A Stranger Among Us
Tags: violence, neo noir, murder

Plot synopsis:
Emily Eden (Griffith), a hardened New York City homicide detective, goes undercover to investigate the murder of a Hasidic diamond-cutter. To do so, she lives with the family of the Hasidic rebbe (Lee Richardson), an elderly Holocaust survivor who is revered for his wisdom and compassion toward his fellow Jews. He says to her, "You and I have something in common: We are both intimately familiar with evil. It does something to your soul."
While living with the rebbe's family, she takes a liking to his son, Ariel (Eric Thal), a young man who works as a diamond-cutter but teaches in the yeshiva and is expected to follow his father as the next rebbe. In addition to keeping all 613 Mitzvot, he is waiting for his intended, or basherte, the daughter of a Paris rebbe whom he has not yet actually met. They are the subjects of an arranged marriage, but he believes that she is his soul mate, chosen by God. He is also studying the Kabbalah, which is regarded as rather daring for a man under 40. Its discussion of sexual intimacy is restrained but specific, as well as a metaphor for the relationship between Man and God.
The crisis of the film is when Emily finds out that the "inside man" in the murder plot is the rebbe's adopted daughter Mara (Tracy Pollan), who had been living a disorderly life until the future murder victim, Yaakov Klausman (Jake Weber), introduced her to the rebbe. Afterwards, she joined the community as a repentant baalat tshuva, "one who has returned," until a person from her past approached her and she let him into the Diamond Center to steal diamonds worth about $750,000 and kill Yaakov.
This is all Emily needs to solve the case and arrest Mara as an accessory to murder (or for the crime of felony murder); but when Emily returns to the rebbe's home with Ariel, she finds that Mara has taken the rebbe's daughter hostage. After Emily attempts to negotiate, Mara knocks her out; and Ariel shoots Mara with Emily's gun. Ariel comments that sometimes an evil deed has a partially good result.
The film ends with the wedding of Ariel and his basherte, Shayna Singer, which Emily watches from a distance.

Review: In New York, Detective Emily Eden (Melanie Griffith) is a tough detective and daughter of a former cop.
When her partner Nick (Jamey Sheridan) is stabbed during an arrest of two drug dealers, Emily is assigned to a case of missing person, Yaakov Klausman, in a Hasidic community.
Emily concludes that Yaakov knew the killer and asks the rebbe (Lee Richardson) permission to work undercover in the community.
The rebbe brings Emily to his home and his stepdaughter Leah (Mia Sara) and his stepson Ariel (Eric Thal) help her to know people in the community and understand their habits and rules.
Emily works in a department store with Leah, Ariel and Yaakov's fiancée Mara (Tracy Pollan), who was former drug addicted embraced by Yaakov and the rebbe, and her partner Levine (John Pankow) gives support to her.
But soon she has a discussion with Ariel and she concludes that the killer is another person from the community."A Stranger Among Us" is an underrated movie that entwined crime, drama and romance.
Most of the bad reviews of the critics are based on the similarities of this movie with 1985 "Witness", but anyway "A Stranger Among Us" is an engaging film.
The first time I saw this movie in the 90's, I did not understand how and independent woman like Emily Eden could fall in love with Ariel, but this time I have understood her need of fraternal love.
I found it to be interesting look at the Hassidic way of life.The first half of the film is much better than the second half, or this would rated higher.
It's probably too low-key, at least in that second half which needed more suspense and action to be a better-liked and known film.Despite being difficult believing the soft-spoken Melanie Griffith as a tough NYC cop, she still does an excellent job in the lead role and Eric Thai, ditto, as the romantic interest.
I truly enjoyed this movie, despite bad reviews and comments about Melanie Griffith's role being not suited to her.
It takes a cynical worldly woman cop (Griffith) into the strange world of Orthodox Jews when she goes undercover to investigate a murder.
The warmth in the family meals and celebrations can be felt by the viewer and lets you understand how this cloistered world with rules for everything starts to look good to a woman who is so jaded and cynical in her outlook on life.
Then again if one has only 5 pigeon holes (or less) to file films into - then go ahead.MG was just fine in the film - her voice is always going to be with her - and she's made it through 100 roles already with it.The portrayal of the Hassidim was surely an education for many.The 'background filming' was good - even as a born New Yorker - got to see some new 'shots'The plot was there - but jumpy - I doubt very many predicted the killers - but did wonder why accomplices not revealed.Sure there were inconsistencies and illogical stuff - but not any more than the bloody Crichton films which most of the time require you have to forget you have a brain - yet take themselves VERY seriously.
(And no, I'm not Jewish).First off, Melanie Griffith as a hard-boiled cop is like casting Prissy from "Gone With The Wind" as Dirty Harry.
Even if she was, wouldn't you expect someone who grew up in New York to have at least *some* familiarity with Judaism?She treats every one of the Hasidim with arrogant condescension, in the type of "rude asshole" role that makes a viewer's teeth ache, yet we're supposed to somehow care whether, by the end of the movie, she's managed to understand and perhaps even respect them somewhat.
Director Sidney Lumet is no hack - his resume includes classics such as "The Pawnbroker," "Serpico," "Dog Day Afternoon," and "Network." But every artist is entitled to the occasional misstep, and at least "A Stranger Among Us" is more an interesting failure than the outright disaster "The Wiz" was.Lumet is dealing with a number of problems here, first and foremost among them a meandering script that can't quite decide what its main storyline should be.
Ostensibly a crime drama centering on the murder of a merchant in Manhattan's diamond district (the stretch of 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues), it persists in wandering off in two other directions - Brooklyn's Hassidim community and its age-old traditions, and the threat of forbidden love between one of its members and the detective assigned to the case.
Less compelling are those moments involving Ariel and Emily of the NYPD, since their interest in each other strains credulity, not only because their backgrounds make it unlikely, but due to the lack of any chemistry between Eric Thal and Melanie Griffith.Griffith is Lumet's other major problem here.
No doubt she was cast because at the time she was still Hollywood's flavor-of-the-month, but we are asked to suspend disbelief and accept her not only as a New York police officer, but as one who would be selected to go undercover and infiltrate the Jewish community and live with them as one of their own.
Yet - oddly enough - although plainly she's out of her element, the fish-out-of-water aspects of the story just don't work.By the time whodunit is revealed, you may not care who was responsible for the nearly-forgotten crime lost in a jumble of sub-plots - but give it a moment or two of thought and you'll wonder how the victim's body could have been hidden where it was by the person implausibly identified as the killer.
It's a plot twist that just isn't quite - forgive the pun - kosher.The actors cast as the elder Jews and the atmosphere in which they live and worship add an air of authenticity that's missing from any of the scenes involving police procedures.
John Pankow, Mia Sara, and Jamey Sheridan do well in their small supporting roles, and James Gandolfini makes an appearance as a thug in a foreshadowing of his career as Tony Soprano, but Eric Thal is saddled with the almost impossible task of making us believe he would forsake his strong religious beliefs and dedication to Kabbalah for the hard-talking, gun-toting Griffith.Despite its many flaws, "A Stranger Among Us" is one of those films that makes a long flight, rainy day, or dateless Friday night easier to endure.
The main point of the movie, as far as I am concerned, is to portray aspects of the Hasidic community, which most people do not know much about.
(SPOILERS) Earlier reviewers have focused on this film as a rip-off of 'Witness.' But let's take it on its own terms.A Chasidic diamond dealer, Yaakov Klausman, is reported missing.
A cynical, assertive NYC cop, Emily (Melanie Griffith), is assigned to investigate.
(I guess Chasidic corpses don't start to smell after a couple of days like the rest of us.) Emily then decides she must live among the Chasidim to learn about their community, to prevent further murders, because the murder looked like an inside job, a possibility considered unthinkable by the Jews.
Emily makes friends with the Rebbe's daughter Leah, played by (the very Italian) Mia Sara (obviously owing to the scarcity of Jewish actresses in America).
Melanie Griffith is horribly miscast and would fool not one Hacedic Jew in Crown Heights with her undercover role.
And he's Jewish which should have told him that this was a script to stay away from.Melanie Griffith stars as a New York City homicide cop who catches the case of a young Hassidic man who works in the diamond district as many do stabbed to death.
I thought Melanie Griffith was horrible in "Working Girl" but she was even worse in this movie.
It goes without saying that this film is a total "Witness" ripoff, except now the tough-guy cop is a woman (Griffith) and the religious setting is within the Hasidic Jewish community instead of the Amish.
"Witness"= superb, "Stranger"stinko).The first scene shows Emily Eden (Griffith)and her partner in front of a club, reminiscing about their "rock" days, and how bad they are.
We cannot buy Griffith as a tough talking rebel cop with that Betty Boop voice of hers, and it's easy to see why "Stranger Among Us" is one of the top 10 "butt of movie jokes" films of all time..
She thinks it's an inside job and goes undercover in the community with the help of the rebbe's adopted son (Eric Thal) and daughter Leah (Mia Sara).
Emily (Melanie Griffith) is a tough New York City detective.
Her new friends in the community include handsome Ariel (Eric Thal), who is destined to become the new rabbi, unmarried-but- looking-for-a-good-husband Leah (Mia Sara), who is kind and understanding, and Mara (Tracy Pollan), who was engaged to the missing man.
Griffith gives a terrific performance as Emily, a role which requires her to be a tough-as-nails cop AND a caring woman at the same time.
Griffith strikes out as a police woman who goes undercover in New York's Hissidic Jewish community to solve the disappearance of a young jewelry shop keeper whom she ultimately discovers murdered..From one of the opening scenes when Griffith asserts her character as a tough talking, trigger happy cowboy, or girl in this instance, we know the plot is headed for ridicule.
For one thing, Griffath, who looks like she's lived the hard party life she has, looks way too old for Thal, as she does for all her leading men.
Thal tries to play it straight as the fledgling rabbi but has only his costume to work with.The whole thing plays out like kind of a reverse version of the Harrison Ford film 'Witness' Only the plot is much less imaginative and the romance can not find any foothold here.
Griffith is touching as the undercover "police-person" working overtime to protect her shell -- it's precisely because she looks and sounds so soft that her attempts to act hard work.
I thought the movie did an excellent job of personalizing the hasadic atmosphere and the effect it had upon Melanie in changing her outlook on life..
Nice plot line but the whole thing falls on its butt because of Melanie Griffith's weak acting.
In both films, the internal richness of the social bonding within these closed communities is shown in contrast to the helter-skelter on and off relationships in our self-confessed "liberated" society.It's too bad that Melanie Griffith, whose films I keep going to see in hopes she will eventually learn to act, does not have what it takes.
Melanie Griffiths, displays an excellent performance as Emily Eden, the detective/cop.
Detective Emily Eden (Melanie Griffith) is assigned to find him and missing diamonds.
Has Emily and/or others learned from the experience?Bottom line: If you love to explore other cultures, if you are Jewish, if you live in close proximity to Jews, definitely watch the movie.
Melanie GriffithDespite the glaring weakness of miscasting Melanie Griffith in the role of Emily Eden, A Stranger Among Us still remains one of the better films I have liked in the last 15 years.
I give it the favored status based on the cinematography and the strength of Sidney Lumet's direction in showing the world a side of New York the few people would see otherwise.While some of the elements of the story are indeed quite fascinating to watch, some of the others are flat-out hard to watch.
Griffith's character (Detective Emily Eden) tries to come across as sympathetic by dying her hair and going undercover to catch the killer, but looks too much like a Cover Girl® model to be convincing as either a Hassidim or as a cop.There was some good supporting cast around her in the film, but all in all, while I found the film fun to watch for the cultural value, Griffith's performance  and especially that of Burtt Harris  who plays Emily's loathsomely dysfunctional father, was just not enough to carry the day in this film.On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this film a 5/10.
Melanie Griffith creates a many-sided, believable character as the detective, and Eric Thal is wonderful as the Rebbe's adopted son, he plays his role with passion and vulnerability, but also an inner strength.
Beautiful blonde police detective Melanie Griffith (as Emily Eden) loses the services of her lover and partner in a shooting.
Her next assignment is to investigate the disappearance of a well-respected man in New York City's Hasidic Jewish community.
Suspecting an inside job, Ms. Griffith goes undercover as a Hasidic Jewish woman.
Melanie Griffith builds a strong characterization as an unsentimental homicide detective, who goes undercover to probe the murder of a Hasidic diamond cutter.
It does something to your soul." And after the very brief, not overly graphic latter sequence, Griffith shows both grit and mercy to a dying thug played by a fine actor in a debut role, who cries, "I'm so scared." Lumet's camera looks sharply down at him as she lets him hold her hand as he dies.Thematically, A Stranger Among Us is definitely a Sidney Lumet film.
The movie is clearly recycling the Witness/Beverly Hills Cop fish-out-of-water convention, but Lumet and Avrech's steadiest level of operation is not in telling a whodunit mystery which basically hibernates for a good portion of the film just to resurface at the climax seemingly to recap us on an overlooked job half-done.While there are a couple of imaginatively worked and remarkable enough moments of action, one introducing Griffiths' character with expert terseness, and one much later, such sequential touches blanch in contrast to the enigma of a people's dedication to a god, the enigma which this minor Lumet effort attempts to explore.
Melanie goes undercover as a hasidic woman in New York.
Griffith gives a luminous performance as a confused cop going undercover to discover the murderer of a Hasidic diamond merchant.
OK, so, I myself am not the world's biggest Melanie Griffith fan, but I really enjoyed this film.
Detective Emily Eden goes undercover in a New York City Jewish community to expose a Jewish boy's killer, and she does that very well!.
After being involved in a shoot-out at a mid-town Manhattan movie house where her partner Nick,Jamey Sheridan, was stabbed and sent to the hospital and the perpetrator shot and killed New York Police Detective Emily Eden, Madaline Griffith, after being cleared of using unnecessary force is put on light duty on a missing person case in the Brooklyn Hasidic community.
It's only later that they find out that there's bad among all men and women no matter how law abiding their supposed to be.Even though Madiline Griffith was the star of the movie it was really actor Eric Thal who played the grand Rebe's, Lee Richardson, adopted son Ariel who stole, figuratively not literally, the acting honors in the film.
In the end Emily turned out to be right about who murdered Yaakov but even she had no idea just how close the killer was to him and his family..
She gets scolded for this, but it's no skin of her back, as she's got bigger fish to try: She's gonna move in with some Hasidic Jews after she suspects someone close in the murder of one of their own (in a corpse reveal scene so hilariously obvious I think my 8-year-old niece could have found it).Melanie Griffith is among the dumbest, most obnoxious characters I've seen in some time.
It seems inconceivable that the same man that produced Twelve Angry Men, Network, Dog Day Afternoon, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Murder on th Orient Express and Fail-Safe could produce something like A Stranger Among Us. I understand that every producer of art and media can sometimes make missteps, but this production is so flawed from its very core and goes about its business in such an offensively patronizing manner that I am unable to even fathom what he could possibly have been thinking.This film is commonly sighted as one of Lumet's failures, along with the following year's Guilty as Sin. But at least that mess had a trashy charm about it (It stars Don Johnson and Rebecca De Mornay for chrissake!) This has no such thing.
"What's new and exciting?" Detective Emily Edith is on a case in a closed Hasidic community.
Good attempt at Witness-type thriller by Sidney Lumet and star Melanie Griffith, but the true goal & direction of the film seems to change from moment to moment.
Griffith's character goes undercover in a Orthodox Jewish community but her change isn't dramatic enough to even seem undercover.
Emily (Griffith) & Ariel (Eric Thal) look at each other a lot but there aren't many sparks flying.
As a police drama it falls short there too, because we don't see Emily doing much investigating, just living among the Hasidic Jews & getting a feel & appreciation for their lifestyle.
I still recommend this movie because it has Melanie Griffth & shows a culture that is not often depicted in films..
But what irritates me that most is the blind faith that producers have when they take the plot of a great film, change it a bit and hope we won't notice that it is the exact same movie.In the case of the great 'Witness', the rip-off is 'A Stranger Among Us', a languid murder mystery which casts Melanie Griffith in the Harrison Ford role and sets her up as a cop moving into a community of Hassidic Jews instead of the Amish.She is there to solve a disappearance which is connected with the theft of some jewels so she sets herself among them to try and weed out the perpetrator.
I do not want make any bad critic but when Melanie Griffith sit first time front of the rabbi she has one type of cloth.