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It's always a pleasure to watch four fine actors working at the top of their craft, even better when they're wrestling with themes of importance rather than superficial fluff. In that spirit, I recommend Levity, a new
film opening this Friday.

Its main character is Manual Jordan (Billy Bob Thornton), who opens the movie in jail. We discover that he's spent 21 years in the pen for armed robbery and murder. And when he comes up before the parole board, he argues that he deserves to serve his full sentence--"As for me, I know I'll never be redeemed." This is not your typical prisoner. The parole board sees it differently, though, and they release him to the cold streets of the city.

Freedom isn't all it's cracked up to be (maybe that's why Jordan didn't want to leave prison), and he wanders aimlessly until he meets Miles Evans (Morgan Freeman), the director of an inner-city community center. Evans has worked out a deal with a dance club next door. He'll let young people park in his lot for free. The only catch is that they have to listen to his sermon for fifteen minutes before they can head in to the club for a night of debauchery. Evans offers Jordan a job as the "God boy." Jordan has to stand outside the center each night, making sure that everyone who parks does his fifteen minutes of time. That's how he comes to meet Sophie (Kirsten Dunst), a beautiful teenager whose partying lifestyle is a desperate attempt to mask the emptiness of her life.

During the day, Jordan spends his time spying on and then meeting Adele (Holly Hunter). As we soon learn, Adele is the mother of the boy Jordan killed 21 years before. Adele doesn't know who Jordan is, though, and we spend much of the film wondering how she'll react when she finds out. It's not quite clear what Jordan is after--a relationship? forgiveness? transcendence? But his growing friendship with Adele is handled
beautifully, even if it's an explosion waiting to happen. There hasn't been much joy in Adele's life these last 21 years, and now she's struggling with her teenage son, who might be lured into the violence of gangs.

Given the characters, it's not surprising that Levity is a movie about the search for redemption. Can you make up for a horrible wrong that you've done? Can you change the direction that your life is taking? Can one person actually save another? Screenwriter and first-time director Ed Solomon claims that the movie isn't about a spiritual quest but rather about forgiveness, but that doesn't ring true. Some of the religious metaphors
are unfortunately obvious. The call that Jordan receives to work at the community center comes literally out of nowhere, as if God himself were speaking. Though Jordan's first name is Manual, it sounds like Immanuel,
one of the names for Jesus, and of course his last name has deep religious significance as both the boundary of the Promised Land and the place where Jesus was baptized. Then, there's how he looks--the long hair lying
straight is pretty much the hair of prophets (or Jesus) as we've seen it in countless Bible adaptations.

The lack of subtlety in these references is reinforced by the number of times characters stop to preach. That might be Miles Evans's job, but that doesn't mean everyone else has to bring the narrative to a halt to offer
their two cents on the meaning of life. Regular readers of this column will know that I'm usually a passionate advocate of addressing spiritual themes in movies, but those are handled much more effectively when they're
integrated into the narrative.

Nonetheless, the film has much to recommend. The acting is flat-out fantastic. Billy Bob Thornton is usually good, but his lost soul in Levity is one of his best performances. His growing love for Adele and his attempt
to save her son are both convincing. Holly Hunter has one of her meatier roles in a while, and she throws herself into it. I had forgotten what a powerful actress she can be when given the right part. Morgan Freeman gives his usual great portrayal as an earthy preacher ready to move on. And Kirsten Dunst lights up the screen (as usual, Spiderman excepted) with charisma and genuine star power. But she also fits with the other three, never overwhelming her co-stars, but instead presenting an honest look at a young woman trying to find her place.

Though the film's direction is serviceable, the cinematography by Roger Deakins (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) is much more. His nighttime lighting is beautiful, capturing that dull orange color which permeates a city after hours. The score by Mark Oliver Everett is also effective, creating a mournful atmosphere.

Levity is a story of four imperfect people, struggling to find a purpose in life. So, despite the clunkiness of the script, the underlying message resonates with me. These are characters I care about, and their conflicts
and difficulties are a nice contrast to the shallow, easily resolved fare we often see at the movies.

The film admirably doesn't try to resolve any of its situations or give even a hint of a happy ending. One character literally runs away in the night, another pointedly rejects another, and one character takes over the
parking lot but not in a way that will satisfy those hankering for a religious epiphany. Solomon goes out of his way to emphasize that our moments of redemption are often overwhelmed by our own fallenness and the
sheer difficulties of existence. Not that despair is the answer, but we shouldn't expect magical transformations, not in this life at least.

J. Robert Parks 4/21/2003