Crown Heights
by Jeremy Kagan
Our Price: $9.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Colm Magner, Jeremy Blackman, Jonathan Goldapple, Joseph Pierre, Liza BalkanDirector: Jeremy Kagan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-24
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Showtime Ent.
Movie Reviews of Crown Heights
Movie Review: NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET...
Summary: 3 Stars
In August of 1991, Gavin Cato, a black seven year old boy, was hit and killed by a car driven by a Hassidic man in the racially polarized neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Consequently, racial tensions bubbled over and riots broke out in that community over the incident, with looting and violence rampant. An Australian Hassidic man, having nothing to do with the car accident, was then stabbed to death in retaliation by Lemrick Nelson, a black man from the community. Animosity has always run high between Blacks and Hassidim in that Crown Heights community, the two groups that live side by side in Crown Heights, and it just took a tragic accident to have that cauldron of hatred bubble over into murder and mayhem.
This film is not about the incident that caused all hell to break loose. Based upon actual people and events, it is about the way that peacemakers in each of the two groups tried a joint grass roots approach to giving peace a chance. They reached out to male youths on both sides of the great divide. Their goal was to create cultural awareness and understanding through dialogue, music, and basketball games in hopes of bridging the chasm that existed between these two groups. Although the Hassidim and Blacks had lived side by side with each other for some time in Crown Heights, there was little mutual understanding and virtually no social interaction.
David Lazerson (Howie Mandel), author of "Switchblades and Skullcaps" and a member of the Hassidic community, is contacted by an emissary of the renowned Rebbe Schneerson of the Lubavitcher sect and asked to reach out to the Black community in the spirit of reconciliation. He agrees and reaches out to local Black activist and youth counselor, Richard Green (Mario Van Peebles). They join forces to try and maintain the peace and bridge some understanding between the two groups. They establishe Project Cure, a group comprised of both Black and Hassidic male youths. The film focuses on two of those youths, TJ (De Quan Henderson) and Yudi (Jeremy Blackman), and after a rocky start, an unexpected friendship forms between them. While some progress was made by Project Cure, the reality of Crown Heights today is that never the twain shall meet.
This is not one of Showtime's best films. It is a self-conscious effort at best. Howie Mandel's performance is embarrassing, and the viewer can spot his fake beard a mile away. Mario Van Peebles, however, gives a good performance, as does De Quan Henderson. It is Jeremy Blackman, however, who gives the standout performance in this film. Unfortunately, Jeremy Kagan's heavy-handed direction results in a film so obviously preachy that it falls a bit flat, short of its intended mark.
Drama DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Drama DVD Video
Lost - The Complete Fourth SeasonBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $38.99
Price in other shops:
P.S. I Love YouWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-05-06; DVD
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Fourth SeasonBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2008-09-09; DVD
Best price: $38.99
Price in other shops:
The Other Boleyn GirlSony; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
The Wire - The Complete Fifth SeasonWarner Brothers; Release date: 2008-08-12; DVD
Best price: $38.99
Price in other shops:
Bones - The Complete Second SeasonTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-09-11; DVD
Best price: $24.00
Price in other shops:
Dexter - The Complete Second SeasonPARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-08-19; DVD
Best price: $25.99
Price in other shops:
House, M.D. - Season FourRelease date: 2008-08-19; DVD
Best price: $38.99
Price in other shops:
Mad Men - Season OneLION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT; Release date: 2008-07-01; DVD
Best price: $29.93
Price in other shops:
John Adams (HBO Miniseries)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-06-10; DVD
Best price: $32.91
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Chutzpah - Chutzpah, This Is ?Release date: 2005-11-22; DVD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
The Golem (Restored Authorized edition)Release date: 2002-09-24; DVD
Best price: $11.20
Price in other shops:
Broken WingsRelease date: 2004-07-20; DVD
Best price: $6.42
Price in other shops:
A Kid for Two FarthingsRelease date: 2003-10-21; DVD
Best price: $9.48
Price in other shops:
The ChosenRelease date: 2003-09-02; DVD
Price in other shops:
Walk on WaterRelease date: 2005-08-30; DVD
Best price: $6.47
Price in other shops:
The Jewish AmericansPARAMOUNT PICTURES; Release date: 2008-02-05; DVD
Best price: $18.86
Price in other shops:
The Grey ZoneRelease date: 2003-03-18; DVD
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops:
Keeping Up With the SteinsBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2006-10-31; DVD
Best price: $7.92
Price in other shops:
UshpizinWarner Brothers; Release date: 2006-04-04; DVD
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops: