Casts intriguing characters in interesting situations but leaves them adrift in a disjointed narrative that gives away its conclusion too early.
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11/28/03
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The Holy Land (2003)
56
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:18
Fresh:10
Rotten:8
Average Rating:5.9/10
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
1 - 18 (sorted by date)
Top CriticToo many characters, each too quickly drawn, hobble the film's momentum.
11/21/03
Top CriticA bit of a mess.
11/01/03
Top CriticThe 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 surprisingly poignant coming-of-age tale about a Yeshiva student's soul-searching walk on the wild side.
09/20/03
Top CriticIf the film transcends its own predictably melodramatic narrative, and on at least one level it does, it is in its refusal to oversimplify the complexities of a very complex world.
09/12/03
Top CriticGorlin lacks a coherent recipe for his savory ingredients.
09/12/03
Top Critic[Gorlin] spares no one in his powerful, scathing and somewhat-undisciplined take on contemporary life in Israel.
09/05/03
Top CriticThe performances from Rehany and Semel resonate, and the depiction of a community, and a country, where conflict and comradeship collide in unexpected ways, is deeply revealing.
08/21/03
Top CriticGorlin has a keen sense of the country's geography, and this sense of place goes a long way toward making up for rather thin characterizations.
08/15/03
Top CriticIf it's also a messy story, peopled with characters who don't know whom to trust, it almost seems as if its reflecting the current state of Israeli affairs.
07/31/03
Top CriticThe things these characters say to one another, the fakery in their interactions, deflates scene after scene.
07/24/03
Top CriticIts digressive screenplay lacks focus and momentum and is too oblique to connect many of the dots between its characters and their behavior.
07/11/03
Top CriticDirector-writer Gorlin offers little reason for the sexpot to fall for the geek -- or for Mike to befriend Mendy.
07/11/03
Top CriticMasterly coming-of-age drama.
07/11/03
Top CriticWhile director-screenwriter Gorlin occasionally allows the story to meander with little dramatic effect, he also provides a richly detailed sense of both place and character that infuses the film with a subtle truthfulness.
07/11/03
Top CriticThe actors and the flavorful Holy Land settings lend oomph and a level of exoticism to an oft-told tale of youthful disillusionment.
07/10/03
Top CriticScarcely the first Jewish text predicated on the worldly corruption of an unworldly devout, but its evocation of Israel's warring underworlds gives it additional force.
07/08/03
Top Critic1 - 18 (sorted by date)
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