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Focus (2001 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Focus' is a 2001 American drama film starring William H. Macy, Laura Dern, David Paymer and Meat Loaf based on a 1945 novel by playwright Arthur Miller.
Plot
In the waning months of World War II, a man is mistakenly identified as a Jew by his antisemitic Brooklyn neighbors. Suddenly the victims of religious and ethnic persecution, he finds himself aligned with a local Jewish immigrant in a struggle for dignity and survival.
Cast
* William H. Macy as Lawrence 'Larry' Newman
* Laura Dern as Gertrude 'Gert' Hart
* David Paymer as Mr. Finkelstein
* Meat Loaf as Fred (as Meat Loaf Aday)
* Kay Hawtrey as Mrs. Newman
* Michael Copeman as Carlson
* Kenneth Welsh as Father Crighton
* Joseph Ziegler as Mr. Garage
* Arlene Meadows as Mrs. Dewitt
* Peter Oldring as Willy Doyle
* Wendy Lyon as Elsie
* Robert McCarrol as Meeting Hall Man (as Robert Mccarrol)
* Shaun Austin-Olsen as Sullivan
* Kevin Jubinville as Mr. Cole Stevens
* B.J. McQueen as Mel
* Conrad Bergschneider as Tough's Leader
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 56% based on 81 reviews, with the site's consensus "Though full of good intentions, 'Focus' somehow feels dated, and pounds away its points with a heavy hand." On Metacritic the film has a score of 53% based on reviews from 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 and wrote: "Doesn't reach for reality; it's a deliberate attempt to look and feel like a 1940s social problems picture, right down to the texture of the color photography."
See also
* History of antisemitism in the United States 1930s
References
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