''Liberty Heights'' is a 1999 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written and directed by

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ...

. The film is a semi-autobiographical account of his childhood growing up in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

in the 1950s. Portrayed are the racial injustices experienced both by the Jewish and African-American populations. Both of Nate Kurtzman's sons find women "prohibited" to them; for Van because he is Jewish, and for Ben because he is white. Their father goes to prison for running a burlesque show with Little Melvin, an African-American and known local drug dealer. It is the fourth of Levinson's

tetralogy A tetralogy (from Greek τετρα- ''tetra-'', "four" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works. The name comes from the Attic theater, in which a tetralogy was a group of three tragedies f ...

"Baltimore Films", set in his hometown during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s: ''

Diner A diner is a small, inexpensive restaurant found across the United States, as well as in Canada and parts of Western Europe. Diners offer a wide range of foods, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a co ...

'' (1982), '' Tin Men'' (1987) and ''

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

'' (1990).

Plot

In the fall of 1954, the Kurtzmans, a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, live in

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China * Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Forest ...

, a suburban neighborhood in northwest

. Nate, the father, runs a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

theater, and engages in a numbers racket. His wife Ada is a housewife. Van, the older son, attends the

University of Baltimore The University of Baltimore (UBalt, UB) is a public university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. UBalt's schools and colleges provide education in business, law, public affairs, and the applied arts and sc ...

, and Ben is in his senior year in high school. Ben meets Sylvia, an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

girl, who begins attending his school after the district has been integrated. Ben immediately starts to develop feelings towards Sylvia, and introduces himself. They become close based on a mutual love for

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and black comedians. Sylvia's father, an affluent doctor, disapproves of their relationship and forbids them to see one another. On

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observan ...

, Ben dresses up as

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

, which shocks his parents greatly, and he's forbidden to go in public wearing it. Van and his friends head over to a party in a predominantly bourgeois,

gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...

section of town. He is attracted to a mysterious blonde woman. A fight between one of Van's buddies and a gentile erupts over his jewishness and Trey, one of the party-goers, drunkenly crashes his car into the house. Van must leave the mystery woman. Trey goes to court for the car crash. Van and his friends are there as witnesses, but they find ways to avoid testifying against him. After the hearing is over, Van asks several of the other party attendants about the blonde woman he met. Trey discovers that the girl Van has fallen in love with is Dubbie, Trey's own girlfriend. Meanwhile, Nate's burlesque theatre has problems. In order to boost returns on the numbers game, an additional bonus number is added that will increase the pay-off. Little Melvin, a local drug dealer, makes a large bet, defies expectations, and hits the number. Unable to pay on such a big win, Nate is forced to cut Melvin a 'slice of the pie'. When Nate offers Melvin the numbers business instead, Melvin claims that Nate is trying to "Jew" him out of his money, and a fight breaks out between their bodyguards. Sylvia gives Ben tickets to see

The Famous Flames The Famous Flames were an American Rhythm and blues, Soul vocal group founded in Toccoa, Georgia, in 1953 by Bobby Byrd. James Brown first began his career as a member of the Famous Flames, emerging as the lead singer by the time of their firs ...

in concert. There, Ben and his friend are the only white patrons in the audience. Van and his friends head out to a gathering, where he again runs into Dubbie and learns she is with Trey. Little Melvin spots Nate's car off of Pennsylvania Avenue in the

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American ...

where James Brown is performing, and after seeing Ben and his friend inside, deduces that one of them must be Nate's son. After the concert, Melvin abducts Ben, Sylvia, and their friends in a payback to Nate's racket. Van discovers Trey is in surgery after a car accident. He and Dubbie go see him in Virginia. Trey breaks up with her, and on their way back to Maryland, she suggests they stop in a motel. She gets quite drunk, bursts into tears, and then Van realizes she doesn't really want to be with him. Nate and his associates from the nightclub are charged and booked with

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

and

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and ...

. Before leaving for prison, Nate manages to attend Ben and Sylvia's high school graduation. She is attending

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman rece ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

; he is staying to attend the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

. As they say goodbye, he steals a kiss, shocking both families Ben's family is attending a Jewish ceremony as Nate walks out of the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

and blows a goodbye kiss to his wife.

Cast

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

as Van * Ben Foster as Ben *

Orlando Jones Orlando Jones (born April 10, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is known for being one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series '' MADtv'', for his role as the 7 Up spokesman from 1999 to 2002, and for his role ...

as Little Melvin *

Bebe Neuwirth Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth ( ; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. On television, she played Dr. Lilith Sternin, Frasier Crane's wife, on both the TV sitcom ''Cheers'' (in a starring role) and its spin-off '' ...

as Ada *

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeff ...

as Nate *

Rebekah Johnson Rebecca Johnson, also credited as Rebekah and Rebecca Jordan, is an American singer-songwriter and actress from Ohio. She wrote the song "Beautiful Disaster" for Kelly Clarkson. Rebecca's own music is a mix of pop, jazz, soul, and americana. R ...

as Sylvia * Gerry Rosenthal as Murray *

David Krumholtz David Krumholtz (born May 15, 1978) is an American actor and comedian. He played Mr. Universe in '' Serenity'', Charlie Eppes in the CBS drama series ''Numb3rs'', and starred in the '' Harold & Kumar'' and ''The Santa Clause'' film franchises. ...

as Yussel * Justin Chambers as Trey *

Carolyn Murphy Carolyn Murphy (born August 11, 1974) is an American model and actress. Career In 1998, Murphy was named VH1/''Vogue''s Model of the Year. She played Dubbie in Barry Levinson's film ''Liberty Heights''. She was one of the 'Modern Muses' on the No ...

as Dubbie *

Kevin Sussman Kevin Sussman (born December 4, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He played Walter on the ABC comedy-drama ''Ugly Betty'' and Stuart Bloom on the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. Starting with the sixth season of ''The Big Bang Theo ...

as Alan *

Shane West Shannon Bruce Snaith (born June 10, 1978), better known as Shane West, is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He is known for his portrayal of Eli Sammler in the ABC family drama '' Once and Again'', Landon Carter in '' A Walk to Remembe ...

as Ted *

Anthony Anderson Anthony Anderson (born August 15, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and game show host. He is best known for his leading roles in drama series such as Marlin Boulet on '' K-Ville'', and as NYPD Detective Kevin Bernard on the NBC crime drama ...

as Scribbles * Elizabeth Ann Bennett as Mary * Carlton J. Smith as

Richard Kline Richard Kline (born April 29, 1944) is an American actor and television director. His roles include Larry Dallas on the sitcom '' Three's Company'', Richie in the later seasons of ''It's a Living'' and Jeff Beznick in ''Noah Knows Best''. Early ...

as Charlie, Nate's Assistant *

Vincent Guastaferro Vincent Guastaferro (born April 6, 1950) is an American film, stage and television actor. He is known for playing the recurring role of Sgt. Vincent Agostini in the American police procedural television series '' NYPD Blue''. Born in Jersey ...

as Pete, Nate's Assistant *

James Pickens Jr. James Pickens Jr. (born October 26, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Webber on the ABC medical drama television series ''Grey's Anatomy'', and for his supporting role as Deputy Director Alvin Ke ...

as Sylvia's Father *

Kiersten Warren Kiersten Nicolla Dale Warren is an American actress. Her best known roles include Alex Tabor on '' Saved by the Bell: The College Years'' and Nora Huntington on ''Desperate Housewives''. Life and career Warren is the mother of actress Misti Tra ...

as Annie the Stripper *

Charley Scalies Charley Scalies is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa, one of the stevedores and union members on the second season of HBO's ''The Wire''. He also appeared in Season 5 of ''The Sopranos'' as Coach Molinaro ...

as Louie * Katie Finneran as Mrs. Johnson * Frania Rubinek as Grandma Rose * Evan Neumann as Sheldon (as Evan Neuman) * Cloie Wyatt Taylor as Gail * Ellyn O'Connell as Anne Whittier * Timothy J. Scanlin Jr. as Nick * Jake Hoffman as Turk * Joseph Patrick Abel as Lenny *

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses R&B, pop, soul, dance, and jazz. She has received five Grammy nominations. Lif ...

as Singer *

Misha Collins Dmitri "Misha" Collins "My mom went to Russia when she was in college, and ��she had a boyfriend whose name was Mitya, which she thought was the same as Misha, which it's not. And his real name was Dmitri, so my real name, actually—my birth c ...

as Guy (uncredited) *

Stacy Keibler Stacy Ann-Marie Keibler (born October 14, 1979) is an American retired professional wrestler and actress, former cheerleader, dancer, and model. She is specifically known for her work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling E ...

as Extra (uncredited) ''Liberty Heights'' marked the last appearance of Ralph Tabakin, who appeared in cameo roles in every Levinson movie since his first, ''

''. Tabakin died in 2001.

Reception

The film earned positive reviews from critics, as ''Liberty Heights'' currently holds an 86% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A moving film with moments of humor, ''Liberty Heights'' succeeds in capturing the feel of the 1950s with great performances and sensitive direction." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Soundtrack

Two ''Liberty Heights'' soundtracks were released on January 4, 2000: one of the score by

Andrea Morricone Andrea Morricone (born 10 October 1964) is an Italian composer and conductor, known for his film scores. He is the third child, and second son, of late composer and Academy Award winner Ennio Morricone. He composed the film scores for the Americ ...

and one of the music appearing in the film.

References

External links

Official site

Barry Levinson official site
* * *
Roger Ebert's review
* for the original soundtrack * for the Morricone release {{Barry Levinson 1999 films 1990s coming-of-age comedy-drama films Films set in 1954 Films set in 1955 American coming-of-age comedy-drama films Films directed by Barry Levinson Films set in Baltimore Films shot in Baltimore Jews and Judaism in Baltimore Warner Bros. films Films about brothers 1990s English-language films 1990s American films