Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Those are the kind of questions the viewing of this flick will trigger in your mind.First we see the opening titles against a black background. At 01m10s there's a close-up of Natalie Portman staring through a car window. It's raining. A dramatic 1980s pop song sang in Hebrew by a woman plays in the background. Natalie starts crying. At 04m27s Natalie lowers the car window. She keeps crying inconsolably. At 05m50s the song in the background starts to fade out. Natalie keeps crying. Crying, crying, crying and weeping. Singing is heard from what appears to be a procession or a funeral outside. At 06m55s Natalie rolls the car window up. Still crying. Shockingly, at 07m06s she says "can we go?" and then something in Hebrew. A dialogue ensues with a woman on the driver's seat about going somewhere. At 09m06s we hear the car engine starting. The car moves. At 09m50s something incredible happens: the camera position changes from Natalie's face where it had been up to now without interruption, to her p.o.v. in the back seat of the car. Now we see a road. I couldn't get past this point and decided to go out for a pizza. I recommend that you save your time and go straight for the pizza. It was the best thing about this movie.

This movie will not appeal to everyone, but I think it is worth taking a look nevertheless. There are many parts of this movie that seem to drag on forever, including the end. This is a "road" film, so this is also not for the weak of stomach, the films bounces much of the time. It is shot with 35mm film and provides a delightful look into the perils faced by both Palestinians and Jews living in and around Israel. It paints a very unbiased view of the situation and allows us to look at the problems faced by the two cultures as they come to terms with their own paths in life, which cross quite a bit in this film. If I was to have been the editor on this film, I would have cut out much of the beginning with all of the crying, and I would also cut out the end containing all that pointless bickering. It seems to almost belittle the situations faced by the Palestinians and the Jews. It isn't just about money.

Found this movie confusing and felt it could have been done much better. Understood some of the focus in the movie, the bringing together of 3 women from 3 cultures living in countries involved in perilous times etc. Found the length of time that the viewer was subjected to crying at the beginning of the movie too long and belaboured the point that was easily grasped in the first few minutes. The superimposing of scenes became annoying and distracted from the quality of the movie, the flashbacks were poorly done and only added to the confusion. The ending left the viewer high and dry without giving any meaning at all to it. In all I did not enjoy this movie it seemed to be allowed to just ramble along and I am amazed it won awards.

It would be easy to misunderstand or even miss the whole point of this movie. But if you can get past the endless opening scene of a sobbing Natalie Portman, by the end Gitai has explored three characters (with great acting performances), three women from different cultures, and three countries. I don't want to give away the end, but Gitai has managed to make a point about Israelis, Palestinians and, after some thought about his set-up of the character, especially Americans. This makes some of the slower, strained parts of the movie better, even makes them seem to fit together nicely. My grade might be a tad high, but it's rare when any movie maker pulls off character, acting, politics, and characters that well represent their different societies. For that, this movie gets a lot of credit.