We've loved the works of Guy Amir and Hanan Savyon for years. We admit we haven't seen every single one, but we've been following them since the days of the groundbreaking "Asfur," and we've watched them grow bigger and bigger, which has been a delight. They also do a lot to honor Jerusalem in their films, in the language style of their scripts, and in their personal connection to it.
Let's start with the script-it's crazy and hilarious. We haven't laughed this much at a film in a long time. The plot is so random and coincidental, the whole movie is wildly imaginative, with a lot of attention to small details and nuances that often steal most of the laughs. The film is very self-aware, especially with all the inside jokes about police series and investigations and the supposed "clichés" that are actually clichés of police movies. Tzachi Halevi's character, for example, as a "stereotypical" detective, had us crying with laughter. All the nuances were there, and the scenes with him were always great.
The film's plot is very "incidental" in that there's no simple linear story in a traditional structure-one of the film's strengths, in our opinion. While there's an overarching plot, the film transitions from one situation to another, composed of long "acts" in different events-something between theater and the random evolution of absurd situations in the style of Larry David ("Seinfeld," "Curb Your Enthusiasm"). There's always room in the film industry for unconventional storytelling, and we think this film does an excellent job of bringing a less traditional style to Israeli comedies.
In our opinion, Guy Amir and Hanan Savyon are the most talented filmmakers in the country for several years now, impressing in every possible aspect. As writers, directors, and lead actors in the film, they literally carry the movie entirely on their own, alongside the impressive cast and the incredibly talented crew working behind the scenes. The writing is sharp, as we've come to expect from them, the direction is excellent and very ambitious, and the acting-anyone who has seen one or two things they've starred in already knows how funny they are.
Besides the killer performances by Amir and Savyon, with their insane and long-standing chemistry that is already rare to find, the cast is full of great actors who keep appearing. Mali Levi is fantastic, Yossi Marshak is hilarious, Lior Ashkenazi, Yaniv Swisa, Rotem Abuhav, and many more.
Maybe it's a matter of personal taste or sense of humor, but we haven't seen a film (Israeli or international) that was this funny from start to finish in a long time. Whether you're a fan of Hanan and Savyon's style or not, we highly recommend watching the film and giving it a try. The movie had a big start on Israeli Cinema Day a few weeks ago, and we hope this indicates its astronomical success while it's showing in theaters across the country and the world. "Maktub" was groundbreaking in this respect, and we hope this film achieves equally good-if not even higher-success.
We genuinely believe this film has great potential to succeed in other parts of the world as well; its humor is very global and not specifically "Israeli humor." We think wide audiences can really enjoy it. It's no coincidence that the CEO of Netflix saw the immense comedic potential of this duo.
Let's talk less technically-as Christopher Nolan always says, while cinema is one of the highest and most complex art forms, people ultimately go to the movies to enjoy themselves. You can spin it in many directions, but when people go to the movies, they want a good time. And that's exactly what this film provides. You go to the cinema, enjoy for almost two hours, and leave the theater with a smile on your face. If that's the case, the film probably succeeded in what it aimed to achieve.
In our opinion, it's one of the funniest comedies we've seen recently, in general. In a world where comedies can already be tiresome and repetitive, it's so refreshing to see an Israeli comedy that brings so much innovation while also riding on clichés along the way, telling a light and beautiful story, and above all, making you laugh a lot.
Don't miss it!
By Dvir971 & Orr971.
