The Chosen

Set in New York during the 1940s, The Chosen follows two Jewish teenage boys who are determined to stay friends even though their families stand far apart. Reuven Malter is the son of a professor with Zionist views, while Danny Saunders grows up under the strict hand of a Hasidic rabbi who disapproves of the company his son keeps. The two are drawn to each other across the divide, and that closeness is tested by the different worlds they come from.

The film is a drama directed by Jeremy Kagan, arriving between The Big Fix and The Sting II in his filmography. Edwin Gordon wrote the screenplay, and Ely A. Landau and Edie Landau produced it. Barry Miller plays Reuven and Robby Benson plays Danny, with Maximilian Schell and Rod Steiger as the two fathers, alongside Hildy Brooks and Kaethe Fine. Twenty-seven cast members are credited.

Released in August 1981, the film runs 107 minutes. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.5 from 114 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.1 from 29 votes. A critics' rating of 6.4 from 12 reviews places it close to the audience scores. The vote counts point to a modest reach rather than a wide following, with the two audience ratings differing by roughly half a point.