Legendary Director Elia Kazan's Focus

I'm a huge fan of legendary director Elia Kazan. His movies often deal with people trying to overcome their weaknesses. Be it obsessive love in "Splendor in the Grass, poverty in "A tree Grows in Brooklyn" or racism in "Gentlemen's Agreement." While looking for other movies made by Kazan, I stumbled across a movie that was based on a novel by Arthur Miller.

The movie entitled "Focus" was released by Paramount pictures in 2001. Directed by Neal Slavin, it stars William H. Macy, Laura Dern, Meat Loaf Aday, and David Paymer. Focus deals with anti-Semitism in a very realistic way.

Macy's character seems to go along with the bigots in his neighborhood and in his office, until he too is discriminated against. Once the anti-Semitism affects him personally. He decides to take a stand. At first he sat by silently and watched his boss only hire white Christian's to work in his office, and he didn't speak up when the neighborhood bullies started to harass the Jewish owner of a corner store.

Macy's character begins to see life differently once his wife and he are accused of being Jewish by the people in his very racist neighborhood. He knows he must take a stand. The reason he acted wasn't because he knew it was wrong he acted because he was now considered an outsider, and he began to experience the same looks, the same remarks, and the same brutally that Mr. Finklestein (David Pamyer) experienced.

The movie is very well written and well acted. Meat Loaf does an awesome job of playing a villain. Both Macy and Dern's performances are outstanding! I think the lesson in Focus" is, it's easier in life to go along with, instead of going against. Sometimes in order for people to take a stand things have to impact their lives or the lives of their loved ones...Only then will some find their moral compass.