Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining but fictional!
Review: As a Chassidic Jewess I just have to point out that most of the representation of the Chassidic community is laughable at best. Several examples: It was clear that the boys "bentsching" in the opening scene were genuine, but Eric Thal couldn't even break his teeth over the words, much less be believable as their Cheder teacher! The "Rebbe" was clearly a gentile playing a role, as well. Not that I think a real Rebbe should have been cast!!--but a better impersonation, for the sake of the story, could have been done. Most glaring of all is that a budding Yeshiva student (Eric Thal again) would A)not be studying that particular piece of Kabbalah as a single male; B)NOT share it with a female stranger even if he was!; C)definitely not even go alone to a woman's apt., let alone kiss her like that--and was washing his hands afterwards supposed to purify him from that?! Just don't get carried away and think that strictly Orthodox Jews act this way, OK?One other thing: If you think the "hole in the sheet" myth is true, check out a book by the name of, "Doesn't Anyone Blush Anymore?"--probably available through Amazon.com!
Rating:
Summary: OY VEY!
Review: Director Sidney Lumet is no hack - his resume includes classics such as "The Pawnbroker," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," and "Network." But every artist is entitled to the occasional misstep, and at least "A Stranger Among Us" is more an interesting failure than the outright disaster "The Wiz" was.
Lumet is dealing with a number of problems here, first and foremost among them a meandering script that can't quite decide what its main storyline should be. Ostensibly a crime drama centering on the murder of a merchant in Manhattan's diamond district (the stretch of 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues), it persists in wandering off in two other directions - Brooklyn's Hassidim community and its age-old traditions, and the threat of forbidden love between one of its members and the detective assigned to the case. While the scenes involving the religious rituals and customs add nothing to the plot, they at least are interesting and informative about a culture foreign to most viewers. Less compelling are those moments involving Ariel and Emily of the NYPD, since their interest in each other strains credulity, not only because their backgrounds make it unlikely, but due to the lack of any chemistry between Eric Thal and Melanie Griffith.
Griffith is Lumet's other major problem here. No doubt she was cast because at the time she was still Hollywood's flavor-of-the-month, but we are asked to suspend disbelief and accept her not only as a New York police officer, but as one who would be selected to go undercover and infiltrate the Jewish community and live with them as one of their own. Dying her blonde locks brown does nothing to make Griffith less the "shiksa" (Gentile woman) than she obviously is, and it's unlikely anyone in Crown Heights would have mistaken her for anything but. Yet - oddly enough - although plainly she's out of her element, the fish-out-of-water aspects of the story just don't work.
By the time whodunit is revealed, you may not care who was responsible for the nearly-forgotten crime lost in a jumble of sub-plots - but give it a moment or two of thought and you'll wonder how the victim's body could have been hidden where it was by the person implausibly identified as the killer. It's a plot twist that just isn't quite - forgive the pun - kosher.
The actors cast as the elder Jews and the atmosphere in which they live and worship add an air of authenticity that's missing from any of the scenes involving police procedures. Lee Richardson is impressive as the rebbe who, despite his misgivings, must welcome the street-smart female cop into his home. John Pankow, Mia Sara, and Jamey Sheridan do well in their small supporting roles, and James Gandolfini makes an appearance as a thug in a foreshadowing of his career as Tony Soprano, but Eric Thal is saddled with the almost impossible task of making us believe he would forsake his strong religious beliefs and dedication to Kabbalah for the hard-talking, gun-toting Griffith.
Despite its many flaws, "A Stranger Among Us" is one of those films that makes a long flight, rainy day, or dateless Friday night easier to endure. As a Lumet credit, it's a far cry from "Serpico," but a hell of a lot better than "The Wiz."
Rating: 
Summary: A touching presentation of the Hasidic Jews
Review: Don't listen to anyone who says it's a bad film - see it, and you will fall in love with the images bathed in warm glow. An intersting presentation of two different world existing in the same time at the same place.
Rating:
Summary: Sally should've stuck with Harry...
Review: Even if you don't care that this movie's portrayal of an ultra-Orthodox community is absurdly inaccurate, the holes in the plot ruin whatever is left. For example, 1) NYC police would never send a scantily clad woman to meet a Chasidic rebbe; 2) she is alone to arrest two mafia-types, even though it's known in advance when they're coming; 3) she fires her gun in the air in Times Square -- gotta hope that bullet finds a safe place to land; 4) if Mia Sara's character committed the murder, how did she lift the body into the ceiling? What about her accomplices? These and the really poor acting (sadly, with no exceptions) are quite a disappointment. Do yourself a favor and go watch either Witness or Fiddler on the Roof again...
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible. Simply horrible.
Review: I can't possibly disect how horrible this movie is in less than 1000 words. Suffice it to say that between poor scripting, tremendous gaps in logic and plot, shaky and confusing directing, and Melanie Griffith as a tough cop (!), everything in this movie goes wrong at once. Not to mention that this is a pure and crass rip-off of Witness. Save your money--unless you're a fan of unintentionally bad movies, in which case, enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Judaism
Review: I feel that the movie does not accurately show Religious customs in judaism. If you've grown up in the jewish community there are things that you will pick up on. for example the hairstyles were done wrong. It's not really worth watching. Melanie does a nice job but ... she's not really playing a part, she's sleeping through her part.
Rating:
Summary: Sally should've stuck with Harry...
Review: I happened to catch this on HBO and thought it so charming that I wanted to buy a copy. I'm not completly ignorant of Jewish culture and have read nearly everything of Isaac Bashevis Singer that's in English but it's not my culture. I guess it's always irritating when one sees technical errors in a subject that we are expert in. Nurses wearing caps on soap operas annoy me, and I've been surprised to find out that many lay people think that nurses still wear white caps. Movies always seem to credit technical advisors even when it's hard to believe that they gave any advice and I suppose this was true in this movie.
anyway my impression was that the detective fell in love with the lifestyle and was infactuated with the scholar; I thought there was chemistry and believable sexual tension. People on the outside are often attracted and curious about "closed cultures". I have had this feeling about nuns and about orthodox jews my whole life. Part of the attraction is that these groups would seem to be cultish if they didn't have the legitimacy associated with ancient institutions. Certainly my feelings are romantic and this was a romantic movie. If the characters did not seem authentic to those familiar with the culture they worked for me. It was to me respectful. The characters were all "good" and decent. No one was made to look foolish or ridiculous. After all it was just a movie, it wasn't intended to be a documentary about the Hassidic movement.
I wanted to go live in the Rebbe's house myself.
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe it's better if you aren't Jewish...
Review: I happened to catch this on HBO and thought it so charming that I wanted to buy a copy. I'm not completly ignorant of Jewish culture and have read nearly everything of Isaac Bashevis Singer that's in English but it's not my culture. I guess it's always irritating when one sees technical errors in a subject that we are expert in. Nurses wearing caps on soap operas annoy me, and I've been surprised to find out that many lay people think that nurses still wear white caps. Movies always seem to credit technical advisors even when it's hard to believe that they gave any advice and I suppose this was true in this movie.
anyway my impression was that the detective fell in love with the lifestyle and was infactuated with the scholar; I thought there was chemistry and believable sexual tension. People on the outside are often attracted and curious about "closed cultures". I have had this feeling about nuns and about orthodox jews my whole life. Part of the attraction is that these groups would seem to be cultish if they didn't have the legitimacy associated with ancient institutions. Certainly my feelings are romantic and this was a romantic movie. If the characters did not seem authentic to those familiar with the culture they worked for me. It was to me respectful. The characters were all "good" and decent. No one was made to look foolish or ridiculous. After all it was just a movie, it wasn't intended to be a documentary about the Hassidic movement.
I wanted to go live in the Rebbe's house myself.
Rating:
Summary: Melanie at her most hilarious
Review: I have a love/laugh relationship with Melanie Griffith. Sometimes I love her films as they are intended, even if the critics don't, and other times, the films are so stupid they're hysterical. This falls into the latter category. She's this brash, foul-mouthed, trampy, tough-as-nails NYC detective who investigates a murder in the Hasidic jewish diamond district. Naturally, as we see later, she also has a heart of gold. Melanie, as the hard boiled and tough as nails cop, ends up dying her dried-out bleach blonde locks brown and goes "undercover" as a returing Hasidic jewish woman in the community to get to the bottom of the murder, as she thinks it's an "inside job." Right! To believe this premise, she'd have to have the acting ability of Meryl Streep, or there would have to be a sly reference in the film that these were brain damaged, under 80 I.Q. Hasidic jews. Nothing like this is mentioned in the film, and Griffith is no Streep. Then there's this totally silly romance subplot as the girl on the prowl, take no prisoners, use 'em and lose 'em Melanie falls for a quiet, intellectual, sensitive, much younger (they downplay that in the movie), gorgeous Hasidic jewish guy whose house she is sharing while "undercover." Luckily for him, and the audience, the romance goes nowhere, and crass, hard as nails Melanie, ends up respecting his decision that he ought to marry within his faith, and remain pure up until that point. And that other reviewer is right, Melanie, after all the hardwork to go "undercover," does virtually no investigating once a part of their world. The murder solves itself. If NYC detectives were anything like this character, anarchy would rule in NYC. On a most significant note, even though she's hard boiled and tough as nails, she says "okey dokey" in her high little Melanie voice about 15 times in this movie. I have known both devout Jews and hard boiled NYC police. Neither group uses the term "okey dokey" to my knowledge. Where did she come up with this one? I never see it in any of her other movies. Did someone play a cruel joke on her during filming and tell her "okey dokey" is an authentic Jewish term or something and her adding it to the script would help her "transformation"? I guess we'll never know, because when she was on Actor's Studio, this wasn't a movie they discussed (shocker). Needless to say, I watch this movie whenever I can. It's pretty terrible if you're looking for some kind of action/thriller as the film is billed. If you can appreciate Melanie Griffith's body of work as I can, this is one of her top comedies.
Rating:
Summary: MELANIE GRIFFITH AS A BA'AL TESHUVAH...
Review: I initially debated whether to give this movie two or three stars, as at times it was moderately enjoyable. Some parts of it were so absurd, however, as to defy the viewer's imagination and intelligence. Moreover, Melanie Griffith was decidely miscast for the role she played. A hard boiled detective with a breathy, little girl voice like Marilyn Monroe just doesn't cut it. So, I gave the film its just desserts and awarded it the two stars it deserves. The film revolves around the murder of a Hasidic man in a jewelry store in the diamond district of New York. Emily Eden (Melanie Griffith), an angst ridden and tough, hard nosed NYPD detective with the sexual scruples of a cat in heat, is assigned to cover the murder. She goes to Brooklyn to debrief the Rebbe (Lee Richardson), as to his knowledge of the victim, and shows up inappropriately attired. Now, NYPD may be a lot of things, but totally stupid thay are not. NYPD would never have allowed a detective, who did not have some understanding and familiarity with the customs of the Hasidic community, enter that community to try and get information. Nor would the Detective, a woman, have gone alone, given the Hasidic community's beliefs about the roles of men and women. Though Detective Eden sounds decidely stupid throughout the film, she is smart enough to figure out that it was probably someone from the community who did the murder, given the nature and condition of the crime scene. In order to properly investigate, however, she believes that she needs to infiltrate the Hasidic community and go undercover, as a ba'al teshuvah, a Jew who has chosen to embrace an orthodox life style. So, she dyes her bleached, blonde hair brown, dresses conservatively, and goes to live with the Rebbe, his hunky son, Ariel (Eric Thal), and Mara (Tracy Pollan), the Rebbe's adopted daughter. Detective Eden lusts after Ariel, who is attracted to her. She has heart warming talks with Mara. Totally ignorant of the ways of the Hasidim, she manages to break many of its rules, with Mara always hovering around to correct her. She doen't seem to do much investigating, however, defeating the whole purpose of the charade. Somehow, the murder gets solved without doing too much investigation, so if the viewer is looking for a police procedural, prepare to be disappointed. If the viewer is looking for a cultural appreciation of the Hasidic community, prepare to be disappointed. This is a romanticized and absurd portrayal of this unique and insular community. If the viewer is looking for a cross-cultural romance, prepare to be disappointed, as the budding romance between Emily and Ariel finally fizzles and is never consummated. If the viewer is looking for a film about renewal of one's faith in one's self and personal redemption, the movie sort of heads in that direction but never explains the route it takes, so when it sort of arrives at its destination, no one can figure out how. This is a film that had potential, but somewhere along the way veteran director, Sidney Lumet, dropped the ball. It is simply not ready for prime time. See it only if you are desperate to fill some time, and there is nothing else worthwhile to take its place.
|
