 Director: Barry Levinson Studio: TriStar Pictures Genre(s): Drama Rated: PG |
I have always felt Barry Levinson is at his best when he is directing films about characters with complex relationships and lifelong story arcs. "Avalon" (the second of his 'Baltimore Trilogy') follows Jewish immigrants over three generations of families who aim to take advantage of the American dream. When Grandpa Sam Armin Mueller-Stahl) tells his grandkids of the day he first came to America, they roll their eyes and need to remind him that he has shared this story many times before. He responds with surprise; do they not realize how blessed they are to have been born in America?
They don't (nor do many people these days it seems), but his grandson Michael (Elijah Wood) loves him anyway. He loves his grandparents and feels the stories Grandpa Sam tells are some of the best. He hopes that his Grandpa will always live with their family. Alas, times are changing. As more family members come to America they start to discover that they want different things. The rules of their old world don't make sense in a land where opportunity is abundant and independence is a highly valued trait (also: women are allowed to drive, much to the disapproval of certain mother-in-laws).
Like his previous Baltimore film "Diner," "Avalon" shines when it studies the characters in the movie as they live their life and seem oblivious to the changes of the world around them. They are so consumed with their own problems that they don't even realize when the evening TV programs replace the more traditional family dinners. What is great and wonderful about America one day can become a burden the next, with few ways to truly prepare for such events. This is a movie that may love what America stands for but is pragmatic to know that there are still issues when the honeymoon phase is over.
Some may mistake "Avalon" as a love letter to America when in reality it is a love letter to what makes America special: the family and communities. The ideas and the dreams. The possibilities and the disappointments. "Avalon" is a mostly positive look at what makes America such a great country, while still acknowledging that she will disappoint from time to time and the best we can do is ride the roller coaster as long as we can before life catches up to us and says "it's time to go, son."
 |
Comments
Post a Comment