Liberty  Heights

Sphere. The tedious, coma-inducing memory lingers on. When I first heard of the project, I was immediately intrigued. Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, Sam Jackson, not exactly the kind of cast you would usually associate with a sci-fi movie. I then wondered who the ideal director for this (supposedly) intelligent Michael Crichton adaptation would be. Various names popped in my head: Peter (2010) Hyams, perhaps Ridley Scott or James Cameron. As we all know now, the man responsible for this underwater squib was none other than Barry Levinson. I started wondering just who the maniac was behind these developments. Barry Levinson - the man who brought us so many memorable character pieces, from the star-led Rain Man and Good Morning Vietnam to the ensemble dramas, Avalon and Diner, not forgetting the brilliant satire Wag the Dog. The movie was, of course a horrible mess, with a plodding, pretentious script and some laughable casting. I mean could anyone possibly believe Dustin Hoffman and Sharon Stone as a couple!?! Levinson's direction didn't help either. Fortunately, he is now back on dry land, with real people living real lives.





Welcome to Liberty Heights, Barry Levinson's somewhat rose-tinted view of life in fifties Baltimore where anti-Semitism and racism exist with an almost polite decorum. Essentially, Liberty Heights is not a study in these subjects as it is a look at how they affect a teenager's coming-of-age back in that socially corrupt time. 



At the centre of this two hour plus nostalgia-trimmed movie is the "forbidden love" between sixteen-year-old Ben Kurtzman who happens to be Jewish and Sylvia, a pretty, intelligent black girl. They are perfect together, creating a charming, sweet young couple whom the ignorant world around them refuses to accept. 



Ben's family also share the movie's focus. Van, his elder, twenty-something brother is on the constant look-out for girls, accompanied by his two best friends who bemoan their "Jewishness" every step of the way. They are the only characters who confront anti-Semitism first hand in the shape of an all-white, all-ivy league college idiot. Van's "chapter" also centres on unattainable love or in his case, infatuation. He has a tantalising flirtation with a perfect white princess at a Halloween party, only to meet barriers of his own.



The third and final string of the movie concerns the patriarch, Nate Kurtzman, a corrupt businessman who runs both a risqué (for the time) burlesque show and a numbers racket down the west side of Baltimore. His sons are unaware of his illegal activities, while his wife simply turns a blind eye. He soon runs into trouble with a local hood, an under-developed plot strand that sits uncomfortably with what has gone before. It almost seems as if Levinson has attempted to switch genres half-way, in the want of creating something more intense and thrilling, but he fails miserably.



Everything else is as you'd expect from Barry Levinson; amazing period detail, an astute, nostalgic wistful script and a group of excellent performances, especially by newcomer Ben Foster and Adrien Brody who shines as brightly as he did in Spike Lee's nauseating mess Summer of Sam. Joe Mantegna, playing yet another "wise guy" brings his ever-reliable presence to the screen, especially affecting in the few scenes he shares with his on-screen sons. The only cast member who the script short-changes is the normally enjoyable Bebe Neuwirth, whose role in the 1993 Harold Becker thriller Malice still brings a smile to my face. There is no sign of her trademark acidity, instead she simply plays "the mother" and "the wife," her character given no room to grow. 



At the end of the day, without certain excess baggage, Liberty Heights could have shone brightly as an honest slice-of-life drama. The last thing it needed were any overblown theatrics. However, when all is said and done, Barry Levinson has created yet another attractive slice of Baltimore life, albeit with some notable flaws. If you can forgive the, at times meandering plot strings you will find a small, subtle, perfectly charming little gem.