Customer Reviews

Avalon

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I only heared about Avalon in Febuary 2004, by reading reviews on amazon. Let me just say that if you by this DVD you will not be disapointed. This movie has a great story line, the actors are fantastic, and the movie hasnt dated one little bit. This movie has everything from the very funny parts, to the tearjerker parts. The movie is a real rollercoster ride. But one The whole family would be sure to enjoy. I highly recomend that everone should see this movie at least once.

This movie is a slow paced movie that genuinely touches the soul. The acting is great,especially adian Quin. Brilliant! The characters are multifaceted. I recomend this movie to anyone above the age of 14, only becouse youger people would have difficulty understanding the symbolism that is at its core.

Avalon is a tragic drama with moments of warmth as a second generation immigrant family tries to create a better life in the United States while living under the same roof as their parents. The grandfather, Sam (Armin Mueller-Stahl), tells his grandson, Michael (Elijah Wood), his life stories as he teaches him valuable life lessons. However, the family attempts to break bonds with the past by changing their last name and breaking other traditions. In this endeavor they lose contact with themselves as they lose their connection with their family and television then becomes a substitute for family life. Avalon is a representation of the many who came to the US in search of the American Dream; however, in pursuit of this dream lost the connection with what is important in life. In the end, Avalon offers a fine cinematic experience that "may" and "can" produce tears and laughs.

That's Lou Jacobi's signature line in this film, and it's quite a statement that I can use it 13 years after "Avalon's" release and still draw a knowing response. Although 'Diner' will always remain Barry's Levinson's singular masterpiece, in Avalon he digs deeper to show us the roots of his family and how it slowly spun apart.

Levinson returns to the Thanksgiving dinner scene year after year as touchstone to show how the family grows and evolves.

Moreover, Avalon is a significant statement about America in general and the basic dissolution of the three-generation 'altogether' family unit. Levinson makes the very compelling case that the culprits are the television (the mood and tone of Avalon break dramatically once television is introduced) and the suburbs, or looked at alternatively, city flight.

I love Lou Jacobi in this film. Armin Mueller-Stahl is equally as good. Also, look for an eight-year-old Elijah Wood in his first big role as Mueller-Stahl's grandson (and Aidan Quinn's son). Wood is playing Levinson's role here, so even at eight (foreshadowing of 'LOTR') he has a mighty big weight to carry.

Great performances by Armin Mueller-Stah, Aidan Quinn, Kevin Pollak, Elizabeth Perkins, Joan Plowright, and a nine year old Elijah Wood anchor this beautiful love letter to the days of oral storytelling, the immigrant experience, and the Baltimore of director Barry Levinson's childhood.

As in most of Mr. Levinson's work (including HOMICIDE), where this piece shines is in the dialogue. And the by play between Mr. Mueller-Stahl, Mr. Quinn, and Mr. Wood - portraying three generations of the same family - provides for some truly touching verbal interaction. And the film plays these themes in other ways as well, primarily by contrasting the oral storytelling technique preferred by Mr. Mueller-Stahl and the television, preferred by the slightly snake-oily dreamer played by Kevin Pollak.

While the overall "look" of the film, as created by Allen Daviau and Mr. Levinson, may be a little sugary I hope that this won't stop you from enjoying the great script, some truly wonderful images, and top notch acting that is AVALON.

This highly personal movie focuses on three generations of a family, the first generation which immigrated to America. The setting is in the 50's, and the film is pretty nostalgic. The shot of the immigrant arriving on the fourth of july is one of the most beautiful scenes ever filmed. The film does well with showing the problems of the time. From the pursuit of the american dream, to the disillusionment of a tight family unraveling. Fine perfomances by all, including Aidan Quinn, Kein Pollak and a young Elijah Wood. But the most moving of all is done by Armin Mueller-Stahl. A great film.

This is for serious movie goers, and even some of those might miss the point. We see hear an era which is long gone, and those who didn't live during that era might not understand what the deal is. We see the eternal hope played against the backdrop of the 1940's and from the perspective of three different generationss.

Yes, it is played to make the most of mood swings from playful and nostalgic to the bitterest of disappointments. This isn't manipulation; it's effective dramatization. The succession of family Thanksgiving dinners tells us what was happening to America, the diminishing of the family.

As has been noted, the performances, the direction, and the musical score all lift this to a high plane of film making.

Thanksgiving dinner plays a central role in this warm and heart rending look at one family and changing America in which they live. While waiting for dinner to be served or a slice of pumpkin pie to arrive the grandfather of the family, played by Armin Mueller Stahl, sits back and tells the stories of the family. We are not mired in the past however, an America that leaves the inner city behind and heads to the upper middle class suburbs is well portrayed as individual ambitions, changing priorities and new realities change the extended family from a unit that needed to stick together for their very survival to one with separate hopes and dreams partly marred by petty fueds and rivals, further divided by the wider world in which they now live. Outstanding performances at every level, lush cinemaphotography and a subtle yet firm score combine to make this one of the new American classics.

I had put off watching Avalon for a long time because I was afraid I would be lukewarm to a film about an immigrant family coming to America and the abandonment of tradition by its next generation. How wrong I was! Avalon is the third element in Barry Levinson's "Baltimore Trilogy". It falls somewhere between Diner (to which I would also give 5 stars) and Tin Men (to which I would give 3 stars) in quality, but it has more sentiment than either.

Armin Mueller-Stahl, who I had not seen before this picture, turns in an excellent performance. I take some degree of issue with Amazon's description of the movie as starring Elizabeth Perkins; she is in fact plays a minor character. Personally, I found her performance one dimensional. Joan Plowright's performance as the family matriarch is much better. Aidan Quinn and Kevin Pollak, the latter of whom I have been a fan of for years, are nothing less than excellent. Yes, this film can get ponderous and a bit long in the tooth, but I would hardly dismiss it as "artsy" or "cutesy". To those who gave this movie negative reviews, I would respectfully suggest that you have forgotten what great filmmaking is all about.

The soundtrack to this film is one of Randy Newman's best ever. Sadly, it is no longer in print. It complements this film beautifully.

A major disappointment after RAIN MAN had convinced me that Barry Levinson was a director to take note of. I generously give it two stars; one and a half would be more accurate. This movie traces the adventures of an immigrant family of sort-of generic ethnicity. Maybe not a bad idea, but too much of it is woefully bogged-down. A derailing streetcar and a boy attacked by a swarm of bees are among the numerous disjointed episodes that essentially go nowhere. It's hardly a sign of a great movie when its most memorable episode is of a schoolboy getting himself in a lurch by asking the teacher "Can I go to the bathroom?" when she's just finished lecturing on the difference between "can" and "may". If the whole movie were that memorable, it would be considerably better, though. Sometimes a movie is said to have needed better editing, but in this case, not much of a movie would be left. Early on there's a scene where a shroud is being spread over a casket at a funeral, then the magic of movie editing turns the shroud into a tablecloth being spread by a woman for a big feast. I can just hear critics calling that brilliant movie editing and talking about a "life goes on" message or something like that. But I only found it terminally cutesy.