Liberty Heights

One of my favorite things to do is look through the $5 dvd bin when one is available, you never know what treasures you might find. Usually you skip over those movies you have never heard of, but look closer sometimes you find a random independent movie that has "that one actor you like." You spend maybe $2 on the movie, cause surprise its on an even better sale and you take it home and give it a chance. In this case the actor I like is Ben Foster and the movie "Liberty Heights."
The story of two Jewish brothers in Baltimore in the 1950's, where people weren't just prejudice about blacks. In the opening scene Foster the main narrator tell us that as a kid he thought everyone was Jewish, and as he grew up he discover that outside of Liberty Heights he is a minority. He finds that he is attracted to a young black woman who integrates in his high school, and all he wants to do is spend time with her. Adrian Brody plays the older college going brother who knows that he is a minority and just blends in. Brody falls for an upper class girl who has a boyfriend, and soon realizes what he has at home is nothing to be taken for granted. Even at home though, there is always something going on, that you might just not see. The movie is rich with side stories, especially the father's played by Joe Montegna. Its a coming of age story that has heart and depth. One of the best scenes is when Ben Foster plans to go out for Halloween dressed as Hitler and his mother Bebe Neuwirth has "heart failure". Fueled with an awesome soundtrack of 50's music it was worth the find. My problem with this movie is it is slow paced. Some things get drawn out where you want to move on to another character. It is also a movie where you meet minor characters, and they drop of somewhere in the movie...why bother introducing them.
Usually when I pick a performance to review it is never the main character but in this case it is, Ben Foster. His cool attitude and easy going spirit adds to the sarcasticness of his character. This is one of his first movie rolls and it is so well acted, that there is no question why he got more rolls. He has a soft voice approach to the serious subject matter, and excels at the subtle teenage rebellion the roll calls for.
So if you see this at the rental store or even the $5 bin, pick it up, you never know it might mean something to you. I give Liberty Heights a 6 out of 10, and hey that's this Ingènues input.