Good concept, poorly executed.

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

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.

It was a remarkable film. It wasn't what I expected from Portman. I felt for all the characters. Although certain moments were slow, and I didn't particularly like some of the unsteady camera work out the window of the car, I did like the way it moved at a pace slower than the average high speed modern film. It went at sort of a real life pace. I think Hiam Abbass was the most interesting character of the bunch. I actually wished the movie was longer. I did want to follow the lives of these characters. I liked also that it felt like these actors (with exception of Portman) weren't typical pretty Hollywood faces. I liked the credibility that that lent. Portman has a certain naturalness to her looks anyway so I could tolerate one pretty face. As an American what do I really know about Palestine besides what I see in the media? I liked the feeling of dignity that it lent to all people, and I feel for that, whether I can relate specific details to real or imagined knowledge.I think people who are used to the big production films would impatiently miss the rich and unspoken undercurrent and how it expressed what was not verbally said. It was a very humane film.

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.

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.