A Stranger Among Us

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A Stranger Among Us
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySidney Lumet
Written byRobert J. Avrech
Produced bySteve Golin
Howard Rosenman
Sigurjón Sighvatsson
StarringMelanie Griffith
CinematographyAndrzej Bartkowiak
Edited byAndrew Mondshein
Music byJerry Bock
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • July 17, 1992 (1992-07-17)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18 million[1]
Box office$12 million

A Stranger Among Us is a 1992 American

D. W. Griffith Award of the Directors Guild of America. The film was also the first credited role for actor James Gandolfini
. The shooting of the film was used as an example in Lumet's book Making Movies.

Plot

Hardened

Holocaust
survivor who is revered for his wisdom and compassion toward his fellow Jews. He says to her, "You and I have something in common: We are both intimately familiar with evil. It does something to your soul."

While living with the rebbe's family, Emily changes her appearance and takes a liking to his son, Ariel, a young man who works as a diamond-cutter but teaches in the

soul mate, chosen by God. He is also studying the Kabbalah
, which is regarded as rather daring for a man under 40. Its discussion of sexual intimacy is restrained but specific, as well as a metaphor for the relationship between Man and God.

Emily finds out that the "inside man" in the murder plot is the rebbe's adopted daughter Mara, who had been living a disorderly life until Yaakov introduced her to the rebbe. Afterwards, she joined the community as a repentant baalat tshuva, "one who has returned," until a person from her past approached her and she let him into the Diamond Center to steal diamonds worth about $750,000 and kill Yaakov.

Shortly after, Emily saves the rebbe's daughter Leah from being scammed by brothers Anthony and Christopher Baldessari, who claim to be Yaakov's killers. Emily instructs her second partner Levine to call for backup and arrests the Baldessaris, but the Baldessaris manage to escape. In the ensuing chase, Levine is injured, while Emily fatally shoots the Baldessaris. Before succumbing to his wounds, Anthony admits to Emily that he and Christopher were not responsible for Yaakov's death.

Having solved the case such as Mara now an accessory to murder, Emily rejects Nick's proposal, secretly romances Ariel to overcome her personal problems, and returns to the rebbe's home with him, but finds that Mara has taken Leah hostage. After Emily attempts to negotiate, Mara knocks her out, and Ariel kills Mara with Emily's revolver, avenging Yaakov. Ariel comments that sometimes an evil deed has a partially good result. Emily is hospitalized for an examination, while the rebbe and his family bid her farewell. Ariel and his basherte Shayna Singer get married, in which a reformed Emily watches from a distance. Eventually, she returns to work and catches up with an also reformed Levine, who is on leave and invites her on a two-week trip to Aruba. However, she declines and awaits her bashert.

Cast

  • Melanie Griffith — Emily Eden, a hardened New York detective and the main protagonist.
  • Eric Thal — Ariel, Leah's brother and the rebbe's adopted son.
  • Mia Sara — Leah, Ariel's sister and the rebbe's adopted daughter.
  • Tracy Pollan — Mara, the fiancée of Yaakov and the main antagonist.
  • Lee Richardson — Rebbe, Mara, Ariel, and Leah's adopted father.
  • John Pankow — Levine, Emily's second partner.
  • Jamey Sheridan — Nick, Emily's first partner.
  • James Gandolfini — Anthony Baldessari, a criminal and Christopher's younger brother.
  • Chris Latta
    — Christopher Baldessari, another criminal and Anthony's older brother.
  • Jake Weber — Yaakov Klausman, Mara's fiancé and Ariel's best friend.
  • David Margulies — Lt. Oliver, the superior of Emily, Nick and Levine.
  • Rena Sofer — Shayna Singer, Ariel's basherte.

Reception

A Stranger Among Us received negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 22% of 41 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "A disappointing misfire for director Sindey Lumet, A Stranger Among Us tries to tell a murder mystery and a fish-out-of-water love story, doing a disservice to both."[3]

Film critic

Desson Howe in The Washington Post noted that Griffith's voice "isn't the bark of a no-nonsense, take-charge woman. It's the squeak of a laryngitic munchkin," that her "inspiration-free performance attests merely to an ability to memorize a script," and that she is "sensationally miscast in this role. Nothing she says is believable."[6]

Some of the criticism of A Stranger Among Us is based on comparisons with the

Worst Supporting Actress
.

Setting

Some aspects of the plot recall the 1977 murder of diamond dealer Pinchos Jaroslawicz.

Scenes from the movie were filmed in Ridgewood, Queens. The shootout was filmed at the Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

References

  1. ^ "AFI|Catalog". Catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Festival de Cannes: A Stranger Among Us". Festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2009-08-13.
  3. ^ "A Stranger Among Us". Rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  4. ^ Ebert, Roger. "A Stranger Among Us". RogerEbert.com. RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  5. ^ Travers, Peter. "A Stranger Among Us". Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone LLC. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  6. ^ Howe, Desson. "A Stranger Among Us". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved 2024-01-16.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to A Stranger Among Us.
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