CNN.com - Review: 'Focus' on target for now
Rachel Young 
By Paul Clinton
CNN Reviewer
(CNN) -- Set in Brooklyn in the 1940's during a rapidly changing world at war, "Focus" was the first novel by legendary playwright Arthur Miller. It has now been made into a feature film with the help of Miller's son Robert, who served as the movie's producer, and first-time director Neal Slavin, who has nurtured the material for decades.
"Focus" was controversial at the time of its publication for its stark look at the rampant Anti-Semitism raging in some corners of American society. Its themes continue to be controversial today.
William H. Macy plays Lawrence Newman, an extraordinarily ordinary man. He lives a little life, on a little street, in a little house. A life, a street, and a house that are exactly like thousands -- if not millions -- of others. He holds a meaningless little job in Manhattan where he is happily serving as just another cog, in just another wheel. It's a dangerous world and Newman does not want to stand out.
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Then two things happen. He meets a woman, and he buys a pair of eyeglasses. The woman is Gertrude Hart (Laura Dern), a loud, brash, sensual person who sweeps Newman away with the shear force of her exuberance. The eyeglasses are a sturdy black pair that give Newman a whole new look -- a look that many think is Jewish.
Suddenly Newman is the focus of a lot of unwanted attention. His burly neighbor Fred (Michael Lee Aday, a.k.a. Meatloaf), is a blatant bigot. Another neighbor, Finkelstein (David Paymer), runs a newsstand down the street and is the object of Fred's hostility and violence.
As tensions grow to the breaking point, Gertrude and Lawrence must decide whether to join the bigots, flee the neighborhood, or stand up against the hatred (let others believe what they will concerning their religion and heritage), and to stand in another person shoes, while that person is being persecuted by others.
"Focus" is a story about fear. It's a story about ignorance. It's a story about hatred. It's a story that unfortunately is completely relevant in today's world.
Slavin has captured on film the smallness, the sameness, the overwhelming conformity of that time and place. You can feel the fear sucking the oxygen out of the air, as Lawrence and Gertrude slowly see their world come apart. Neither are Jewish. But that's not the point. They slowly realize they live in a world where perception is more important then reality. A place where the herd mentality is king. A place where you go along, in order to get along.
A place where one man, one woman -- one voice -- can make a difference.
Macy's controlled performance is expertly nuanced as his character makes this inner journey from ignorance, to fear, to redemption and acceptance. Dern is as equally effective in her role as the tender and hopeful Gertrude -- a lonely woman looking for love in an increasingly complex world. They both give beautifully measured performances.
Paymer is also excellent as Finkelstein, an ordinary Joe, just trying to make a living and raise his family. This quiet Jewish man's inner strength is vital to the story, and Paymer plays him just right, without ever swerving into stereotypes.
"Focus" is an oddly cold film about a hot topic. It holds you outside itself, and makes you look at bigotry with an almost clinical perspective.
As a playwright, Miller has always loved examining the cracks in the American Dream. Ordinary men struggling with dark secrets and powerful dilemmas are his stock in trade. "Focus" is no exception.
"Focus" opens limited on Friday, November 2 and has a rating of "PG-13" with a running time of 100 minutes.
