A Stranger Among Us
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Movie Reviews of A Stranger Among Us
Movie Review: Stranger in a Strange Land
Summary: 4 Stars
The film is played to emphasize the culture clash between Hasidic Jewish culture and familiar modern America with it's lose of family and structure--unfortunately at the expense of believable plot at times. New York cop Emily Eden (Melanie Griffith) showing up to speak to a Hasidic Jewish Rabbi in a short skirt seems hardly likely. Nor is she a believable cast as a hardboiled cop with a policeman dad who has trouble showing affection, but it is perhaps just that lost quality that actually adds to the impact of the movie as Emily finds a sense of direction in her own life while losing her heart to a Hasidic Jew, Ariel (Eric Thal) in a doomed romance that will leave her a better person.
Movie Review: Stranger Among Us
Summary: 4 Stars
I received the movie in a timely matter, pretty fast actually. I really enjoy this movie.
Thank you so much for the immediate response and delivery. I would order again.
Sincerely,
Mona Ghaffari
Movie Review: "What's New & Exciting?"
Summary: 3 Stars
Melanie Griffith is an underrated actress. She shows emotions well with her eyes & facial expressions. I give her credit for attempting a different kind of role in 1992. I imagine this was considered "career growth" in her opinion, knowing she could not play the ingenue, hooker, bimbo, Goth-girl forever. So I don't see her miscast as a cop at that point in her career. This film tries to be many things at once & has some loose ends. Initially, one would think this is a love story, but it really isn't. Emily (Griffith) & Ariel (Eric Thal) look at each other alot but there aren't many sparks flying. As a police drama it falls short there too, because we don't see Emily doing much investigating, just living among the Hasidic Jews & getting a feel & appreciation for their lifestyle. The depiction of the Hasidic Jews, shot in sepia tones, may be inaccurate at times but I feel it's the film's strongest point. The characters also tend to be too stereotyped. Emily's father appears to be an Irish alcoholic, the gangsters (James Gandolfini & Chris Latta) are Italian. Det. Levine (John Pankow)is an anti-semitic Jew calling the Hasidic Jews "an embarrassment" while showing ignorance of their customs, & the rebbe sounds like he's doing an impersonation of Jackie Mason. I also think the scene when Emily first arrives in their neighborhood while "Fiddler On The Roof" type music plays on the soundtrack is a bit over-the-top. She also seems in awe of the area which is farfetched since she's a New York cop who must have driven through it more than once. As for the loose ends, we never find out who helped the killer & assisted her to place the body where it was found, & was Emily really at the wedding or just "in spirit"? Also, when Emily realizes who the killer really is, it just seemed like an afterthought to the love story that never materialized. I still recommend this movie because it has Melanie Griffth & shows a culture that is not often depicted in films.Movie Review: Casting boo boo by the name of Melanie Griffith
Summary: 3 Stars
This is an interesting film, especially for a cop flick, because it is more character-based than stereotypical Hollywood (car chases, gratuitous violence and shooting, big muscles, etc). And the role of Emily is a perfect multidimensional character-centered role. Not something you saw a lot of in mainstream Hollywood flicks prior to about the mid-1990's. However, Melanie Griffith is not appropriate for such a role. A fluffy comedic actor like Griffith only makes such a role appear melodramatic and overbearing. It's like using a meat cleaver to perform intricate brain surgery. This is not to say that Griffith is a bad actor (at least not for fluffy comedy), or that she couldn't master the subtlies of this type of acting some day; after all, look what Sylvester Stallone did in Cop Land (and if he can do it, anyone can do it). But she obviously failed in her role in this film.
The rest of the characters are also compellingly multidimensional, except, oddly enough, for who turns out to be the murderer.
I liked the film's positive multicultural flavor; what I also liked about the film was that it was made around the time that Hollywood started tayloring film's endings based on preferences of test audiences (around 1992), but this film's ending was obviously spared such a fate. The ending is cool, because it is realistic and shows Ariel's integrity--which I think was a graceful way to end things.
Movie Review: Strangers!!!!!!
Summary: 3 Stars
My sister gave me this movie for my birthday. I liked it at first, maybe because I didnt understood the meaning of the movie, maybe I didnt understood the message. But after watching the movie again, I learn many things and Melanie Griffth was good, she could have been better, because I have seen her in other movies and she is an Inteligent Actress. And Eric Thal, I have never seen such an interesting actor. His emotions regarding His Besherta, was something I kept asking my self. What is that?, then Melanie (Emily) --> says at the end that she is waiting for her Beshert. WOW, I finaly understood that after all the crazy things she had done in her life, and in the crazy family she grew up in to, she finaly was not going to settle for less, she now wanted Her Beshert, Her Soulmate...!!! If you pass thru the movie, and understand the Message, then you will like it, maybe Love it. :-)