Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 54
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 26
This messy coming-of-age tale is of interest only because of where the story takes place.
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 19
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 9
This messy coming-of-age tale is of interest only because of where the story takes place.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 494
A coming-of-age saga set against the tense backdrop of Arab-Israeli politics. Mendy is a young Rabbinical student whose mind is too full of curiosity about the world that exists outside the restrictions of Orthodox Judaism. Recognizing his distraction, Mendy's teacher suggests that he visit a prostitute to "get it out of his system." But on a fateful night, when he meets Sacha, a captivating Russian expatriate, who works in a Tel Aviv bordello, his appetite for outside experience only grows
Jul 11, 2003 Wide
Sep 7, 2004
CAVU Releasing
All Critics (57) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (28) | Rotten (26)
Casts intriguing characters in interesting situations but leaves them adrift in a disjointed narrative that gives away its conclusion too early.
Too many characters, each too quickly drawn, hobble the film's momentum.
A bit of a mess.
[Gorlin] tries to bring in too many elements without laying the groundwork for them or placing them in context.
The movie flounders in a way that calls too much attention to itself -- and is hurt by jarring and unbelievable plot twists.
A surprisingly poignant coming-of-age tale about a Yeshiva student's soul-searching walk on the wild side.
Gave me a better understanding of what it's like to live in modern Israel.
A mixed bag.
A stimulating cinematic experience in every sense.
The Holy Land espouses love and sex and in the wrong, or right places, and doesn't flinch, even if the story wanders off into an occasional dramatic desert.
The flat dialogue and cardboard characters often undercut any social points that Gorlin seems on the verge of scoring.
An unholy mess.
Gorlin's vignettes work only in fits and starts, and his plodding pace makes 96 minutes seem like so many hours.
putting a human face on the same tribulations that many face in Jerusalem
Gorlin's main agenda is to show that young Mendy hasn't at all found the respite from Judaism he perceives, but there's just as much torque to the relationship between this naïf and his hooker of choice.
The screenplay doesn't have enough force to take us anywhere particularly interesting.
Gorlin supposedly based this material on some of his own experiences in Israel, but it still seems overly familiar.
Director-writer Eitan Gorlin provides flashes of the dire straits of Jerusalem life ... but fails in the end to bring them together into a relatable or sympathetic story.
The film doesn't hit with the impact it should.
Fails to capture the anguish and struggles of an ultra-Orthodox Jew adapting to a more secular world.
The peyes being cut as a symbol of disillusionment is pretty poignant and sad. Rather depressing movie but pure talent from the mostly unknown actors.
March 22, 2007
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