Levity (film)

Levity
Levity
	Promotional poster
Directed by	Ed Solomon
Written by	Ed Solomon
Produced by	Richard N. Gladstein; ; Ed Solomon
Starring	Billy Bob Thornton; Morgan Freeman; Holly Hunter; Kirsten Dunst;
Cinematography	Roger Deakins
Edited by	Pietro Scalia
Music by	Mark Oliver Everett
Production; companies	StudioCanal; Revelations Entertainment
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Classics
Release date	January 16, 2003 ((Sundance Film Festival) (premiere));
Running time	100 minutes
Countries	United States; France
Language	English
Budget	$7,500,000 (estimated)[citation needed]
Box office	$723,040

Levity is a 2003 drama film directed by Ed Solomon starring Billy Bob Thornton, Morgan Freeman, Holly Hunter and Kirsten Dunst. The soundtrack was composed by Mark Oliver Everett of the band Eels. Levity was filmed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Plot[]

Manual Jordan, a man who served nearly 23 years for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery, is released on parole in spite of his objections. After spending his time staring at a clipping of Abner Easley, the boy he killed, he returns to the city he used to live in to find redemption. He ends up living at a community house which is run by Miles Evans, a preacher. He offers Manual work so he can pay for the room, and Manual places Abner's photo in his room to remind himself of his crime.

While staying at the community house, he befriends Sofia Mellinger, a wild young woman with no adult figure in her life. Manual also encounters Adele Easley, the elder sister of Abner. She does not recognize Manual and in his pursuit for forgiveness, he forms a friendship with her, and their relationship begins to develop.

Manual gets his chance for redemption when Adele's rebellious teenage son becomes involved in violence. Manual tries to befriend him and steer him in the right direction, ever mindful of the past.

Cast[]

Billy Bob Thornton as Manual Jordan
Morgan Freeman as Miles Evans
Holly Hunter as Adele Easley
Kirsten Dunst as Sofia Mellinger
as Senor Aguilar
Geoffrey Wigdor as Abner Easley
Luke Robertson as Young Abner Easley
Dorian Harewood as Mackie Whittaker
as Claire Mellinger
as Don
as Sadiki
as Abede
Diego Abella as Raul
as Ty
as Cleve
David Acer as Comedian

Reception[]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 34%, based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 5.28/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Levity could really use some, as it's weighted down by dour self-importance and a heavy-handed message."^[2] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[3]

Todd McCarthy of Variety called it "A half-baked moral fable that suffers from insufficiencies both of narrative concreteness and religious depth."^[4] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "The actors, too, bring more realism -- more gravity, if you will -- to the film than its wobbly premise deserves."^[5]

References[]

^ "Levity". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-10-10.
^ "Levity (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
^ "Levity Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
^ McCarthy, Todd (19 January 2003). "Levity". Variety.
^ Scott, A. O. (4 April 2003). "FILM IN REVIEW; 'Levity' (Published 2003)". The New York Times.

External links[]

Levity at IMDb
Levity at Box Office Mojo

[mojo-1] "Levity". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-10-10.

[2] "Levity (2003)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 4, 2020.

[3] "Levity Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 4, 2018.

[4] McCarthy, Todd (19 January 2003). "Levity". Variety.

[5] Scott, A. O. (4 April 2003). "FILM IN REVIEW; 'Levity' (Published 2003)". The New York Times.

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