A Stranger Among Us (1992) User Reviews

In a Different World

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 20 February 2015]

In New York, Detective Emily Eden (Melanie Griffith) is a tough detective and daughter of a former cop. When her partner Nick (Jamey Sheridan) is stabbed during an arrest of two drug dealers, Emily is assigned to a case of missing person, Yaakov Klausman, in a Hasidic community. However she discovers that Yaakov, who worked cutting diamonds, was murdered. Emily concludes that Yaakov knew the killer and asks the rebbe (Lee Richardson) permission to work undercover in the community. The rebbe brings Emily to his home and his stepdaughter Leah (Mia Sara) and his stepson Ariel (Eric Thal) help her to know people in the community and understand their habits and rules. Emily works in a department store with Leah, Ariel and Yaakov's fiancée Mara (Tracy Pollan), who was former drug addicted embraced by Yaakov and the rebbe, and her partner Levine (John Pankow) gives support to her. Meanwhile Emily falls in unrequited love with Ariel. When the gangsters Tony Baldessari (James Gandolfini) and Chris Baldessari (Chris Collins) threaten the group to sell protection to them, Emily believes she has resolved the case. But soon she has a discussion with Ariel and she concludes that the killer is another person from the community.

"A Stranger Among Us" is an underrated movie that entwined crime, drama and romance. The story is well constructed, disclosing a totally different society in the Twentieth Century in New York City. Most of the bad reviews of the critics are based on the similarities of this movie with 1985 "Witness", but anyway "A Stranger Among Us" is an engaging film. The first time I saw this movie in the 90's, I did not understand how and independent woman like Emily Eden could fall in love with Ariel, but this time I have understood her need of fraternal love. This movie is basically the debut of James Gandolfini. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Uma Estranha Entre Nós" ("A Stranger Among Us")

Interesting Look At Hassidic Way Of Life

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 13 April 2006]

Here's a very low-key movie that centers around Hassidic Jews and their lifestyles, similar to what "Witness" was with the Amish people. I found it to be interesting look at the Hassidic way of life.

The first half of the film is much better than the second half, or this would rated higher. It has two big things going for it: wonderful golden-hued cinematography and not much gratuitous sex and profanity. It's probably too low-key, at least in that second half which needed more suspense and action to be a better-liked and known film.

Despite being difficult believing the soft-spoken Melanie Griffith as a tough NYC cop, she still does an excellent job in the lead role and Eric Thai, ditto, as the romantic interest. There are a few disappointments in the last part of the film but the very ending is good and surprised me.

Go ahead cheat a little.. I won't tell

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 12 December 2004]

After being involved in a shoot-out at a mid-town Manhattan movie house where her partner Nick,Jamey Sheridan, was stabbed and sent to the hospital and the perpetrator shot and killed New York Police Detective Emily Eden, Madaline Griffith, after being cleared of using unnecessary force is put on light duty on a missing person case in the Brooklyn Hasidic community.

Yaakov Klausman, Jake Webber, hasn't been see or heard from since he went to his office in the diamond district in mid-town Manhattan and also missing is the $720,000.00 in uncut diamonds that he had with him at the time. Det. Eden is certain that Yaakov didn't steal the diamonds and left the country. Yaakov's very honest and he's also about to get married to a beautiful Hasidic young woman Mara, Tracy Pollan.He also has no history of gambling and doing things that would drive him to commit a robbery to pay off Mafia loan sharks or neighborhood Shylock's.

The fact that Yaakov was at his office that night was that he fell far behind in his work as he was preparing to get married to Mara and needed the time to catch up with his work and finish it before he's married. Emily feels that Yaakov was robbed by someone in the Hassidic community that he knew and trusted and even worse she feels that he may very well have been murdered. Some time later Emily proves to be sadly right in her assumptions when Yaakov is found dead in a crawl space in his office. What was a simple missing person case grew into a murder and robbery of over $700,000.00 in diamonds. Even worse for the family and friends of Yaakov as well as the entire Hasidic community that he lived in is that the killer may very well have been one of their own.

The movie "A Stranger Among Us" is very much like the 1985 Harrison Ford film "Witness" and has been criticized by many people for ripping off that film even though "Witness" ripped off the John Wayne Western "Angel and the Badman" that was made back in 1947. Still nobody made a big deal about that when the movie was released some 38 years later. In fact the movie "A Stranger Among Us" is obviously based on a true story, even though for some strange reason it doesn't take any credit for it: The 1977 Yom Kipper eve murder and robbery of Brooklyn diamond broker Pinchos Jaroslawicz by fellow jewelry dealer Sholomo Tal of over $1,000,000.00 in diamonds. Tal was someone whom Jaroslawicz dealt with and trusted for some time. The only difference is that in the movie the killer of Yaakov Klushman was a Hasid but the real killer of Jaroslawicz was an non religious Israeli Jew as well as a former member of the elite Israeli Army Commandos.

Madeline Griffith is very effective as an undercover policewoman in the Hasidic community trying to track down a killer but she had trouble with the people there because they felt that no Hasid would murder one of their own. It's only later that they find out that there's bad among all men and women no matter how law abiding their supposed to be.

Even though Madiline Griffith was the star of the movie it was really actor Eric Thal who played the grand Rebe's, Lee Richardson, adopted son Ariel who stole, figuratively not literally, the acting honors in the film. Quiet and humble as well as sensitive and courageous he saved both Emily and his sister Leah, Mia Sara,from the killer by shooting the killer, with Emily's handgun. After he told the murderer to just leave his sister and Emily alone and leave and he wouldn't do anything to stop the killer from escaping.

There was also a number of very funny ,as well as touching, scenes between Emily and Ariel where in one of them Ariel is alone with Emily and tries to keep from falling in love with her, which you can see that he's doing. Emily plays on his steadfast religious convictions by exposing her legs and offering him an éclair which Ariel refuses telling Emily that it isn't kosher. There's also a scene where Ariel for the first time, when he's with Emily, watches a movie on TV that's a 1930's musical with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and is really touched and impressed with the movie. Even though he has no idea who Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are.

There's also a very young James Grandoifini who plays Tony in the "The Sopranos" playing, what else, a Mafia protection enforcer named Tony Baldessari together with his hulking brother Chris, the late Chris Latta. In the end Emily turned out to be right about who murdered Yaakov but even she had no idea just how close the killer was to him and his family.

Can't understand comments

[robfwoods · 22 February 2004]

Most comments refer to this as some kind of Witness rip-off. Sorry - just don't agree. Going 'undercover' in another culture was not patented by Witness. The parallels are just not there - so who was the 'Witness, in SAU? That's just one question. Then again if one has only 5 pigeon holes (or less) to file films into - then go ahead.

MG was just fine in the film - her voice is always going to be with her - and she's made it through 100 roles already with it.

The portrayal of the Hassidim was surely an education for many.

The 'background filming' was good - even as a born New Yorker - got to see some new 'shots'

The plot was there - but jumpy - I doubt very many predicted the killers - but did wonder why accomplices not revealed.

Sure there were inconsistencies and illogical stuff - but not any more than the bloody Crichton films which most of the time require you have to forget you have a brain - yet take themselves VERY seriously. SAU was not written as a documentary - it's overall flow was there - AND very much enjoyable.

"What's New & Exciting?"

[Blooeyz2001 · 7/10 · 4 December 2004]

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 ingénue, 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 a lot 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 far-fetched 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.

One of Griffith's best performances ever and a lovely, heartbreaking story, too

[inkblot11 · 7/10 · 10 December 2007]

Emily (Melanie Griffith) is a tough New York City detective. As she also parties hearty, at times, her personal life is somewhat of a shambles. One day, she is accused of using a weapon too hastily and not calling for back-up, charges that are cleared soon after. But, once back on duty, she is given a far-from-meaty case, one that concerns a missing Jewish man, to keep her out of trouble. Reluctantly, she agrees. But, when she begins questioning the members of the strict, Hasidic sect in the diamond district, she soon realizes that she will not be able to find the missing man unless she becomes part of the sect herself. Therefore, she moves into the rabbi's house, changing her appearance to that of a conservative, modest woman and begins to look for clues. Her new friends in the community include handsome Ariel (Eric Thal), who is destined to become the new rabbi, unmarried-but- looking-for-a-good-husband Leah (Mia Sara), who is kind and understanding, and Mara (Tracy Pollan), who was engaged to the missing man. Can Emily find out the truth? This is a lovely film about the Hasidic community, mostly. After seeing the movie, one can not help to admire the sect's abhorrence for violence and it's fine family values. (But, one might want to view the film A Price Above Rubies for an alternate look). Griffith gives a terrific performance as Emily, a role which requires her to be a tough-as-nails cop AND a caring woman at the same time. The rest of the cast, including Thal, Sara, Pollan, and others, is top-notch, too. The recreation of the Hasidic world, through costumes, sets, and embellishments, is beyond beautiful. Then, too, the script is imaginative and gives the viewer a glimpse into a "closed society" that most will never see. Definitely, do not be a stranger to this film. Instead, look for it tonight, for a rewarding evening of diversion awaits all who do.

Oy Vey!

[SFTVLGUY2 · 4/10 · 28 January 2005]

Director Sidney Lumet is no hack - his resume includes classics such as "The Pawnbroker," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," and "Network." But every artist is entitled to the occasional misstep, and at least "A Stranger Among Us" is more an interesting failure than the outright disaster "The Wiz" was.

Lumet is dealing with a number of problems here, first and foremost among them a meandering script that can't quite decide what its main storyline should be. Ostensibly a crime drama centering on the murder of a merchant in Manhattan's diamond district (the stretch of 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues), it persists in wandering off in two other directions - Brooklyn's Hassidim community and its age-old traditions, and the threat of forbidden love between one of its members and the detective assigned to the case. While the scenes involving the religious rituals and customs add nothing to the plot, they at least are interesting and informative about a culture foreign to most viewers. Less compelling are those moments involving Ariel and Emily of the NYPD, since their interest in each other strains credulity, not only because their backgrounds make it unlikely, but due to the lack of any chemistry between Eric Thal and Melanie Griffith.

Griffith is Lumet's other major problem here. No doubt she was cast because at the time she was still Hollywood's flavor-of-the-month, but we are asked to suspend disbelief and accept her not only as a New York police officer, but as one who would be selected to go undercover and infiltrate the Jewish community and live with them as one of their own. Dying her blonde locks brown does nothing to make Griffith less the "shiksa" (Gentile woman) than she obviously is, and it's unlikely anyone in Crown Heights would have mistaken her for anything but. Yet - oddly enough - although plainly she's out of her element, the fish-out-of-water aspects of the story just don't work.

By the time whodunit is revealed, you may not care who was responsible for the nearly-forgotten crime lost in a jumble of sub-plots - but give it a moment or two of thought and you'll wonder how the victim's body could have been hidden where it was by the person implausibly identified as the killer. It's a plot twist that just isn't quite - forgive the pun - kosher.

The actors cast as the elder Jews and the atmosphere in which they live and worship add an air of authenticity that's missing from any of the scenes involving police procedures. Lee Richardson is impressive as the rebbe who, despite his misgivings, must welcome the street-smart female cop into his home. John Pankow, Mia Sara, and Jamey Sheridan do well in their small supporting roles, and James Gandolfini makes an appearance as a thug in a foreshadowing of his career as Tony Soprano, but Eric Thal is saddled with the almost impossible task of making us believe he would forsake his strong religious beliefs and dedication to Kabbalah for the hard-talking, gun-toting Griffith.

Despite its many flaws, "A Stranger Among Us" is one of those films that makes a long flight, rainy day, or dateless Friday night easier to endure. As a Lumet credit, it's a far cry from "Serpico," but a hell of a lot better than "The Wiz."

We liked it too.

[films42 · 7/10 · 3 March 2002]

Critics & message board participants have been very hard on this film, but it deserves a look. It starts out feeling derivative, but gains its warmth from its genuine affection for Hasidic traditions -- immeasurably aided by the soundtrack (by Jerry Bock, composer of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF).

Griffith is touching as the undercover "police-person" working overtime to protect her shell -- it's precisely because she looks and sounds so soft that her attempts to act hard work. Just like in WORKING GIRL, she's determined to defy the way we all (audience members as well as fellow characters) stereotype her, in order to be taken seriously & on her own terms. You go, girl!

Melanie goes undercover

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 9 August 2017]

I do love Sidney Lumet and most of the films he's done in his storied career. Even in A Stranger Among Us his love for his city of New York shines through. And he's Jewish which should have told him that this was a script to stay away from.

Melanie Griffith stars as a New York City homicide cop who catches the case of a young Hassidic man who works in the diamond district as many do stabbed to death. His occupation could have been the cause of his demise or it might be more personal.

In any event she decides to go live in Williamsburg among the Hassidic Jews the better to catch the killer. While there she develops sexual heat with Eric Thal, son of the Grand Rebbe in the sect. In a reverse of those old Doris Day and Sandra Dee roles it's the man zealously guarding his virtue. He's the planned successor and no Shiksa is going to disrupt that.

I'm sorry there's no way on God's green earth that the Hassidim would have cooperated with a female and a non-Jew in an investigation of anything. They're that insular and Sidney Lumet knew that.

Only the most ignorant of Goyim will buy for a second A Stranger Among Us.

So-so but worth watching

[MountainMan · 6/10 · 1 February 2003]

I won't spend too much time commenting on this movie, since the plot was very predictable with no surprises, but at least Melanie Griffith had the magnetism to make the movie work. I'm sure that any detectives or hasidics out there that watched this movie found it somewhat amusing, but I found it entertaining, none-the-less. I give it 6/10.

Poorly acted with worse writing and preposterous situations

[aromatic-2 · 2/10 · 20 April 2001]

Melanie Griffith is horribly miscast and would fool not one Hacedic Jew in Crown Heights with her undercover role. Tracy Pollan deserves a special Golden Turkey for the single worst supporting performance in a pivotal role in a drama. She single-handedly ruins any credibility the film might have ever had. The "oh-now-I'm really-beginning -to-appreciate-the-beauty-of-the Hacedic-culture scenes" are forced and contrived, especially the big family meal. John Pankow delivers the movie's most interesting performance in a thankless role.

An introduction to real life

[cedarcross · 8/10 · 13 September 2006]

Technically a mystery, the real focus was on the movement of Griffith from an OK life toward a real life. While she enjoyed being a cop and having a good partner, one quietly becomes aware of how shallow and lonely her life really is. No friends, no supportive family, no grounding, and certainly no joy.

Her immersion into a vibrant religious community slowly opens her eyes. The scene of the joy filled celebration of Sabbath is beautifully well done. Being treated as a daughter by the Rebbe who also understood what it meant to deal with evil as much as she did was key. That she is attracted to a handsome man is secondary to her attraction to what he represented - integrity, knowing who he was, using a range of natural and developed gifts, being an integral part of a supportive community, and finding joy within a chosen structure.

There is one rather violent scene, and the language while accurate, is questionable for all family members.

Better than most... but not perfect

[chaimss · 7/10 · 5 August 2007]

Although this movie does a more accurate job of portraying us religious Jew than most others do (such as "Yentl" and "The Chosen"), it's not perfect. Many facets of Jewish life can be culled from this, but if something seems too ridiculous to be true, it probably is. Then again, many things may seem out-of-place if you're unfamiliar with religious Jews, so that might not be true. Suffice it to say that religious Jews, especially Chasidim, hold a lot more strongly to their morals than the movie portrays. Aside from that, and some very un-Chasidish-like conversations that go on, it wasn't a bad two hours. So if you already know about the basics, go ahead. The story is interesting, although parental discretion (and possible editing) is advised.

How does something like this even happen?

[theskulI42 · 3/10 · 28 July 2008]

Yet another from the jokily hypothetical: Have you ever been watching Witness and thought, This film would be so much better if Harrison Ford was a ditzy blonde with no concept of respect, restraint or modesty? Plus, why can't they be Jews? That whole 'no technology' thing is SOOO boring." Well, I wasn't that big a fan of Witness, but it's a masterpiece compared to the awkward and frequently blisteringly stupid A Stranger Among Us. Here, the aforementioned ditzy blonde is cop Melanie Griffith, who we are introduced to in an early scene where a crime is committed, so she whips out her standard-issue and busts a cap in his ass. She gets scolded for this, but it's no skin of her back, as she's got bigger fish to try: She's gonna move in with some Hasidic Jews after she suspects someone close in the murder of one of their own (in a corpse reveal scene so hilariously obvious I think my 8-year-old niece could have found it).

Melanie Griffith is among the dumbest, most obnoxious characters I've seen in some time. I think we're supposed to find her some sort of charming 'free spirit', but really, she's closer to "incredibly rude and uncouth". Being possibly the most unbelievable law enforcement professional in film history, she is not only trigger-happy and scantily-dressed, but curses in front of Jewish elders and continually hits on most of the Hasidic men in her, chief among them reasonable and calm Ariel (Eric Thal). Not to mention the most ridiculous facts that in-between being liberally foul-mouthed, her dialogue about more pressing matters is stilted and verbose in the most cringeworthy sense, and her climactic speech that ties up every loose end in some gloriously vast leaps of logic.

As we find out more about her and more about the Hasidic people she is supposed to be entering a living arrangement with, the more and more reasonable they look despite the film's insistences, filmic style and musical cues instructing us that these are simplistic, ignorant people set in their simplistic, ignorant ways, and aren't they cute. For example, I understand that women being viable members of the workforce is a wonderful thing for equality, but not every woman wants to be a working woman, and the fact that both Griffith and the film seemingly recoil in abject horror at the very thought of woman-as-housewife speaks to the film's baffling ignorance.

As mentioned, Griffith is stunningly terrible, as is the script. The rest of the cast isn't given much more to do. Thal is appropriately stoic throughout most of the film, but that skill betrays him when his big emotional scene comes and he proves himself not up to the task. Tracy Pollan plays the suspicious stepdaughter to Lee Richardson, and James Gandolfini, Chris Latta and Jake Weber her 'old friends' from back 'round the way. None of them makes much of an impact, and the only person to even garner a passing grade is the adorable Mia Sara (y'know, Ferris's girlfriend), who somehow manages to maintain a beauty, intelligence, and gentle grace despite the film's apparent contempt for her lifestyle.

I am now twenty-three films through my epic Sidney Lumet quest, and I can honestly say I have absolutely no grasp on Lumet as a director. It seems inconceivable that the same man that produced Twelve Angry Men, Network, Dog Day Afternoon, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Murder on th Orient Express and Fail-Safe could produce something like A Stranger Among Us. I understand that every producer of art and media can sometimes make missteps, but this production is so flawed from its very core and goes about its business in such an offensively patronizing manner that I am unable to even fathom what he could possibly have been thinking.

This film is commonly sighted as one of Lumet's failures, along with the following year's Guilty as Sin. But at least that mess had a trashy charm about it (It stars Don Johnson and Rebecca De Mornay for chrissake!) This has no such thing. It's nearly an hour and a half shorter than Long Day's Journey Into Night, so it certainly won't wrestle away the title of Worst Lumet Film, but this colossal, fundamental misstep depresses me with how close it comes.

{Grade: 3.75 (C-/D+) / #31 (of 31) of 1992}

Melanie vented.

[sopfphieanna · 4 December 2021]

When watching it, it was kinda sus, ngl.

No cap, i believe i saw one of the characters vented, and when the emergency meeting was called, there was only one stranger among us.

awful Melanie Griffith performance

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 25 April 2015]

Detective Emily Eden (Melanie Griffith) is an aggressive NYPD detective. Her partner Nick gets shot. She is assigned to find a missing Hasidic Jew named Yaakov. She discovers that he's been killed and $720k of diamonds are missing. She thinks it's an inside job and goes undercover in the community with the help of the rebbe's adopted son (Eric Thal) and daughter Leah (Mia Sara). Mara (Tracy Pollan) is Yaakov's widow.

Melanie Griffith is horrible as the tough as nail cop. She is laughable at the role. Then she goes into the conservative Jewish world like a bull in a china shop. It's an interesting world but it's treated with a heavy hand by Griffith's flirtatious character. Director Sidney Lumet has the wrong leading lady and it's too broadly written anyways. I'm sure a modern policewoman undercover in the Hasidic world could be interesting but Griffith is not doing it right.

Sidney, we expect better from you

[mfisher452 · 2/10 · 23 May 2004]

(SPOILERS) Earlier reviewers have focused on this film as a rip-off of 'Witness.' But let's take it on its own terms.

A Chasidic diamond dealer, Yaakov Klausman, is reported missing. A cynical, assertive NYC cop, Emily (Melanie Griffith), is assigned to investigate. Right away it's annoying: The 'Jewish' scenes are filmed in deep, reverential browns, through diffusion filters that make candles glow as in some Christian epic. The 'Gentile' scenes have flat, harsh blues and yellows. Emily's freewheeling, liberated attitude startles the Chasidim, who are portrayed as gentle, profound, contemplative and unworldly. In fact, whatever Chasidim are like among themselves, with non-Chasidim they can be notoriously brash, abrasive, rejecting, withdrawn, suspicious, and clannish. Emily sees a bloodstain on the drop ceiling in the diamond store that everyone else has conveniently missed. Oops! There is Yaakov's corpse, crammed into the crawl space. (I guess Chasidic corpses don't start to smell after a couple of days like the rest of us.) Emily then decides she must live among the Chasidim to learn about their community, to prevent further murders, because the murder looked like an inside job, a possibility considered unthinkable by the Jews. Both the Chasidim and her bosses readily accept this implausible idea because it's the only way to advance the plot. The Rebbe (the patriarch and leader of this Chasidic community) and his two adopted adult children take Emily into their home and view her in a generous, accepting light. Oops again: These are Chasidim, who would be most likely to view her with utter disdain. There are several conversations between Emily that provide necessary exposition, in which the Rebbe comes across as a kindly, understanding old man. In fact, he would be more likely not to speak to her at all because she is a woman not related to him! And Emily's boss doesn't seem too bright to accept her plan so uncritically and also to form a small team to back her up!

The film then takes Emily on a voyage of discovery of Chasidism. There are wonderful images of Chasidic life, but again, it stretches credulity to think that an outsider would be permitted to see them, even if she is an undercover cop working on a murder. This part feels like weeks, but surprise, it's only a few days. Emily makes friends with the Rebbe's daughter Leah, played by (the very Italian) Mia Sara (obviously owing to the scarcity of Jewish actresses in America). Of course, romance rears its head in the person of Leah's brother Ariel, played by Eric Thal. Griffith is eight years older than Thal and looks it, which is distracting. Emily and Ariel are powerfully attracted to one another, but never for a moment is their attraction believable, either as characters or actors. Ariel was Yaakov's best friend, a brilliant scholar who is being groomed as the Rebbe's successor, and also the future bridegroom in a just-arranged marriage to the daughter of a rabbi in Paris. Emily's reacts with incredible naiveté about arranged marriages. No one is that ignorant. She also meets Mara (Tracy Pollan), Yaakov's fiancée, who tells Emily about her (Mara's) sordid past and how Yaakov found her, took her in, and later proposed to her. Here are two more implausibles: That Yaakov would do this at all with an outsider, and that Emily is transformed by her exposure to the Chasidim into a more reserved, more profound soul in a matter of days.

In the daytime, Emily works undercover in the diamond store where Yaakov was murdered. Suspicion falls on two stereotypical Italian mobsters from the Baldessari family (one is James Gandolfini with hair). They show up a few days after Emily goes undercover and try to force a protection racket on the store. The Jews are given a week to decide. Of course, it's all been caught on film and tape. When the mobsters come back, they are arrested for extortion and conspiracy; and when one of Yaakov's diamond bags is discovered in Baldessari's coat, for suspicion of murder. The mobsters make a break for it, a violent chase sequence ensues, and Emily single-handedly takes them out. Just before he dies, Baldessari tells Emily that they didn't kill Yaakov. Emily's cover is blown after the very public chase, and the case is supposedly closed. But, in a too-neat little scene, Emily realizes that the only plausible suspect is Mara. She is correct, the climactic confrontation ensues, and Ariel winds up shooting Mara to save Leah's life. (Right.) As an anticlimax, we meet Ariel's betrothed, played by the 24-year-old Rena Sofer. We are distracted by her beauty and then distracted from that by her ludicrously bogus French accent.

Reviewers of 'Witness,' which with this film is most often contrasted, have pointed out the numerous goofs in that film, details that make those familiar with Pennsylvania Dutch culture howl. Same here: While this film contains fascinating, evocative scenes of Chasidic life that most people would never see in person, it is an inferior film that is full of improbable plot elements, cultural blunders, characters who are mostly mere sketches, and mostly pedestrian cinematography. As a Jew, Sidney Lumet should have been more sensitive to how badly this script trampled on accuracy in the name of cinema. We expect better from the director who gave us Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network and Prince of the City.

Potentially, a good film

[artzau · 5/10 · 6 December 2008]

Great story. Nice plot line but the whole thing falls on its butt because of Melanie Griffith's weak acting. Truth is, she's a beautiful woman with a fine china fragility but simple doesn't know how to create another persona using her body, her voice or timing. Eric Thal comes across nicely as a young Haddic rabbinical student steeped in tradition and torn by the feelings that any young male would feel in the presence of someone as sexual attractive Melanie Griffith. The writing is fine and yes, it does repeat the story line of Harrison Ford's Witness. So what? They were both good stories about marginalized communities within our great society, one rural (the Amish) and one urban (The Haddidim). In both films, the internal richness of the social bonding within these closed communities is shown in contrast to the helter-skelter on and off relationships in our self-confessed "liberated" society.

It's too bad that Melanie Griffith, whose films I keep going to see in hopes she will eventually learn to act, does not have what it takes. Maybe her relationship with the Spanish Actor, Antonio Banderas, will lead to some improvement. My heart goes out to her.

A Look Into a Different World

[dawnprin · 8/10 · 1 February 1999]

I truly enjoyed this movie, despite bad reviews and comments about Melanie Griffith's role being not suited to her. It takes a cynical worldly woman cop (Griffith) into the strange world of Orthodox Jews when she goes undercover to investigate a murder. Her gradual acceptance into that world and growing respect for their customs and traditions was very moving to me. The warmth in the family meals and celebrations can be felt by the viewer and lets you understand how this cloistered world with rules for everything starts to look good to a woman who is so jaded and cynical in her outlook on life. The attraction between her and a Talmudic student provides sexual tension to the storyline, and the concept of finding the one person in all the world who was meant for you was so romantic.

Oy.

[Shazzer30 · 1/10 · 5 February 2004]

It goes without saying that this film is a total "Witness" ripoff, except now the tough-guy cop is a woman (Griffith) and the religious setting is within the Hasidic Jewish community instead of the Amish. Oh yeah, and the difference in acting (i.e. "Witness"= superb, "Stranger"stinko).

The first scene shows Emily Eden (Griffith)and her partner in front of a club, reminiscing about their "rock" days, and how bad they are. They're apparently waiting for some thugs to walk into the bar to arrest them. Once the said thugs arrive, they follow them at about six feet behind, yelling about "back-up", and apparently the thugs are so dense, they don't hear them and bolt. Eden's partner ends up getting knifed as he cuffs the guy while winking at her (saucy!), and ends up half comatose in ER. 10 minutes into the movie, you begin to envy him.

This movie was poorly written, directed and acted. We cannot buy Griffith as a tough talking rebel cop with that Betty Boop voice of hers, and it's easy to see why "Stranger Among Us" is one of the top 10 "butt of movie jokes" films of all time.

Treyf

[Vibiana · 17 July 2001]

I'd say this movie was a showcase of ham, but then, I respect Jews. (And no, I'm not Jewish).

First off, Melanie Griffith as a hard-boiled cop is like casting Prissy from "Gone With The Wind" as Dirty Harry. Her "bad-ass mama justice" remarks come off about as well as they would if they were cooed by Linda Lovelace in the script of a porn movie. Seeing her simper and flirt and do all that coy crap around the young Talmudic scholar also disgusted me. I mean, the woman was assigned to investigate a disappearance in the Hasidic community and she shows up in a mini-skirt and says "s**t" in front of the rebbe within the first five minutes of the interview. Was she nodding off during all those diversity training seminars and community relations lectures at the police academy or what? Even if she was, wouldn't you expect someone who grew up in New York to have at least *some* familiarity with Judaism?

She treats every one of the Hasidim with arrogant condescension, in the type of "rude asshole" role that makes a viewer's teeth ache, yet we're supposed to somehow care whether, by the end of the movie, she's managed to understand and perhaps even respect them somewhat. And most of her "respect" is an outgrowth of her having the hots for Rebbe, Jr. Between insulting both Hasidic spirituality and the ability of a woman to perform as a professional without falling for some guy -- I mean, does our "heroine" do this on EVERY assignment or something? -- this movie is a busy two hours. Too bad it wasn't a better spent two hours for me. Thumbs DOWN.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

[donniebeard · 2/10 · 13 May 2005]

I can't believe I just spent the better part of two hours watching this movie. Melanie Griffith is completely wrong for this part, although I can't think of anyone that would be good in this story. This movie is simply terrible. Terrible acting, terrible story, just terrible. I wanted to turn it off after about 30 minutes, but I was a glutton for punishment. I felt I had to sit through it to the end to find out what happened. I wish now that I had just turned it off. There is nothing believable about what happens. It is a poor man's version of "Witness." There is no chemistry at all between the lead characters. I thought Melanie Griffith was horrible in "Working Girl" but she was even worse in this movie. I was torn between laughing at how bad it was and complete astonishment that it was actually released in theaters. Don't waste your time.

Great views of Crown Heights neighborhood; not much else...

[MrBallroom · 5/10 · 22 August 2005]

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. ***

Griffith Ruins the Already Hobbled 'Stranger'

[fatleprechan · 4/10 · 7 July 2005]

Great Director Sidney Lumet has brought many great police dramas to life over the years. Such as the marvelous 'Serpico' With Al Pacino. 'Prince of the City' 'Q & A' among many others. But even he can't overcome the poor performance of his sadly misplaced leading lady in the already flawed 'A Stranger Among Us'. The problems begin with the film's prosaic title. Already 'A Stranger Among Us' seems trite and contrived. Perhaps sticking with the UK moniker 'Close to Eden' wouldn't have sounded as much like the title of a Lifetime movie. Griffith strikes out as a police woman who goes undercover in New York's Hissidic Jewish community to solve the disappearance of a young jewelry shop keeper whom she ultimately discovers murdered..From one of the opening scenes when Griffith asserts her character as a tough talking, trigger happy cowboy, or girl in this instance, we know the plot is headed for ridicule. Griffith never seems to leave terrible enough alone as she comes up with a new, in your face, slogan for almost every new scene and situation. Then things really take a turn for the absurd when one of the young potential Rabbis turns out to be disguised hunk Eric Thal. And grows even more ludicrous when Griffith, with the help of one the young Hissidic girls ( Mia Sara ) gets a total Jewish makeover to go undercover as one of their own. Her dyed blonde locks now toned down to a still teased, yet slightly more modest black. As she sets out to solve the crime, the relationship between her and Thal's persona Ariel seems as out of place as the police women herself. For one thing, Griffath, who looks like she's lived the hard party life she has, looks way too old for Thal, as she does for all her leading men. And where did she get and why does she employ that God forsaken Marilyn Monroe accent? Eventually the forbidden romance comes to a head, as we suffer through formulated scenes where Thal and Griffith lament the differences between their worlds. And you sense that Griffith just needs a chance to wrap her legs around the religious student for him to flush the whole faith down the toilet. In Griffith's defense it is a difficult premise to make work and I can't think of one actress who could have pulled it off convincingly. Thal tries to play it straight as the fledgling rabbi but has only his costume to work with.The whole thing plays out like kind of a reverse version of the Harrison Ford film 'Witness' Only the plot is much less imaginative and the romance can not find any foothold here. In the end Lumet didn't have no where near as much to work with as he did in most of his other films. And any hope of anyone taking any of this nonsense seriously wast lost on the incompetence of Griffith.. No doubt Lumet was forced to cast her based on the success of box office hits like 'Working Girl'. The poor old man must have been tearing his hair out. anyway, the shock ending isn't much of a shock, and you've probably already turned the channel by then. This one is definitely not kosher. Miss it. 4 out of a possible 10 T.H.

This movie indeed has a subtle, charming subplot.

[artmikki · 10/10 · 10 September 2005]

"What's new and exciting?" Detective Emily Edith is on a case in a closed Hasidic community. She must change her clothes and follow peculiar rules while living amongst the Hasidim in New York City in order to search for the culprit of a murder by "A Stranger Among Us". The murderer is the "stranger" in the apparent plot. However, Emily is the "stranger" in the subplot. She is invited to move into the home of the Rebbe. A Rebbe in the Hasidic community is the chief Rabbi, who is involved in all interactions with anyone in the society. While Emily learns about the Hasidic lifestyle, she encounters Ariel. Ariel is a Talmudic genius and his life is bounded by his Hebraic studies of the wisdom of the Kabbalah. They exchange some interesting ideas and interpretations of life and find each other attractive. Alas, Ariel is forbidden to engage with Emily on any intimate level but is truly intrigued by this Shiksah. Ariel meets his intended bride who arrives from France and despite feeling torn by his thoughts about Emily, he weds his predestined bride. He discovers the bride is indeed his Bashert - his fate. Emily, the stranger, is a guest at the wedding briefly but curiously disappears before the ritual is complete. Intriguing storyline with a bit of a twist.