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09/20/03
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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
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07/10/03
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12/02/03
The things these characters say to one another, the fakery in their interactions, deflates scene after scene.
07/24/03
Interesting and depressing look into life in Israel - where your next bus ride could be your last and sin is available in all forms if you know where to look.
08/08/03
An unholy mess.
11/28/03
The Holy Land's plot has too much going on, with no threads satisfactorily developed or resolved.
07/01/03
[Gorlin] tries to bring in too many elements without laying the groundwork for them or placing them in context.
10/31/03
Casts intriguing characters in interesting situations but leaves them adrift in a disjointed narrative that gives away its conclusion too early.
11/28/03
Gorlin supposedly based this material on some of his own experiences in Israel, but it still seems overly familiar.
10/24/03
[The] passive hero and his strict Hollywood three-act structure eventually give the film an all-too-ordinary tone.
10/10/03
Gorlin's vignettes work only in fits and starts, and his plodding pace makes 96 minutes seem like so many hours.
11/18/03
A fairly standard coming -of-age drama.
10/10/03
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
Setting out to be deliberately provocative, The Holy Land splits into 3 pseudo-controversial movies, each less dangerous than one well-conceived story could have been.
07/24/03
The screenplay doesn't have enough force to take us anywhere particularly interesting.
10/31/03
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
Forgettable and rather amateurish.
07/07/03
A bit of a mess.
11/01/03
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