a stranger among us

Director: sidney lumet

Actor: melanie griffith,eric thal,john pankow,tracy pollan

Data Published: Fri Jul 17 1992

Genres: Crime,Drama,Romance

Key Words: movie flop,undercover,murder,jewish,diamond

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105483/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Stranger_Among_Us

Description: A Stranger Among Us is a movie starring Melanie Griffith, Eric Thal, and John Pankow. Emily, a tough NYPD cop, is sent to an orthodox Jewish community to investigate a missing person plus $720,000 in missing diamonds. To solve what...

Plot: Hardened New York City homicide detective Emily Eden (Melanie Griffith), daughter of a divorced former cop, and her partner Nick (Jamey Sheridan) attempt to arrest two drug dealers. However, Nick is stabbed by one of the dealers, whom Emily wounds instead of alerting assistance. As a result, she temporarily has her gun taken away by her superior Lt. Oliver (David Margulies). After Nick is hospitalized, eventually heading to recovery, while the dealers have been apprehended, Emily goes undercover to investigate the murder of a Hasidic diamond-cutter named Yaakov Klausman (Jake Weber). She questions the family of the Hasidic rebbe (Lee Richardson), an elderly Holocaust survivor who is revered for his wisdom and compassion toward his fellow Jews. He says to her, "You and I have something in common: We are both intimately familiar with evil. It does something to your soul." While living with the rebbe's family, Emily changes her appearance and takes a liking to his son, Ariel (Eric Thal), a young man who works as a diamond-cutter but teaches in the yeshiva and is expected to follow his father as the next rebbe. In addition to keeping all 613 Mitzvot, he is waiting for his intended, or basherte, the daughter of a Paris rebbe whom he has not yet actually met. They are the subjects of an arranged marriage, but he believes that she is his soul mate, chosen by God. He is also studying the Kabbalah, which is regarded as rather daring for a man under 40. Its discussion of sexual intimacy is restrained but specific, as well as a metaphor for the relationship between Man and God. Emily finds out that the "inside man" in the murder plot is the rebbe's adopted daughter Mara (Tracy Pollan), who had been living a disorderly life until Yaakov introduced her to the rebbe. Afterwards, she joined the community as a repentant baalat tshuva, "one who has returned," until a person from her past approached her and she let him into the Diamond Center to steal diamonds worth about $750,000 and kill Yaakov. After a dinner with the rebbe's family, Emily arrests the Baldessari brothers Anthony (James Gandolfini) and Christopher (Chris Latta) for blackmailing the rebbe's daughter Leah (Mia Sara) into working for them and Yaakov's murder. The brothers, however, manage to escape, running from Emily. In the ensuing chase, Emily's new partner Levine (John Pankow) who has alerted assistance is injured, while Emily kills the brothers. Before succumbing to his wounds, Anthony tearfully admits to Emily that he and Christopher were not responsible for Yaakov's death, then Emily and Ariel finally believe Anthony. Having solved the case such as Mara now an accessory to murder, Emily rejects Nick's proposal, secretly romances Ariel to overcome her personal problems, and returns to the rebbe's home with him, but finds that Mara has taken Leah hostage. After Emily attempts to negotiate, Mara knocks her out, and Ariel kills Mara with Emily's revolver, avenging Yaakov. Ariel comments that sometimes an evil deed has a partially good result. Emily is hospitalized for an examination, while the rebbe and his family say goodbye to her. Ariel and his basherte Shayna Singer (Rena Sofer) get married, in which a now-recovered Emily watches from a distance. Eventually, she returns to work and catches up with an also now-recovered Levine, who is on leave and invites her on a two-week trip to Aruba. However, she declines and decides to wait for her bashert.