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I saw this while flipping channels and stopping on the local Canadian broadcast. It's not the best project Tom Hanks has ever been in, but the character is much more subdued than others he was playing at the time - it gave insight to the "serious" actor that Hanks was evolving to become.

The most fascinating part of the film is the look at the world of the Ladinos - Jews who were expelled from Spain during the Reconquest ending in 1492 and who retain the language and cultural traditions that they had in Spain centuries later.

Although some may raise an eyebrow about a film that takes place during WWII centering around Jewish people, and there's not even a mention of the ongoing Holocaust, to me, this underscores the inertia of human relations, that even when the entire planet is in the midst of war, and the fate of an entire people is at stake, we still have a tendency to cling to our differences.

This was a cute love story that kept me completely involved, even during the sub title part, which i generally do not enjoy. Being Jewish I could understand the conflict Sarah was going through between her family and love...and being in love with Tom Hanks I could completely see why she picked him :). I do not know how I never heard of this movie before, but I definitely enjoyed it. Only thing is, I wish we learnt more about the ending. What happened between Sarah and her family? Did Tom even make it through the war? I kinda wish they let us know...but I guess they let us use our imagination, and mine told me that it all went well! I would recommend this movie to anyone who is in the mood to see a nice, not too deep love story. Guys most likely should stay away!

If you like love stories - I usually don't care for them - you should enjoy this one. This is my all-time favorite movie. Marsillach is the most darling young woman I've ever seen. You might fall in love as I did.

David falls in love with a girl he meets in Isreal. She's a Jew and he's not, so her family does everything they can to keep them apart. It's a simple movie with no real plot. It doesn't need one. This may be the only time I can say a movie doesn't need a plot.

A really interesting side note is that the girl and her family speak Ladino. It is the Spanish spoken in Spain around 1492, when Ferdinand and Isabel expelled the Jews from Spain. That makes the film a bit of a time capsule, as the language remains unchanged. That made the film infinitely more interesting for me than it might have otherwise been.

Great period piece! Great love story!

1986 Romance starring a very young Tom Hanks as an injured U.S. pilot in 1942 Jerusalem who falls in love with a Jewish girl whose family, of course, disapproves. Also starring Cristina Marsillach, and Benedict Taylor.

This is quite unremarkable, mildly interesting, with little to offer in the way of amusement, entertainment, or enjoyment. Frankly, I can't imagine why anyone would sit all the way through it unless they are an avid Hanks fan, a film student, or writing a review for it.

It's not horrible, the performances are great, but the story itself is quite boring. There are one or two nice vista shots, and Hanks gives a sterling performance, and I had to dig deep to find those two compliments. Otherwise, do yourself a favor, and find something else to do.

It rates a 4.5/10 from...

the Fiend :.

One of the earlier efforts of Tom Hanks, this film is a nice, if somewhat unremarkable love story set against the background of WW2 in Jerusalem. Hanks meets a young jewish girl (Marsillach), they fall in love, but have to face her strongly religious family. The story is not as much about the war, as it is about love and religion. Though, the film isn't very "deep", it has some interesting ideas, for example the choice between human feelings and tradition. The strong religious beliefs of the girl's family seem so cruel at times, that it's hard to have any sympathy for them. Maybe a bit too black-and-white for some, but certainly an interesting little film, with (of course) an excellent Tom Hanks in the lead role. 7/10