Avalon (1990)

IMDb plot summary:  A Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.

Directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth Perkins, and Leo Fuchs.

Avalon follows a Jewish immigrant man and his family in the early days of television. We begin with his initial journey to assimilate into the United States and then follow his family's attempts to become successful. A lot of this, though not all, is told through the eyes of young grandson, played by Elijah Wood. Although I've been able to sum up the story reasonably succinctly there, the story is not that coherent in terms of what is actually about. It shifts constantly from focusing on the grandfather, the father, and the son in ways that I found occasionally a little jarring. I'm happy to believe that's my problem, rather than the movie's, but it does mean that the ending, which makes it sound as if the film was meant to be centered around the main patriarch the whole time, hits a little strangely. The movie definitely has some good moments and a couple plot threads that I found really engaging, and and the many scenes of the whole family interacting were always enjoyable and fascinating to watch, with all these personalities coming to the forefront. But something about the movie just falls short for me at the end. A good effort that doesn't quite land.

How it entered my Flickchart:

Avalon < Port of Shadows

Avalon > 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Avalon > 10

Avalon < Life of Pi

Avalon > Bananas

Avalon > The Subject Was Roses

Avalon < The Lost Boys

Avalon < The Core

Avalon > Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

Avalon < Laura

Avalon < The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer

Avalon < Happy Gilmore

Final spot: #2114 out of 3672, or 42%.