jtncsmistad From thequickflickcritic.blogspot.com/ What begins as a decidedly droll road trip flick becomes anything but as this mesmerizing story of family legacy unfolds in "Everything is Illuminated".Elijah Wood stars as a socially awkward young Jewish American on a quest to find the woman who rescued his late grandfather from a village massacre during the Nazi invasion of Russia in World War II. Eugene Hutz is Alex, a strutting Hip-Hop disciple who is hired, along with his irascible granddad (Boris Leskin), by Wood's character, Jonathan (or as Alex puts it, "Jon-fen"), to serve as "expert" guides for the journey.Wood and Hutz are each more than credible and convincing in their respective and divergent roles. However, it is Leskin and Laryssa Lauret's Lista, the coveted savior Jonathan eventually meets, who really stand out here. Their poignant portrayals of two people who have experienced the most diabolical atrocities of man from a deeply intimate perceptive are extraordinarily moving and enduring. The mostly silent yet sensitive bond of knowing a lifelong struggle against internal suffering that fuses these two battered souls together generates a profound "illumination" for Jonathan and Alex both.Intriguingly, "Everything is Illuminated" marks the only theatrical release renowned actor Liev Schreiber has ever directed. He also wrote the screenplay, basing it in on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, whose book parallels the author's own personal experience. This is a monumentally ambitious work of filmmaking by Schreiber, whose creative vision is superlatively served by the stunning cinematography of Matthew Libatique. Libatique's sweeping capturing of the vast Ukrainian countryside and the variety of settings this trio of travelers inhabit along their route are as magical as they are breathtaking.While it is particularly puzzling that Schreiber has not been at the helm of more movies, it is with great hope that he find the occasion to do so again.And soon.For more of my Movie Reviews categorized by Genre please visit: thequickflickcritic.blogspot.com/

mrmagnate My friend recommended me to watch this movie. And it was a complete disappointment for me. I am half Jew and half Ukrainian, so I can judge it from both points of view. First, it is not a comedy at all, since it is not funny. Second, the movie is full of oxymoron and ridiculous things. For example, the constant usage of word 'jid', which is a swearword in Russian, in general. But most of all... Trabant!!! It is not a popular car in the former Soviet Union, it is even not rare, it is simply nonexistent. During my childhood in the USSR I even have not heard about such a car! It may be used as a symbol of GDR, but certainly not of the USSR or Ukraine. The most interesting thing is that the director and the most actors are Russians/Ukrainians (maybe former). So they probably should have noted all these inconsistencies. And third, the Elijah Wood's play is simply weak and not convincing.

zee There are some clever lines in the script, but the movie failed anyway because ofbad directingawful editing--seriously, just horrible pacingthe most irksome score I've heard in a long whilean unappealing protagonist in the Collector (played by Wood)unevenness of toneI really wasn't in the mood to read a movie as subtitles; this is not advertised as a foreign film, but in large part it isOne terrific actor (Hutz) shining like a diamond in a pile of dog doo gets the two stars; everything else stinks.

mark-4522 There are tons of things to quibble with in the film if you are familiar with Eastern European history and culture. The portrayal of Alex and his family is overly primitive and dysfunctional but part of that problem is due to the adaptation of the book where Alex winds up leaving. In the film, it appears that this behavior is normal and perpetuates the stereotype of the violent Eastern European family. Also, the behavior of the Ukrainians that they encounter on their road trip also are a bit one dimensional. The awkward lingo or grammar that the translator uses is a key element to the humor and insights of the film, but slightly off. A translator wouldn't use overly complex words to express himself when a simpler one in a dictionary would do, for instance.Finally, there's the necessary adaptation where the myth of the village that they are seeking is replaced with a more simplistic holocaust story. If you've seen Schindler's List or Sophies' Choice, you won't be terribly surprised.Now, all of that said, put together much like a bunch of common ingredients from your kitchen, it can come out surprisingly tasty. Elijah's acting is superb and his comic and dramatic timing impeccable. The scenery of Odessa and the Ukrainian countryside alone was worth the price of admission. Alex's style and attitude was a perfect example of a typical Odessa man. Even where I could quibble with a lot of the elements, the way everything tied in together at the end was touching. My wife started the film laughing her head off and sobbing at the end.Thing to look out for: The railway station where Jonathan is picked up, "Lviv Central", is NOT the railway station for Lviv. I know because I spent a lot of time there. They must have had a need to film somewhere else and put up the signage on another, less used, station. Also, it's rather strange that he would fly into Poland, presumably, and then take rail into Ukraine. It would have been a lot easier for him to just fly into either Kiev or Odessa directly. I suppose it was done to add an element of drama to the film rather than him going through the airport (although if you have flown into an airport in Ukraine, that has a lot of drama too!)