films like "Liberty Heights" are invaluable for reminding us that no, this country has never been a utopian paradise of freedom as current day simpletons (read: George W. Bush and all his right wing partisan prostitutes like Rush Limbaugh, etc.) would have us believe.
The idea is not to fixate on the past but to use it as a guidepost towards the future---the kind of racist and anti-semitic world that "Liberty Heights" portrays has abated on many fronts but is far from vanquished, and all this progress did not magically arise but was the fruit of the blood sweat and tears of many principled and brave individuals over the course of the last several decades. Many battles have been won but the war is not over by a long shot.
Aside from social history, Levinson's film is also stirring entertainment: he has assembled a very strong cast, with an excellent script and masterful camera direction. "Liberty Heights" does not have the grand epic sweep of "Avalon" but is deals more directly with racial and ethnic tensions in 1950s Baltimore without falling into the usual cliches and sensationalistic traps that such socially conscious films (see "Grand Canyon" or recent Spike Lee movies) often stoop to. This is no cheap Hollywood tear-jerker but an honest, balanced and very mature work---probably explains why it tanked at the box office. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 21, 2004 | | Summary | I Loved Liberty Heights for Two Reasons | Content
| 1) My daughter was a featured extra who had a close up in the film's opening scene. As the story opens in a Jewish neighborhood in Baltimore in 1954 or so the narrator tells the audience how he thought everyone in the world was Jewish. The camera pans to his elementary school classrom while the teacher calls the roll, Bernstein, Cohan, Cohen, etc. He says he even thought Ling (my daughter) was Jewish as the camera zooms in on her. Okay that explains why I liked the film and bought the DVD. Why should you?
2). It is a nice, sweet movie that is suitable for family viewing. (Caveat: there is one rather muted scene in which the younger son, played well by Ben Foster, appeared to get a bit over excited by his love interest. You have to be a bit older to understand what happened though). Although it does not leave as lasting an impact as Diner or Avalon on the viewer it is well worth viewing in DVD.
It has an excellent ensemble cast led by Joe Mantegna plays the father and Bebe Neuwirth the prototypical gulit inducing mother. Ben Foster plays the younger brother and Adrien Brody (pre-Oscar winner days) plays the older brother. The films consists of a series of stories each of which involves the intrusion of the brave new world of integration into a cohesive ethnic enclave. There are some extremely funny scenes and dialogue. Ben Foster and his friends walk away from a public pool after seeing a sign stating: "No Jews, Coloreds, or Dogs." Rather than anger they engage in an extended discussion as to why the three groups were set out in that particular order. It was both funny and moving.
Ben falls for a young classmate, the girl who integrated the school. Their relationship (sweet and puppyish) is met by consternation by both sets of parents. Adrien Brody, the older brother, falls for an anglo-saxon blonde and runs into much resistance as he works his way into her 'crowd'. Mantegna's burlesque club and numbers running set him apart from the more rigid confines of his crowd. Levinson approaches these stories with a light hand and humorous touch. He does not preach. He simply tells their stories.
As noted, this movie does not have the same impact as Diner or Avalon and this may explain, in part, its rapid disappearance from movie theaters. The DVD, which contains a number of added items (trailers, crew interviews, etc.), is a nice opportunity to spend a very pleasnt two hours. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 15, 2004 | | Summary | An Eye Opening Film For All Generations To Enjoy | Content
| The first time I watched this movie was on a whim and I didn't know what to expect from it. I quickly found myself becoming infatuated with the story line. Barry Levinson has created a masterpiece with this film that stars Joe Mategna, Ben Foster, Adrien Brody and Bebe Neuwirth who are theKurtzman family living in suburbian Baltimore, Maryland in a place called Liberty Heights in the year 1954. Along the way their experiences are chronicled as integration has just begun. I could go on and on, but you have got to see this movie for yourself. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 08, 2003 | | Summary | Funny, strange, poignant, and an interest perspective. | Content
| Barry Levinson's semi-autobiographical look at life in the mid '50's, from a Jewish perspective, is funny, interesting, and poignant, and fairly strange. It ironically stars Joe Montegna as a Jewish business man, with many troubles, Bebe Neuwirth, as his wife and some other interesting characters. One funny, but not funny, moment (if your Jewish) is when his son tries to go to a Halloween party dressed as Adolf Hitler, much to the horror of his mother and grandmother (which is understandable). An interesting side story is the relationship between one son and a highly attractive (black) girl. Prejudice runs several ways in this movie; a definite reflection of the times, but does not detract from it. [An aside-the only thing that marred the viewing of this disc was a slight bit of debris; which I cleared off and then the disc played fine-a bit of advice to all dvd users to check and clean edge to edge; never, ever, in a circular fashion.] Otherwise a fine film. Well acted, good story, which does a credit to Mr. Levinson. Recommended. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 27, 2003 | | Summary | Absolutely Entertaining. | Content
| This movie is about a Jewish family and how each goes through some kind of prejudice or problem. Surprisingly they take it with a comic view. I happen to own it, and I just love watching it. |
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