For me it was impossible not to compare Liberty Heights with Barry Levinson's previous Baltimore films (Diner, Tin Men, Avalon) and in every way it comes up short. There were just too many aspects of this film that bothered me, again in comparison with the other three films. The subplot, for example, about the local thug "Little Melvin" holding the teens hostage for ransom was ridiculous, especially since nobody seemed very stressed out, and the incident was never reported to the police. Somehow the casting of Montegna and Neuwirth as the parents never rang true. Adrien Brody and Ben Foster as brothers? Didn't seem authentic. Foster and his female "love interest" played by Rebekah Johnson were about the only two mildly interesting characters. I suppose the operative word is "bland", which is not to say someone who has never seen the earlier Baltimore films wouldn't enjoy this.

There's very little reason for anyone younger than a boomer to see "Liberty Heights" (except for those doing historical research on what it was like to grow up in the '50's). The audience coming in after me was all senior citizens. The best part is how music is used to indicate different demographics (though not strictly accurate -- Tom Waits for burlesque? James Brown in 1954 -- shouldn't that have been Little Richard or Jackie Wilson?)While I'm a bit younger than the time portrayed, I grew up near Newark and it seems to have some similarities with Baltimore. I had similar experiences first discovering R & B on the NYC's old WWRL other than, as one character puts it in the film "regular radio," and in general had similar experiences with ethnic and racial de facto segregation (it was my Irish Catholic neighbor from parochial school who introduced me to racy Redd Fox and Moms Mabley records in her basement).Yes, I got carried away because the movie evokes nostalgia rather than cinematic reviews, because that's all it is --- a nostalgia bath.More coming-of-age Jewish princes lusting after schicksas and we do not get the Jewish woman's view point AT ALL. Don't we get enough of that from Woody Allen movies? At least the Jewish Mom is less stereotypical, being Bebe Neuwirth, getting to play a non-Lilith (as in "Frasier") Jewish mother, so she's sexy. Like with "A Walk on the Moon" last year the Yiddishe grandma is very similar to mine, so more nostalgia.It's well done for what it is.(originally written 12/19/1999)

Barry Levinson has the uncanny ability to capture the feeling of what it was really like in Baltimore in that time. The 50's were more of my parents era but I think that they would even agree how true-to-life everything was in comparison to the movie.I may be a little biased when it comes to this movie, because I had a small role in the film and grew up in Baltimore, but I liked it a lot! The story was heart felt and had a gentle, but powerful message about discrimination and the beginnings of a changing society. Everyone should take the time to see this movie and appreciate how far we have all come. You will enjoy it!

This movie is sort of like the concept of the TV show Seinfeld-- it's about nothing. By this I don't mean that it lacks substance, in fact, it has plenty, but I mean rather that it does not involve an intense plot line. It's more like a series of snapshots taken out of one family's album, like a brief recording of one year in their lives. It's as if these people were real, simply going about their lives in their times, and we got to peek in on them, and it is acted in just that way. I think it's very true to director Barry Levinson's vision, a vision that is clear upon viewing his other films that he includes with Liberty Heights as his "Baltimore" films. These include Diner, Avalon, and Tin Men. Because this is not the typical problem arises-conflict ensues-climax is reached-conclusion is found film, Levinson shows us that these people's lives were a series of ups and downs, joys and losses, that summarize American middle-class youth in all ages in history. There connections between the different walks of life and the idea of growing up and discovering diversity around you is what makes this film universal and beautiful, all without handing you morals and themes on a silver platter. This film takes a wonderfully objective viewpoint that allows you to make meaning of it rather than spelling it out for you.