First of all, I must admit I enjoyed this film a great deal, despite a number of problems. It had its strengths and its weaknesses, those being:
STRENGTHS:
1. Director Sidney Lumet.
2. Brooklyn's Crown Heights Neighborhood.
3. Lee Richardson playing the Rebbe.
WEAKNESSES:
1. Melanie Griffith
2. Melanie Griffith
3. Melanie Griffith
Despite the glaring weakness of miscasting Melanie Griffith in the role of Emily Eden, A Stranger Among Us still remains one of the better films I have liked in the last 15 years. I give it the favored status based on the cinematography and the strength of Sidney Lumet's direction in showing the world a side of New York the few people would see otherwise.
While some of the elements of the story are indeed quite fascinating to watch, some of the others are flat-out hard to watch. Jamey Sheridan as her partner that appears only here and there in the film is hard to watch because he is more in lust with her than anything else. Griffith's character (Detective Emily Eden) tries to come across as sympathetic by dying her hair and going undercover to catch the killer, but looks too much like a Cover Girl® model to be convincing as either a Hassidim or as a cop.
There was some good supporting cast around her in the film, but all in all, while I found the film fun to watch for the cultural value, Griffith's performance and especially that of Burtt Harris who plays Emily's loathsomely dysfunctional father, was just not enough to carry the day in this film.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this film a 5/10. ***
STRENGTHS:
1. Director Sidney Lumet.
2. Brooklyn's Crown Heights Neighborhood.
3. Lee Richardson playing the Rebbe.
WEAKNESSES:
1. Melanie Griffith
2. Melanie Griffith
3. Melanie Griffith
Despite the glaring weakness of miscasting Melanie Griffith in the role of Emily Eden, A Stranger Among Us still remains one of the better films I have liked in the last 15 years. I give it the favored status based on the cinematography and the strength of Sidney Lumet's direction in showing the world a side of New York the few people would see otherwise.
While some of the elements of the story are indeed quite fascinating to watch, some of the others are flat-out hard to watch. Jamey Sheridan as her partner that appears only here and there in the film is hard to watch because he is more in lust with her than anything else. Griffith's character (Detective Emily Eden) tries to come across as sympathetic by dying her hair and going undercover to catch the killer, but looks too much like a Cover Girl® model to be convincing as either a Hassidim or as a cop.
There was some good supporting cast around her in the film, but all in all, while I found the film fun to watch for the cultural value, Griffith's performance and especially that of Burtt Harris who plays Emily's loathsomely dysfunctional father, was just not enough to carry the day in this film.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this film a 5/10. ***