Focus (2001)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Kendrew Lascelles (based on the novel by Arthur Miller)
Directed by Neal Slavin
Starring Willam H. Macy, Laura Dern, David Paymer, Meat Loaf, Kay Hawtrey

Features:

• Featurette
  

Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Rent it for now.

It's towards the end of World War II. Lawrence Newman (Macy) has been a company man for twenty years.  He's got a great office and he's in charge of personnel.  However, he has a problem: he looks too Jewish.  The irony is, he's not Jewish--but he's being ostracized as though he is because of the way people perceive him.  Gertrude Hart (Dern) comes looking for a job at his company and he turns her away for the same reason, but she's not Jewish either.  Newman loses his job, he meets back up with Hart, they fall in love and get married.  Meanwhile, they watch the Jewish newsstand owner being persecuted by their anti-Semitic neighbors, but do nothing about it until they begin to be victims as well. 

This film is one of those rare enigmas where all the performances are fantastic, but the writing gets in the way of the story.  Macy is brilliant as the soft-spoken Newman who has a really nice arc being pushed to the edge of his tolerance and sanity. Dern is fine as the blonde bombshell who falls in love with Newman, although at times she tried too hard to be sexy--and it was not clear whether it was a character choice or the actress getting in the way of herself. 

The real standout of this film is Meat Loaf.  The role of the anti-Semitic neighbor who tries to pressure Newman into joining their neighborhood coalition against the Jews was made for him.  The time period fits him like a glove, and he turned in one of the finest performances of his career.  But, I'm sorry to say the dialogue is trite and predictable, even though at times you really weren't sure where the story was taking you next.  There were several very good suspenseful moments, but those times in between were almost too much to bear.  David Paymer's Finkelstein, the Jewish newsstand owner, was downright haunting.  When he finally confronts Newman about why Newman treats him the way he does sent shivers down my spine.

The direction seemed solid enough given the weakness of the screenplay.  I guess it really upsets me to see someone like Arthur Miller have his work translated to screen so poorly.  I will say that some of Slavin's imagery is also really quite effective; the scene with Newman riding the subway alone leaps readily to mind.

The DVD is absolutely wretched, I'm sorry to say.  Since this was Neal Slavin's directoral debut, it would have been nice to have a director's commentary to hear him talk about the process, but there is none.  The featurette is the only scrap of bonus material you get on this DVD, but at least I can say that it's really well done.  It is not bogged down with Hollywood "Must-See-isms."  Rather, it is a straight forward interview with Arthur Miller, Neal Slavin, and the principal cast of the film.  It is edited in such a way that the interview segments themselves narrate the featurette, and there is just enough "behind-the-scenes" shots to appease those people who really go in for that kind of thing. 

The film is worth renting, but I would say wait for a better DVD treatment before you add it to your collection.