Themes: Interracial/Cross-Cultural Romance, High School Life, Race Relations
Main Cast: Adrien Brody, Ben Foster, Orlando Jones, Bebe Neuwirth, Joe Mantegna, Rebekah Johnson
Release Year: 1999
Country: US
Run Time: 127 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Writer/director Barry Levinson returns to his home town of Baltimore, where he previously set three nostalgic features (Diner, Tin Men, and Avalon) for this story of two brothers growing up in the tumultuous days of 1954, as rock 'n' roll, the atom bomb, and the civil rights movement changed the way teenagers looked at the world. One of the brothers has fallen in love with a beautiful girl who, to the chagrin of his family, is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Protestant, while the other has an even bigger shock for his folks: his new girlfriend is black. Joe Mantegna and Bebe Neuwirth play the parents, with Adrien Brody, Vincent Guastaferro, Orlando Jones, David Krumholz, and Kiersten Warren also topping the cast. Tom Waits wrote several original songs for the film, while Andrea Morricone (daughter of Ennio Morricone) wrote the score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
The 1950s were a more innocent time, yet the tensions that would explode in the following decade were beginning to simmer. Director Barry Levinson, who has made a number of autobiographical films about growing up in his native Baltimore, calls on his memories of his adolescence during this period. His 14-year-old alter ego Ben (Ben Foster) combines both his growing interest in girls and an increasing awareness of racial exclusion after he becoming attracted to Sylvia (Rebekah Johnson), a black girl in his school. Levinson is less interested in exploring any single relationship than in tracing the boy's first steps out of the family enclave he's known into a wider, more diverse world -- both fascinating, and, at times, threatening. There's also a fanciful Runyon-esque subplot involving Ben's father's (Joe Mantegna) mysteriously shady occupation. That story line is the only weak link in an otherwise absorbing film. The acting is uniformly excellent, with outstanding work by Foster, a brilliant turn by Orlando Jones as Little Melvin, and an especially memorable scene from James Pickens Jr. as Sylvia's father. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
David Krumholtz - Yussel; Richard Kline - Charlie; Vincent Guastaferro - Pete; Justin Chambers - Trey; Carolyn Murphy - Dubbie; James Pickens, Jr. - Sylvia's Father; Frania Rubinek - Rose; Anthony Anderson - Scribbles; Kiersten Warren - Annie; Evan Neumann - Sheldon; Kevin Sussman - Alan; Gerry Rosenthal - Murray; Charley Scalies - Louie; Shane West - Ted; Carlton J. Smith - James Brown
Credit
Alan Muraoka - Art Director, Michael Haley - Associate Producer, Amy Solan - Associate Producer, Ellen Chenoweth - Casting, Gloria Gresham - Costume Designer, Michael Haley - First Assistant Director, Barry Levinson - Director, Stu Linder - Editor, Patrick McCormick - Executive Producer, Andrea Morricone - Composer (Music Score), Allan Mason - Musical Direction/Supervision, Joel Sill - Musical Direction/Supervision, Tom Waits - Songwriter, Vincent Peranio - Production Designer, Christopher Doyle - Cinematographer, Barry Levinson - Producer, Paula Weinstein - Producer, William A. Cimino - Set Designer, Steve Cantamessa - Sound/Sound Designer, Tim Holland - Sound Editor, Barry Levinson - Screenwriter
