Gave me a better understanding of what it's like to live in modern Israel.
Comment
09/13/04
The Holy Land (2003)
53 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 53
Fresh: 28
Rotten:25
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Consensus: This messy coming-of-age tale is of interest only because of where the story takes place.
Theatrical Release:Jul 11, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: Mendy (Oren Rehany) is a young man living in Bnei Brak, Israel, struggling to keep his mind focused on rabbinical school. His family is supportive of him, and they realize that adolescence involves... [More]
Starring: Saul Stein, Tchelet Semel, Albert Illuz, Arie Moskuna
Director: Eitan Gorlin
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Reviews for The Holy Land
A mixed bag.
08/13/04
A stimulating cinematic experience in every sense.
01/23/04
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.
12/15/03
The flat dialogue and cardboard characters often undercut any social points that Gorlin seems on the verge of scoring.
12/04/03
An unholy mess.
11/28/03
Casts intriguing characters in interesting situations but leaves them adrift in a disjointed narrative that gives away its conclusion too early.
11/28/03
Top CriticToo many characters, each too quickly drawn, hobble the film's momentum.
11/21/03
Top CriticGorlin's vignettes work only in fits and starts, and his plodding pace makes 96 minutes seem like so many hours.
11/18/03
putting a human face on the same tribulations that many face in Jerusalem
11/04/03
A bit of a mess.
11/01/03
Top CriticGorlin'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.
10/31/03
[Gorlin] tries to bring in too many elements without laying the groundwork for them or placing them in context.
10/31/03
The screenplay doesn't have enough force to take us anywhere particularly interesting.
10/31/03
Gorlin supposedly based this material on some of his own experiences in Israel, but it still seems overly familiar.
10/24/03
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.
10/24/03
The film doesn't hit with the impact it should.
10/17/03
Fails to capture the anguish and struggles of an ultra-Orthodox Jew adapting to a more secular world.
10/16/03
The movie flounders in a way that calls too much attention to itself -- and is hurt by jarring and unbelievable plot twists.
10/10/03
Top CriticA fairly standard coming -of-age drama.
10/10/03
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