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Better Late Then Never

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I think this is a delightful documentary that brings together all of the elements of the best and worst of small town communities, in this case, Levittown, U.S.A. Like many of Errol Morris' documentaries, this film focuses on the eccentricities of `normal' people to the point where that very phrase `normal' becomes meaningless. There's no such thing as normal! I suppose different people will view some of the people in this film negatively, but that is where the viewers are coming from, not the filmmakers. It's all a matter of personal perception. It takes all kinds to make a world, and I personally felt this film celebrated that, whether I agreed with the points of views of the people who were featured, or related to any of their `eccentricities'. To me, some people's lives seemed a bit bland, but then I remembered that prior to the war, many of them lived in big cities with sub-standard housing and they had none of the creature comforts that we all take for granted today. Still, I've always wondered why the communities that display the highest percentage of American flags are segregated communities. Is that really the American dream for so many people? Someone in this documentary mentioned that there were Asians in Levittown but I didn't see any in this film. Nor was there any mention of the fact that there were/are no African-Americans, Hispanics, Gay people or God forbid (!) Arab-Americans in Levittown, although it's obvious to anyone with eyes. What any segregated (intentional or otherwise) community produces is a community that is pretty limited. But that is America, like it or not. Most people don't know or even want to know what lies beyond the confines of their community. America is one big country filled with various small town mentalities. I don't think that's entirely a bad thing. Small towns are often great. I live in a big city where people rarely live in one place more than two or three years and almost never get to know their neighbours, much less ever become close friends with them. People in small towns are generally kinder to their neighbours since they know that they'll be seeing a lot of them over the years. And the feeling of a community is a wonderful thing. But this documentary does show in parts how living in a generic society with one common but very limited experience of the world can be quite suffocating, mentally and emotionally. Multiply that by thousands of communities across the country and one can see where it can even be a dangerous thing. The best thing about this film is that it shows that it is our eccentricities, hobbies and even occasional delusions that keep us healthy. It illustrates how this country is strong not because of how generic or patriotic it is, but because of the warmth and imagination of its people. What's wrong with someone who collects kitschy illustrated plates, or fancies that their house is haunted? I can judge for myself that it's not anything I can relate to, but who am I to judge others? It's documentaries like this that can really make us see ourselves much better in how we look at and judge others. To me, an ideal community (and what this wonderful melting pot of a country we live in is all about) would be Levittown with people of all races and walks of life living together peacefully. Add a few nice restaurants, a great museum, a few terrific cinemas, DVD stores, and bookstores, and that would be paradise to me. In the meantime, I can appreciate the rich experience this film gave me in broadening my view of America.

This movie reminds me very much of the semi-accurate documentary "Roger And Me". It begins with an interesting overview of the origins of Levittown, including archival footage of interviews with William Levitt, who conceived the idea. Initially, the movie seems to take efforts to show the types of people who lived or continue to reside in this planned community.There are many people interviewed who are evidently the original homeowners, and quite often they are just average, everyday people giving their view on life in Levittown. But then there are some others who appear when the satirical element begins in this film. One of the more amusing is the woman who's house is haunted with ghosts (or so she says) or the couple who notice their neighbor walking three different dogs, three times a day.But one of the more irritating is the seemingly contrived performance of a wannabe karaoke singer who lets us sit in on his therapy session. While he pours out his feelings of worthlessness and of being "trapped" in the town, one can only wonder if this poor soul is nothing more than a wannabe comic auditioning for a gig with an unfunny bit of putdown shtick. The mere idea that living in Levittown puts people in therapy seems to be a silly, politically correct notion that is just so worn out, it's not even believable.There are two notable people who show up in the film: Bill Griffith, creator of the comic strip "Zippy the Pinhead"; and Eddie Money, the '80's singer best known for hit hit "Two Tickets To Paradise" (Money actually is shown perforiming his anthem before an audience at his alma-mater). The contrasts between each of them is very evident. Griffith, like the lame karaoke singer, seems to take pride in belittling Levittown, while Money, who does express that he moved on, still seems to be fond of the place.The satire actually works in a few instances, the more memorable moment being the intercutting of a real estate agent giving the viewer a tour of a home up for sale, all the while trying to put the best spin on an otherwise sad situation. On the other hand, there seems to be a real effort made to portray the VFW veterans as buffoons during a flag-buring ceremony.This wasn't a bad film, but more like one that just ran out of steam. The interesting personalities in the beginning of the film expand out a small amount, but the tone really turns to more of a mocking one in the end. This comes off somewhat condescending as if the message were it's tragic if one were to live or be raised in suburbia.

he goes around this womans house .. she obviously has some kinda mental problem and he edits it to make fun of her "i dont drop knives" (cut to her dropping a knife) .. cold man, real cold. another deal is the whole VFW thing.. theres a reason those people act like they do.. its because they saw their friends bodies ripped apart by explosions and bullets in some far off place theyd never heard of..... they heard them scream while their blood ran cold.. youd probably develop a few rituals if it happened to you.. it seems like this movie is just about crap that maybe looks funny from outside, fine for a laugh, but...where are the deeper stories behind these people.. like Chinua Achebe might say.. despair and hopelessness comes from being cut off from who you are.. the why and the how of your past.. so.. what does this movie give the children of levittown? "i come from a long line of elvis plate collectors"? there is more to these people than plate collecting but the movie leaves it all out.. that dog walking guy is pretty funny though.

This is my personal favorite film of the year. I was expecting more of a criticism of the town, but the film is really just a set of portraits of some eccentric residents of the town. The film is a bit of a ready-made - these characters are absolute gems. The film-making is also clever - the portrayals are cleverly interwoven so that the personalities unfold in surprising ways as the film goes on. The film was all I wanted to talk about for about a week after I saw it and I really wish I could see it again.