On paper, writer-director Barry Levinson's semi-autobiographical Avalon, which begins with the arrival of Polish Jew Sam Krichinsky (Armin Mueller- Stahl) in the Avalon area of Baltimore, Md., on July 4, 1914, and ends when he is in his dotage on another July 4 sometime in the sixties, is an intellectually crystalline epic about the demise of the extended family, the erosion of traditional American and European values, the growth of alienated suburban culture (organized around television) and the hegemony of materialism.That's on paper. On screen, Avalon is unconscionably sloppy (the leaves of deciduous trees in Baltimore at Christmas are green on one block, yellow on another and non-existent on a third), structurally amorphous (the movie could end at any time or go on forever, which it seems to do), and gummily sentimental (grandparents and children are psychologically saintly). The lovely moments and fine performances in the picture can't redeem Levinson's technical carelessness - the editing is without rhythm, momentum, or even logic - nor can they compensate for Avalon's ethnographic toothlessness: imagine Mordecai Richler without the bite.Levinson would have made Duddy Kravitz a mensch.Avalon is more irritating than most ambitious failures because Levinson, winner of the best directing Oscar in 1988 for Rain Man, is wildly talented, and his two earlier semi-autobiographical films set in Baltimore, Diner and Tin Men, were twin peaks of Proustian purity. Structured lightly but soundly, in the esthetic version of aluminum, they vaulted over the twin valleys of bathos, sentimentality and nostalgia.Avalon is a bridge made of lead.But students of performance will want to see it for a quartet of reasons. The first is Armin Mueller-Stahl, the East German actor who came West in the late seventies and has not been within spitting distance of mediocrity since, whether as the tortured politician in Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Lola, the complex farmer in Angry Harvest or Jessica Lange's mysterious father in Music Box. As written, Avalon's Sam Krichinsky is fundamentally a grandchild's adoring projection of a grandfather, but Mueller-Stahl's Prussian blue eyes bespeak more depth than the character is permitted to articulate; when the script does become bluntly pedantic, Mueller-Stahl subtly softens the blows. Sadly, even this great actor is done in at the end when he is plastered with outrageously inept old-age makeup. He looks like nothing less than a blue-eyed, Teutonic E.T. about to sing a geriatric variation of Cabaret's Nazi hymn, Tomorrow Belongs to Me: Yesterday Vas Mine.The second extraordinary actor is Joan Plowright, the British widow of Laurence Olivier; she plays Eva Krichinsky, Sam's Polish-American wife, with a flawless accent, as if she had not done Shakespeare, Chekhov, John Osborne or Peter Greenaway, all of whom she has, of course, enlivened. But technique aside, she follows Mueller-Stahl in toughening up the soft edges and in softening the rough edges of a character verging on caricature; while certainly Jewish, her meddling mother-cum-grandmother is no stage- bound Jewish mother.The most fully dramatized conflict in Avalon involves the grandparents and their relationship to their son Jules and his wife Ann (and eventually to the young couple's children), all of whom live together. Aidan Quinn, as the cautious and contemplative Jules, and Elizabeth Perkins, as the fun-loving but responsible Ann, complete the foursome of exceptional performances: he infuses an introvert with exterior life and she captures the spirit of femininity in the fifties with eerie exactitude, as if Life had come to life (it's an asset that she looks like the Judy Garland of that period).Four fabulous musicians, less than fabulous music for them to play: the resonant sequences (an on-going Thanksgiving argument, for example) are regularly intercut with comic schtick, the most egregious instance being the purchase of a television set - would people interested enough in TV to buy one not know that during the day there were no programs? The purchasers sit in front of the box, watch the test pattern, get disgusted, and leave it to the kids. It's a funny bit, but it's fraudulent, and it corrodes Avalon, which is trying to do something new, with the stuff of deja-vu. There are two lines delivered by Eva that express the irritation Avalon engenders: "How many times do we have to hear this story? We all heard it before." Benjamin MIller, Filmbay Editor

1st watched 5/18/2007 - 9 out of 10(Dir-Barry Levinson): Wonderful storytelling and performances in this very personal account of a family from Russia in the early 1900's and their life adventures in America. The story is told from the grandfather's perspective, played remarkably by Armin Mueller-Stahl, who arrived in Baltimore in 1914 during the 4th of July celebration and was mesmerized and humbled by the city's grand welcoming party. It is told by interweaving flashbacks as the grandfather tells the story to his grandchildren but the current storyline is kept in place. We see how family's start in-tact and then are spread apart by distance, class, jeolousy and petty bickering chronicling how probably many families were separated once arriving in the United States. We see enterprising young people trying to make it big in this new land of opportunity and their ups and downs in that struggle, portrayed by cousins played by Aidan Quinn and Kevin Pollack. We see the rough interchange between the mama's boys' new wife and the stepmother as they try to keep the family together despite the American mentality in it's early formings of keeping each unit to themselves independently. All of this intertwined with excellent performances, direction, visuals and a quiet stroll thru their lives. I admit, there are some minor story additions that seemed un-necessary but for the most part this is a well done perspective of America from those coming here from another country and enjoying it. A rare, clean family movie about a family that should be seen by all families.

What "Avalon" portrays seems like the sort of stories that we have often heard of immigrant families: the first generation comes to America and thinks that it's the greatest place, the second generation distances itself from its ancestry by changing the family name, and the third generation feels torn between these, and the question of what the fourth generation will do. Certainly the movie does a really good job showing not only that, but also the changing America of the post-war era (TV and the move to the suburbs). As for the schism, I guess that such things often happen in families. As a fourth-generation American born long after what the movie portrays, maybe I can't relate to it 100%, but it's still a movie that I recommend to everyone. Once again, Barry Levinson does a great job showing his native Baltimore.Starring Armin Mueller-Stahl, Joan Plowright, Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth Perkins, Kevin Pollak, Elijah Wood and Lou Jacobi.

How can I explain how much I loved this movie? I can't. I just can't. I love it so so much, I can't explain it. I came across this movie by somewhat of an accident last year sometime. I did a Netflix search for "The Mists of Avalon." No "Mists of Avalon," but instead an Aiden Quinn movie called simply "Avalon." I pushed it aside and didn't give it a second thought. 5 months or so ago I was just browsing the same sight, once again, "Avalon" popped up. I watched the trailer, thought it looked good and put it on my queue list. It sat forever and ever, so I deleted it. Once again never giving it a second thought.Then 2 months ago I became very interested in the actor Tom Wood (Noah Newman from The Fugitive and U.S. Marshals and the adult Michael from this film.) I, of course, went to Netflix and did a search for him. "Avalon," however did not show up on the list. I returned my attention to a list I had written with all of the movies he's made listed. I typed "Avalon" in the search box and sure enough, it was the same "Avalon." I immediately put it in the queue and bumped it up to the top spot. A day or so later we received "Avalon" in the mail and I waisted no time in watching it. I was immediately in love with the characters and the way the family bonded together. My family is a lot like that, OK, we're not immigrants (oh somewhere down the line I'm sure we are, but that's not the point), we're not Jewish (we're in fact Missionary Baptists) and we don't live in a clump (ok, most of us do, but a few cousins and me and my parents live apart from the clump.). We have those conversations at the dinner table, we have those conversations at Thanksgiving, and Christmas and things like that.I was so touched by the simplicity but emotional impact of the simple line "I came to America in 1914....." I couldn't help but burst into tears.****SPOILERS**** My favorite scene had to be the scene where they had the family circle meeting at Gabriel's house and Eva kept saying it was "like a furnace in here!" And then without warning "An elephant just walked by the window." So funny the first time you see it.And of course I had to love the last scene when Michael and his son Sam went to see Grandpa Sam. I was especially touched by this scene because that is the same shape my grandfather got into shortly before he passed away last year. I did cry and remembered all the times my parents dragged me to the nursing homes and hospitals to see him, and I began to miss him again.So I guess the reason I loved this movie so much is because after seeing it the first time, Sam sort of brought my Grandpa back to me for a little while. The way he acted, the way he would take control of a situation, the way he told stories....Thank you Barry Levinson for that, even if no one else cares. You did a good thing for me. The final moments of the film made me think of what I'd tell my kids when I'm older....Michael and Little Sam walking out of the nursing home and Michael beginning Sam's story and passing it down...."He came to America in 1914......"Definitely watch this movie. Don't let it pass you by. It's amazing. Take my word for it.