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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Liberty Heights
Warner Bros.
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for crude language and sex-related material
Starring
Adrien Brody,
Ben Foster,
Bebe Neuwirth,
Joe Mantegna,
and
Orlando Jones
In this third installment of Barry Levinson's Baltimore trilogy, the youngest son of a middle-class Jewish family pushes the accepted social boundaries of the day by dressing as Hitler for Halloween and pursuing a romantic friendship with a black classmate, as his brother pursues a girl from the other side of the tracks, and his father maintains a numbers racket.
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Barry Levinson
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Barry Levinson
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: June 19, 2000
Video: June 19, 2000
Theatrical: November 17, 1999
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
127 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Levinson is so skillful at developing personalities, even among the story's would-be villains, that by the halfway point of the movie, every gesture and expression has unexpected depth and texture. The performances are across-the-board superb.
90
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Barry Levinson goes deep with Liberty Heights, and the result is a grand slam.
90
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
A mature, accomplished piece of work, both funny and deeply felt, personal cinema of the best kind...Levinson has made the memory film we always hoped he would.
90
Film.com
Tom Keogh
Levinson is at the top of his game with Liberty Heights, his instincts acutely cinematic, his purpose clear.
90
Time
Richard Schickel
Seems to encompass all the humor, sadness and weirdness of ordinary life in an utterly winning, morally acute way.
90
Newsweek
David Ansen
A languorous, funny and lovingly detailed memory film.
90
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Demonstrates what writer-director Levinson does best: evoke the sights, smells and atmosphere of his youth with intelligence, humor and a keen sense of social perspective.
88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Emerges as an accurate memory of that time when the American melting pot, splendid as a theory, became a reality.
88
Baltimore Sun
Ann Hornaday
Well worth the wait.
88
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Easily one of the year's best movies.
85
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
A uniquely personal, vibrant mosaic of the American dream, and like a dream, it evaporates beautifully before our eyes.
80
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Buoyant with quiet smiles and unpretentious fondness.
80
Dallas Observer
Jean Oppenheimer
A disarmingly funny, clear-eyed, and affectionate memory piece.
78
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Minus much of the rose-tinted nostalgia his films have occasionally engendered. There is a nostalgic tone to the film, but it's a quiet, subtle one.
75
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Both a lovingly crafted remembrance of things past and a deliberate broadening and darkening of the canvas Levinson previously filled in "Diner," "Tin Men," and "Avalon."
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
Has integrity, but the way he bends his tale to make a statement is overly deliberate.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
As good as the film is in so many ways, it also altogether rings a bit false and contrived.
75
Chicago Tribune
Marc Caro
Few mainstream films portray the religiousness or ethnicity of characters with such detail, warmth and humor as Liberty Heights.
75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
This is a small, intimate movie bound to get lost in the holiday shuffle, but its pleasures are worth seeking out.
75
USA Today
Mike Clark
Just a good time at the movies, but it's still a smarter two hours than most "good times" are.
75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Filmed in a quietly impressionistic style and splendidly acted by a well-chosen cast, the movie would be a top-of-the-line entertainment if its delicately balanced perspective weren't marred by a few moments of racially insensitive excess.
70
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Levinson brings it all back home to Baltimore and delivers his funniest and most heartfelt film since "Diner."
70
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
If Liberty Heights is much too soft at its center, it still offers a deeper immersion in that old '50s feeling than any other Hollywood film in recent memory.
67
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
But Levinson's passion to explain how he got from there to ''Sphere'' gives Liberty Heights its own farkatke Hollywood integrity.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Gary Thompson
As pleasant and rosy and optimistic as it is, Liberty Heights doesn't really soar, emotionally or otherwise.
60
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
I could have done more with the edgy humor of "Diner" and "Tin Men" and less of the mythmaking of "Avalon."
60
Film.com
Peter Brunette
Far from perfect, and at 122 minutes it's way too long, but after surviving an overly schematic and even hectoring first half, finally delivers the emotional goods.
50
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
A lot here is genially entertaining, but it doesn't make for interesting or vital filmmaking, because while Levinson might honestly prefer rye, he makes movies the way Wonder Bread bakes.
50
Slate
David Edelstein
I think Levinson missed a chance to get something unique and audacious on screen.
45
TNT RoughCut
Don Kaye
This may be what life was like for Levinson back in the day, but it makes a boring movie for the rest of us.
40
Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
Told from too many perspectives, the narrative puts suspense above substance, and its social consciousness seems contrived.
 The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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