A Stranger Among Us

Starring:Melanie Griffith, John Pankow, Tracy Pollan, Lee Richardson, Mia Sara, Jamey Sheridan, Eric Thal, David Margulies, Burtt Harris, James Gandolfini, Chris Latta, Jake Weber, Ro'ee Levi, David Rosenbaum (II), Ruth Vool, Edward Rogers III, Maurice Schell, Ira Rubin, FranÃ§oise Granville, Rena Sofer
Director: Sidney Lumet
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

Academy Award(R)-nominated star Melanie Griffith (Best Actress nominee -- WORKING GIRL, 1988) turns in a winning performance as detective Emily Eden, a tough New York City cop forced to go undercover to solve a puzzling murder. Her search for the truth takes her into a secret world of unwritten law and unspoken power, a world where the only way out is deeper in! Delivering edge-of-your-seat excitement that won't let you go, this action-packed thriller is sure to entertain you with its sizzling star power, electrifying story, and nonstop surprises!

Customer Reviews:

Intrigue and passion..........2007-04-01

A very respectful and interesting look at life amoung the Hassid. This film is filled with intrigue while also dealing with the struggles of the heart and with ones religious convictions. Melanie Griffith does an excellent job portraying the difficulties of understanding customs in a way of life which is unfamiliar to her. I've watched this over and over again, enjoying it more each time.

The film that changed my life.......2005-10-08

Some years ago I watched this film during a brus trip from Oviedo to Barcelona and it changed my life in a radical and most wonderful way. It discovered me the _bashert_ (= destiny, our other half) reality and Jewish life. It helped me to understand that meaning and warm are still available in the world. It introduce me the reality I have always dreamed to discover. So I have no words to express what this superb film did for me. If you want to discover something incredible about life, you should not miss it.

Absolutely laughable movie.......2005-08-25

Melanie Griffith is miscast as a tough NY cop and the plot makes no sense. It isn't an accurate portrayal of Hasidim and the murder mystery isn't logical. Critics called it "Vitness" citing it's strained resemblance to "Witness". Witness was set in rural PA, this is set in NY city.

It's interesting that both Melanie Griffith and her co-star Eric What's His Name found their careers fading after this movie.

God counts the tears of women.......2005-08-02

A person who deals with diamonds is missing. Detective Emily Eden (Melanie Griffith) is assigned to find him and missing diamonds. Not long into the story the missing person is found (DEAD). The victim is a member of a closed trusting society. This leads the detective to draw the conclusion that it had to be the unthinkable; "an inside job" by someone(s) trusted. The solution is to go undercover and wait for an opportunity to identify the perpetrator(s).

The detective story is the veneer of the movie however it is integral enough to include Emily's background friends and past environment. This fleshes out Emily's character and the choices she made in life.

The choice of Melanie Griffith as someone hardboiled and expounding the things she has scene is stretching it a bit. Also as with some one playing a kids role she acts more like a three year old. And occasionally the terrible two's. However by the end of the film we forget this and except the character. Most of the other actors fit their characters well. One problem I had was watching Leah (Mia Sara), I kept thinking of her in "Farris Bueller's Day Off" (1986)

The true or socially redeeming part of the story is the interaction and reaction of the people as they grow from knowing each other. We get a little cultural exchange and few universal incites, including the concept of one's soul mate which is found again in many philosophies.

Is the mystery solved?
Has Emily and/or others learned from the experience?

God counts the tears of women.

Casting boo boo by the name of Melanie Griffith.......2005-07-23

This is an interesting film, especially for a cop flick, because it is more character-based than stereotypical Hollywood (car chases, gratuitous violence and shooting, big muscles, etc). And the role of Emily is a perfect multidimensional character-centered role. Not something you saw a lot of in mainstream Hollywood flicks prior to about the mid-1990's. However, Melanie Griffith is not appropriate for such a role. A fluffy comedic actor like Griffith only makes such a role appear melodramatic and overbearing. It's like using a meat cleaver to perform intricate brain surgery. This is not to say that Griffith is a bad actor (at least not for fluffy comedy), or that she couldn't master the subtlies of this type of acting some day; after all, look what Sylvester Stallone did in Cop Land (and if he can do it, anyone can do it). But she obviously failed in her role in this film.

The rest of the characters are also compellingly multidimensional, except, oddly enough, for who turns out to be the murderer.

I liked the film's positive multicultural flavor; what I also liked about the film was that it was made around the time that Hollywood started tayloring film's endings based on preferences of test audiences (around 1992), but this film's ending was obviously spared such a fate. The ending is cool, because it is realistic and shows Ariel's integrity--which I think was a graceful way to end things.

Adventures in Odyssey: A Stranger Among Us

Average customer rating:

Adventures in Odyssey: A Stranger Among Us

Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson Pub.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000CS7I5A
Release Date: 2005-08-18

DVD:

DVD

Three Colours Trilogy