Having never heard of this film before, and finding it by accident on cable TV, it was immediately recognizable as a Barry Levinson work. The Baltimore setting, the diner scenes, the close-ups on car hood ornaments, and other touches serve as identification markers of its author. It is interesting to see Levinson put Baltimore in quite a different light than he did in the TV series "Homicide". "Liberty Heights" follows the predictable plot-line of many coming-of-age movies, where things happen and then people talk about them. I kept waiting for something really bad to happen, someone to be killed or dragged before the HUAC, but nothing terrible happens at all. But far from spoiling the film, it allows the viewer to concentrate on the characters' experience and the changing direction of their lives. This is a film about Baltimore's distinct ethnic groups in the 1950's, but there is no sharp edge to it. Rather, "Liberty Heights" shows hope for tolerance and the breakdown of sharp socio-economic boundaries. The message is not hammered home; it's just there for the grasping if you wish to see it this way. Otherwise, it's a pleasantly diverting soap opera with typically Levinsonian cinematography, editing, and use of music.