Two brothers and their teenage friends come-of-age in a Jewish neighborhood of Baltimore, circa 1954. Glossy, friendly story of wry humor and heartache in turbulent times of change gets careful, loving treatment from writer-director Barry Levinson, who obviously has great affection for this time and place. Levinson examines the intricate, often touchy relationships between the two minority groups, the Jews and the blacks--apparently there were no gays in 1950s Baltimore--versus the wealthy white gentiles. It's all taken with abrasive sugar and spice (and lots of comically clueless talk of sex), yet some of these paths are familiar. There's the sensitive, handsome Jew who falls for the cool blonde society beauty (a deceptive package); his brother develops a crush on a black girl in his class, whose father forbids her to see him again; the Jewish patriarch, a burlesque club manager, runs a numbers racket with a black partner and gets arrested. Levinson's script is well-written, and his cast is likable, but these episodes are like reruns--right down to the nosy Jewish bubby and the white boys' first trip to an all-black rock and roll show. Amiable enough, and preferable in the end to Levinson's similar "Diner". **1/2 from ****
Review of Liberty Heights
