brabonjak brabo
It was like watching 30 Woody Allens frantically talking at the same time. At some moments a bit overwhelming but, all in all a good movie, also reminds me on Woody Allen's "Radio days". America, when the american dream was still a thing people believed in.
evanston_dad
Typical Barry Levinson, which means safe, tasteful, lacklustre and fairly dull.An episodic journey across several generations of an immigrant family seeking the American dream. There's lots of syrupy music meant to invoke a vague nostalgia. There are any number of shots clearly intended to impress us with their iconic imagery (like the one shown on the film's poster). It's certainly a quality film, but not one for which I can muster up much enthusiasm.I must not be the target audience for Barry Levinson movies, because I feel the same way about all of them.Grade: B
taterdickens
What a great film of an immigrant family in America and the changes that take place over generations. This is Levinson's account of his family in his beloved Baltimore. This was a time in America when extended families were the norm and the holidays that unified them. Points up the intrusion of technology (television) in putting distant between people. The film is told in a loving manner and speaks to a time in America that has long disappeared in conjunction with the country's flight from the inner city to the suburbs. Good ensemble cast and Randy Newman's score is great. Don't miss this under-appreciated feel-good movie!
numberone_1
I have shown this movie in entry-level college geography classes, as it is first of all a fine film, but second because it so clearly illustrates concepts of acculturation, assimilation and the American "melting pot." The story certainly could be told, and re-told, from a number of other perspectives (i.e., another city, another ethnicity, even a different starting decade), but despite its length, Avalon captures so much of a way of life in our country that has eroded throughout time. College freshmen, on the whole, seem to really enjoy this film, and papers that I ask them to write on it have been thoughtful and provocative.The story is multi-generational, and centers on an immigrant arriving in Baltimore, MD in the early 1900s. It then traces his life forward through the generations, all the while noting how the impact of being in a new country changes him and his descendants. The cast does a fine job, Levinson's direction is superb, but pay attention to subtle nuances! This is one of those films that I can pick up something different every time I watch it.Highly recommended.
AD
