Enemies: A Love Story

Release Year: 1989

Director: Paul Mazursky

Review: Talk about a love tangle.  Our hero, Herman(Ron Silver), a Jewish Holocaust survivor, has managed to get himself involved with three women at once.  Taking place in New York City shortly after the conclusion of World War II, there is an interesting dynamic of a host of Jewish survivors dealing with what they went through.  Many, like Herman, have all but given up on their faith, questioning how a God could be so cruel to them, and hence how Herman got himself into his predicament.  There is a lot to like about the themes presented here.  There are the struggles of faith, coping with tragedy as well as the factors of love and what commitment means.  The problem is that its utterly bland.  I couldn't get invested in any of Herman's struggles.  Not only did I think he was a miserable person, but he wasn't even an interesting miserable person.  I have no idea how he managed to get one person to love him, never mind three.  The entire movie felt disorganized and didn't feel like it really knew what it was trying to tell.  Its definitely more drama than anything, and yet it does play to the comedy side as well.  Only I didn't find the plight of the woman funny, I only felt pity.  There is plenty of meat to sink your teeth into with this film, only its too unfocused to really reign in what could have been a meaningful story.
Rating: 3/5