While American forces are fighting Fascism in Europe and Asia during World War II, back home anti-semitism is rife. Larry Newman, William H. Macy, personnel officer for a secretarial company, lives with his mother in the suburbs. Larry has to screen prospective employees, and Jews, or suspected Jews, are out; one of the victims of this prejudice is Gertrude Hart, Laura Dern. When Larry loses his job, because his new glasses make him look Jewish, he manages to get a job at a Jewish owned business where Gertrude works, and soon they`re married. But their neighbour, Fred, Meat Loaf Aday, is violently anti-semitic and a member of a secret society led by a Christian churchman. Finkelstein, David Paymer, the local storekeeper, is the first victim. As tensions increase the Newmans find themselves marginalised by the community...Focus is adapted by Kendrew Lascelles from a 1945 novel by playwright Arthur Miller, which was written just before Miller became famous with plays like All My Sons and Death Of A Salesman and just before films like Gentleman`s Agreement and Crossfire, which attacked anti-semitism. Though its heart is in the right place, Focus, directed by Neal Slavin, is extremely heavy-handed. There are no subtleties here; every point is rammed home with dogged seriousness. William H. Macy, is fine at playing the put-upon Everyman, but the production design - houses with brightly coloured interiors - looks more 70s than 40s, and the supporting characters never rise above the stereotype. A big disappointment.
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