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Liberty Heights
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Director Barry Levinson has always seemed more comfortable helming pictures about small, character studies. He tried big-budget sci-fi once with "Sphere", and the results, well...the results were less than thrilling. "Liberty Heights" is another one of the director's smaller films, and although there are a few minor faults, it's another very enjoyable outing.
The film takes place in 1954 and the sense of period detail is nicely done. The film has a legion of nicely realized characters, but the two main characters are Ben and Van Kurtzman(Ben Foster and Adrien Brody), two brothers who are trying to live their lives in an era of obstacles in the path of growing up. Both of them have found girls that they've fallen in love with; Ben has fallen in love with an African American girl new to his home room(Rebeka Johnson) and their scenes together are very well done. The two are sweet together and have a nice chemistry.
Ben's father(Joe Mantegna) though, has some problems of his own. Running a "burlesque house", he finds himself in need of a solution when an illegal numbers game backfires on him. The film may have some goofy humor here and there, but I think the dramatic aspect of it is most successful; it is, essentially, a film about being proud to be who you are, whatever race or religion that you might be.
There's a few little things that I didn't care for, such as the film's running time, which goes slightly long, and a plot turn a little after the halfway point. Other than that, "Liberty Heights" is another fine effort from director Levinson and a film that I enjoyed.
The DVD
VIDEO: Nothing new here from Warner Brothers; it's another in their line of quality efforts. What makes this one especially enjoyable is how wonderfully it presents the photography and period look of the movie. The image is consistently sharp and clear, with good detail. Colors are also warm and natural, making for a very pleasing visual look. Flesh tones are accurate and natural, as well.
Flaws are minimal; there are a few minor little marks on the print used and an instace or two of shimmering. There are no instances of pixelation to distract from an otherwise great looking picture. Again, I really liked the look of the film that director Barry Levinson and cinematographer Christopher Doyle were able to accomplish, and Warner's transfer does it justice.
SOUND: "Liberty Heights" is definitely a dialogue-driven film, but there are nice little touches that liven up the film beyond the basic levels. The music really sounds quite good and nicely integrated, with the period tunes sounding clear and crisp. Dialogue is natural and clear, as well.
MENUS:: .
EXTRAS:
Deleted Scene: Although the menu says "deleted scenes", there is only one scene (which is actually a pretty cool scene) that is offered. Before the scene, director Barry Levinson offers an introduction and analysis of why it was deleted. The section as a whole runs a little over 4 minutes.
Trailers: Trailers for "Liberty Heights" and Levinson's "Diner".
Isolated Score: a "music-only" track that is in Dolby Digital 5.1
Text Notes:: Notes on Levinson's "Baltimore Films" (Liberty Heights, Tin Men, Diner and Avalon) and cast/crew list for "Liberty Heights".
On The Set Of "Liberty Heights: A very informal but informative featurette that offers on-set interviews with Barry Levinson as well as footage of the production at work. The featurette runs a little under 4 minutes.
Interview Gallery: Short interviews with stars Adrien Brody, Bebe Neuwirth, Joe Mantegna, Ben Foster, Carolyn Murphy and director Barry Levinson. Each of the interviews are a couple of minutes in length and have the actors discussing their roles and stories about the film in general. The whole section runs about 12 and a half minutes in total.
Director Barry Levinson has always seemed more comfortable helming pictures about small, character studies. He tried big-budget sci-fi once with "Sphere", and the results, well...the results were less than thrilling. "Liberty Heights" is another one of the director's smaller films, and although there are a few minor faults, it's another very enjoyable outing.
The film takes place in 1954 and the sense of period detail is nicely done. The film has a legion of nicely realized characters, but the two main characters are Ben and Van Kurtzman(Ben Foster and Adrien Brody), two brothers who are trying to live their lives in an era of obstacles in the path of growing up. Both of them have found girls that they've fallen in love with; Ben has fallen in love with an African American girl new to his home room(Rebeka Johnson) and their scenes together are very well done. The two are sweet together and have a nice chemistry.
Ben's father(Joe Mantegna) though, has some problems of his own. Running a "burlesque house", he finds himself in need of a solution when an illegal numbers game backfires on him. The film may have some goofy humor here and there, but I think the dramatic aspect of it is most successful; it is, essentially, a film about being proud to be who you are, whatever race or religion that you might be.
There's a few little things that I didn't care for, such as the film's running time, which goes slightly long, and a plot turn a little after the halfway point. Other than that, "Liberty Heights" is another fine effort from director Levinson and a film that I enjoyed.
The DVD
VIDEO: Nothing new here from Warner Brothers; it's another in their line of quality efforts. What makes this one especially enjoyable is how wonderfully it presents the photography and period look of the movie. The image is consistently sharp and clear, with good detail. Colors are also warm and natural, making for a very pleasing visual look. Flesh tones are accurate and natural, as well.
Flaws are minimal; there are a few minor little marks on the print used and an instace or two of shimmering. There are no instances of pixelation to distract from an otherwise great looking picture. Again, I really liked the look of the film that director Barry Levinson and cinematographer Christopher Doyle were able to accomplish, and Warner's transfer does it justice.
SOUND: "Liberty Heights" is definitely a dialogue-driven film, but there are nice little touches that liven up the film beyond the basic levels. The music really sounds quite good and nicely integrated, with the period tunes sounding clear and crisp. Dialogue is natural and clear, as well.
MENUS:: .
EXTRAS:
Deleted Scene: Although the menu says "deleted scenes", there is only one scene (which is actually a pretty cool scene) that is offered. Before the scene, director Barry Levinson offers an introduction and analysis of why it was deleted. The section as a whole runs a little over 4 minutes.
Trailers: Trailers for "Liberty Heights" and Levinson's "Diner".
Isolated Score: a "music-only" track that is in Dolby Digital 5.1
Text Notes:: Notes on Levinson's "Baltimore Films" (Liberty Heights, Tin Men, Diner and Avalon) and cast/crew list for "Liberty Heights".
On The Set Of "Liberty Heights: A very informal but informative featurette that offers on-set interviews with Barry Levinson as well as footage of the production at work. The featurette runs a little under 4 minutes.
Interview Gallery: Short interviews with stars Adrien Brody, Bebe Neuwirth, Joe Mantegna, Ben Foster, Carolyn Murphy and director Barry Levinson. Each of the interviews are a couple of minutes in length and have the actors discussing their roles and stories about the film in general. The whole section runs about 12 and a half minutes in total.
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