Really Surprised!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I was very surprised that my 16 year old son stuck with this through endless commercials - it is, after all, just a love story. I was impressed with the portrayal of a Sephardic Jewish family in Jerusalem in the early 1940s - have we ever seen such a thing in film? I can speak from personal experience and say that, while it is a prettified and Americanized portrayal, there was an impressive level of cultural authenticity to this family. Likewise, Hanks looks and acts the part of a young pilot. The reality of young love in war-time is captured. Why are these two drawn to each other? Well, who knows. They are Tom Hanks and Cristina Marsillach - how could they not be, right? But it works. The scenes shot in and around Jerusalem and Israel are fun to see, although a scene in a shuk is much too neat and clean, and a back screen driving scene looks ridiculous by today's production standards. On the other hand, the interiors are the real deal - that's how old buildings in Jerusalem look - the shutters, the furniture, the stairways. It's real.One reviewer complains about how "prejudiced" the Cristina Marsillach character's family is - that is a much too simplistic understanding. They are a traditional Jewish family, and like many such families, in Jewish culture and in cultures all across the world, the idea of an 18 year old daughter taking off with a young outsider from another country in war time is horrifying on many levels.In the end you could read this as a love song to intermarriage, but what is impressive is the extent to which the strength of the traditional family is portrayed and allowed to make its case for its values and for the value of staying within the fold. Some family members judge harshly, but there is no denying the love they express too. That one woman, the Cristina Marsillach character, chooses love over religious communal affiliation, does not really negate the case for such affiliative bonds. Nor can we dismiss the lengths that she goes to try to meet her family's expectations - part of her deeply agrees with their assumptions about who she should marry, even if she does not feel it in her heart. What the film does do is highlight the limitations of the in-marriage norm for some people. Furthermore, we do not in the end know what really happens to this love affair. Will it survive his absence? Will he survive the war? Will the family pull her back after he leaves? All of that is left as an open question. We are able to rejoice in her decision to follow her heart, without being told that everything necessarily works out for the best. In fact, we have no idea how it will work out, and that is part of the charm.Finally, did I mention that the chemistry between the two is hot?

This film is about a soldier who falls in love with a Jewish girl while on a mission in Jerusalem."Every Time We Say Goodbye" is a love story between two vastly different individuals. Unfortunately it is not as interesting as it could have been. I find the love story very contrived. I could not believe how they could have fallen for each other. In fact, I find Sara very frigid, totally without any love or passion. The actress playing her is totally devoid of any facial expressions. It is so unbelievable that Sara and David are in love. I find "Every Time We Say Goodbye" slow, boring and unbelievable.

The average moviegoer wants to be entertained----that's a given. And most of us enjoy a good romantic story, lush locations and attractive performers. Well-----here is an early effort by Tom Hanks that attempts to be such a vehicle. Only one difficulty remains. It is intellectually bankrupt and morally dishonest.The Hanks character (David) is an American airman recovering from wounds in Jerusalem early during World War II. He is also the son of a Presbyterian minister and apparently has minimal knowledge of a world that involves observant Jews----let alone Sephardic Jews descended from those expelled from Spain in 1492 during the Inquisition.He meets and falls in love (lust?) with Sarah, a member of a large observant Israeli Sephardic family with deep values steeped in tradition and history. Sarah knows in her own mind that this relationship is completely wrong and will only cause her and her family much grief because of the fundamental clash of her core beliefs with those of the Protestant David.Nonetheless, she and David become involved----and true to the world of most trite movie romance-----the interesting and difficult philosophical and intellectual issues presented by their relationship are conveniently not explored by the principals while the more simplistic aspects of physical attraction come front and center to do their thing. You know, the raging hormones bit.Sure, he is a decent guy and she is a fine young woman. But apart from their hormones raging, they have absolutely nothing in common. Does this seem to matter at all? Apparently not. In the end, after she has had an opportunity to superficially reflect on the world she is about to give up forever for a man whose central values she barely knows----Sarah yields to the unrealistic but fanciful expectation of life as an indefinite honeymoon with David---separated from her family, tradition and history.One scene in the film makes a telling statement. While David and Sarah are beginning their problematic courtship and are walking through the streets of old Jerusalem, Sarah asks him if he would be interested in visiting the Tomb of King David nearby. The Hanks character swiftly indicates absolutely no desire to do so. In this way, we know that he is only In Love with Love, and not the total person Sarah really is. We also understand that he has zero intellectual curiosity about Sarah's world. We finally comprehend that the creators of this movie embraced the KISS principle in making it---Keep It Simple Stupid!This is a shallow and unintelligent film by even generally accepted Hollywood standards. But it is truly shocking when we realize that the film was written, produced and directed by Israelis. What were they thinking about? Apparently, that True Love Always Finds a Way------and that absolutely nothing else seems relevant?Shared values do matter. No wonder that in America, one in two marriages ends in divorce. This film provides a blueprint as to why this happens.This film is for die-hard Tom Hanks fans only----and folks who like their romantic fiction at its most primitive level. Anyone else will be insulted and repelled by the story on any one of several substantive grounds.Hanks must have been pretty hard up financially to get committed to this project. Any other explanation is difficult----perhaps impossible---to find---unless he was looking for a free trip to Israel!

I love anything with Tom Hanks - he is such a believable actor, even in this early part of his career. This movie is a fun chick flick where you see the complete vulnerability of people when they fall in love under oppressive circumstances. You just get the "tingles" right along with them. David (Hanks) falls hopelessly in love with a Jewish girl, Sara (Marsillach) of Spanish decent. She tries to fight her feelings, knowing her family would not approve of him because he is a Gentile. They fall more in love through secret trysts and hide their relationship from her family. The intensity rises too high when her family figures out them, and cruelly forces her to put an end to relationship. Sara must choose if she will go against her family to love a man who may have his life taken in this war.The only thing that disappointed me, was that I felt the movie wrapped up too quickly. I would have enjoyed more relationship development to make the ending more satisfying. However, the character development throughout the movie was great, and Hanks did wonderfully showing the intensity of his love for "Sara."