Cheap Levity (DVD) (Billy Bob Thornton, Morgan Freeman, Holly Hunter, Kirsten Dunst) (Ed Solomon) Price

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Customer Reviews of Levity

Interesting concept. Excellent acting. Depressing story.
The word "levity" is supposed to mean "lightness", but there is certainly nothing light about this stark drama which deals with sin and redemption. Billy Bob Thornton is cast as a troubled man who has just been released from prison for killing a convenience store clerk in a botched robbery 23 years before. He plays the role with quiet stoicism, wears his graying hair shoulder length and speaks in a gentle voice as he returns to the neighborhood where the crime was committed.

Here, he meets Morgan Freeman, a storefront preacher with a secret of his own, and he's given a job as custodian of the place. Kristin Durst is one of the lost young people who he comes in contact with, and in his own simple way, he seems to be making a difference in her life. The person he has come here to meet, however, is the sister of the young man who he had murdered. Holly Hunter is cast in this role and they start to develop a deep friendship, especially when her son gets in trouble and Billy Bob Thornton comes to his aid.

There's a sadness and melancholy to the entire film, which is set on cold dreary winter streets. It's slow, bleak and rather creepy, especially when the hero is visited over and over again by the apparition of the young man who he has murdered. I found the concept interesting, the acting excellent and the story sad and depressing. And yet, it was a fine film.

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MURDER AND ATONEMENT
New on DVD (August, 03), this overlooked, exceptional film strikes an emotional chord with universal truths.

Based on real events, LEVITY (Columbia Tristar) stars Billy Bob Thornton as a convicted murderer paroled after serving 19 years in prison. Haunted by his spontaneous shooting of a store clerk in a failed robbery, he craves reconciliation and returns to his old inner-city neighborhood where he encounters a troubled woman (Kirsten Dunst), a mysterious street preacher (Morgan freeman) and the sister (Holly Hunter) of the boy he killed.

It's rare that a movie tackles such difficult themes of guilt, forgiveness, reconciliation and atonement with such insight, grace and intelligence.

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Beauty in strange packages
I wish I could fill my library with movies exactly like this. When I first saw this movie, I sort of watched it in shock. Stories of this quality are so rare! First and foremost, this is about forgiveness. Each character in our story feels that they have failed in some way, and they're not sure how to simply make it right. To make peace. Large mistakes, little mistakes, these little devils tend to stay with us, sowing the seeds is discontent.
Manual Jordan (Billy Bob Thorton) is released from jail after 20 years and embarks on a mission to find redemption, although he doesn't really expect to find it. Perhaps it is the journey that is more important to him. He finds a preacher (Morgan Freeman) who is trying to reach a bunch of teenagers and steer them away from the destructive lifestyles they're leading. He runs a makeshift church/soup kitchen across the street from a local dance club.
Manual also comes in to the life of a woman (Holly Hunter) who is trying to steer her son away from the gang street life he is falling in to. By far my favorite piece of this story is played by the beautiful Kirsten Dunst. She is the emotional heart of the story as the confused party girl who dreams of a better life, but has no idea how to get there. Suffering from low self-esteem and an angry alcoholic mother, she drifts closer to harms way each night.
What is story has to offer is emotions in raw form. What would any of us do in extreme circumstances? Most of us will never know. These people do. Most of their lives have been impacted by one form of violence or another. These are decent people inside. People that made bad choices. The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say and little tiny mistakes. Pretty soon these little mistakes feed on themselves and before you know it, you start having BIG lapses in good judgment. How did this happen? How did I get here? ---by many little mistakes.
What was most important to me in this story was the insight in to the fragility and strength of the human spirit. These people are not perfect. But each of them is hoping for something better, something more meaningful. A purpose, and maybe a little emotional justice. You can think of them all as wounded animals, trapped in a box. Most of them don't know how they got in there. They want out. They don't know how to get out, and they're growing increasingly desperate. It is in this dark place that they find their true characters. By looking their little devils in the face and choosing another path, they find begin to find peace within themselves.

I know that this is not always a pretty picture. But sometimes you need to look at the ugliness of humanity in order to see the beauty. Beauty is there, whether we see it or not. And that's what I think this movie is, beautiful.