Liberty Heights

The whole point of this blog is not only to give the world good reading, but also to open the eyes of the readers to movies they may have passed up. I really think everyone would like this film. It's very human interest, which are some of my favorite type of films. Liberty Heights is the name of the community in the film.  This is a great story of a Jewish family in Baltimore in the mid fifties. Sons Ben (Foster) and Van (Brody) are trying to figure life out, but they have trouble doing so. Their Father (Joe Montegna) owns the local Burlesque house, and runs a small town numbers game (Lottery) and is often involved in shady deals. The story begins with the De-segregation of schools, which upsets the adults, but the kids don't seem to mind. Especially Ben, who is Jewish, is just about as accepted as the blacks at the time. The sign at the community pool actually states: No Blacks, Dogs, Jews. In that order. Ben points out that dogs are higher than them on the list. It's a way of life and no one takes it too personally. The story turns funny, but also makes a great point about the ignorance of teenagers when Ben dresses as Hitler for Halloween. His Grandma, who lives with them, is a survivor and is lost for words causing mayhem inside the household. It is funny when he proclaims that it took place forever ago. In reality it was only 12 years earlier. Van has issues of his own. Unlike Ben, Van has a strong need to fit in, and gets very upset at how he is treated. He starts falling for a rich white girl and that's the path his story takes. Ben is the main character with what they would call at the time "flaws." In today's age he would be commended for never judging, and trusting everyone, no matter the race, or what community says of them. He likes to bend the rules to say the least. He ends up falling for a black girl which is not good. Her father and his father agree it has to end. They don't care. She ends up taking him to a James Brown concert where he and his buddy stick out in a crowd, if you know what I mean. They end up in a worst situation that isn't his fault at all. His Father fails to pay one of his lotto winners, because he doesn't have the money. He has tried to buy him off, even by giving him his brand new Cadillac, but the winner (Played by Orlando Jones) is a gangsta of sorts. He just wants what is owed to him. He ends up uses the kids as leverage. This is a great film and I know you will recognize the cover shown above. I walked past this film a hundred times, but luckily it came on HBO and I got to enjoy every bit of it. Netflix it, rent it, or buy it. You'll like what it is.

NBM rates Liberty Heights - Phenomenal

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