Product Description

Billy Bob Thornton stars as a man who is free after serving 19 years in prison for killing a teenager during an attempted robbery. After nearly two decades of staring at his victim's face on a newspaper clipping in his cell, the paroled man attempts to find redemption, in the form of a mysterious minister (Freeman) and two needy women (Dunst and Hunter). Based on a true story.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59988 in DVD
• Brand: THORNTON,BILLY BOB
• Released on: 2003-08-26
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

Amazon.com
An all-star cast play vivid characters in Levity, about an ex-con named Manual Jordan (Billy Bob Thornton) who finds the sister (Holly Hunter) of the young man he killed many years ago, seeking forgiveness. By accident, he gets involved with a preacher (Morgan Freeman) who has his own demons; Jordan ends up as the custodian of a soup kitchen with a parking lot that also serves patrons of a nearby club, so long as those patrons are willing to sit through 15 minutes of a sermon by the preacher. The narrative depends on a lot of coincidences and some implausible behavior--but the story is secondary. Levity focuses on the characters, which are brought to life by the excellent cast (including Kirsten Dunst as a self-destructive club-goer). The movie lays out its themes of redemption and atonement a bit heavily, but it creates some very human moments along the way. --Bret Fetzer

From The New Yorker
Anything but. Ed Solomon's dreary début film about alienation and redemption stars Billy Bob Thornton (in a Jesus wig) as an ex-con revisiting the scene of his crime. He's befriended by a group of sad sacks (Morgan Freeman, Holly Hunter, and Kirsten Dunst, among others) and responds with endless bouts of haunted introspection. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Beauty in strange packages
I wish I could fill my library with movies exactly like this. When I first saw this movie, I sort of watched it in shock. Stories of this quality are so rare! First and foremost, this is about forgiveness. Each character in our story feels that they have failed in some way, and they're not sure how to simply make it right. To make peace. Large mistakes, little mistakes, these little devils tend to stay with us, sowing the seeds is discontent.
Manual Jordan (Billy Bob Thorton) is released from jail after 20 years and embarks on a mission to find redemption, although he doesn't really expect to find it. Perhaps it is the journey that is more important to him. He finds a preacher (Morgan Freeman) who is trying to reach a bunch of teenagers and steer them away from the destructive lifestyles they're leading. He runs a makeshift church/soup kitchen across the street from a local dance club.
Manual also comes in to the life of a woman (Holly Hunter) who is trying to steer her son away from the gang street life he is falling in to. By far my favorite piece of this story is played by the beautiful Kirsten Dunst. She is the emotional heart of the story as the confused party girl who dreams of a better life, but has no idea how to get there. Suffering from low self-esteem and an angry alcoholic mother, she drifts closer to harms way each night.
What is story has to offer is emotions in raw form. What would any of us do in extreme circumstances? Most of us will never know. These people do. Most of their lives have been impacted by one form of violence or another. These are decent people inside. People that made bad choices. The road to hell is paved with good intentions they say and little tiny mistakes. Pretty soon these little mistakes feed on themselves and before you know it, you start having BIG lapses in good judgment. How did this happen? How did I get here? ---by many little mistakes.
What was most important to me in this story was the insight in to the fragility and strength of the human spirit. These people are not perfect. But each of them is hoping for something better, something more meaningful. A purpose, and maybe a little emotional justice. You can think of them all as wounded animals, trapped in a box. Most of them don't know how they got in there. They want out. They don't know how to get out, and they're growing increasingly desperate. It is in this dark place that they find their true characters. By looking their little devils in the face and choosing another path, they begin to find peace within themselves.

I know that this is not always a pretty picture. But sometimes you need to look at the ugliness of humanity in order to see the beauty. Beauty is there, whether we see it or not. And that's what I think this movie is, beautiful.

Interesting concept. Excellent acting. Depressing story.
The word "levity" is supposed to mean "lightness", but there is certainly nothing light about this stark drama which deals with sin and redemption. Billy Bob Thornton is cast as a troubled man who has just been released from prison for killing a convenience store clerk in a botched robbery 23 years before. He plays the role with quiet stoicism, wears his graying hair shoulder length and speaks in a gentle voice as he returns to the neighborhood where the crime was committed.

Here, he meets Morgan Freeman, a storefront preacher with a secret of his own, and he's given a job as custodian of the place. Kristin Durst is one of the lost young people who he comes in contact with, and in his own simple way, he seems to be making a difference in her life. The person he has come here to meet, however, is the sister of the young man who he had murdered. Holly Hunter is cast in this role and they start to develop a deep friendship, especially when her son gets in trouble and Billy Bob Thornton comes to his aid.

There's a sadness and melancholy to the entire film, which is set on cold dreary winter streets. It's slow, bleak and rather creepy, especially when the hero is visited over and over again by the apparition of the young man who he has murdered. I found the concept interesting, the acting excellent and the story sad and depressing. And yet, it was a fine film.

ONE OF THE 5 BEST MOVIES OF 2003
This film is what's known as a sleeper. It was basically disregarded when it came out theatrically, but what a great movie!!! The lead performances are all Oscar worthy! The cinematography by Roger Deakins is visually poetic, a series of contemporary paintings in motion. I've never seen this type of "urban" beauty in a long time. See for yourself and enjoy the subtle imagery. It's awesome.

This is a movie that says so much, it stays with you long after you've seen it. It deals with issues about the past; how difficult it can be to deal with guilt; the resignations that one must often make when things we regret cannot be changed; and how through good (and love) evil is conquered. It's a very spiritual film in many ways. I loved it, and I think that most people will appreciate it also. It's not the type of banal garbage Hollywood keeps pumping out. This is a sedate, intelligent, and enormously entertaining film. I applaud whoever had the good taste to finance it! It's simply and unpretentiously wonderful.