I have a confession to make, I don't have the slightest clue about Cricket. It's the only sport that I can see the result of a game and still can't figure out who won (which numbers are significant? the ones in the parenthesis or the one outside?).
Cricket is hardly the main topic of the film but it turns out to be a major bond between the characters and between the various segments of this semi historical and semi personal feature.
Sarah Talker (Liraz Charchi in a wonderful performance) is a Jewish-Indian teenager who immigrates with her family to Israel under false pretenses by the Jewish agency. In Israel they find to their dismay that they were brought to a fledgling city in the Negev (a scarcely populated desert in south Israel) and are doomed to physical labor and living with neighbors who share the exact same story besides alterations of date and country of origin.
The harsh existence is weakened by the fact that Sara finds a friend in a Moroccan teenager-Nicole (Neta garty in an unforgettable performance) that, by the influence of her extrovert widowed aunt, rebels against the conservative values of her mother (Ruby porat shoval) and the constant nagging of her terrified, soon to be married and more than slightly overweight sister (Rotem Abuhab).
Sara and Nicole's friendship is put to a harsh test amidst the tumultuous times of puberty, the frustration of being stranded in forgotten province and certain, hmmm..., morally challenged entanglements (which I Can't reveal here)
The only thing that changes the mundane routine of the town is the arrival of the British Cricket team who comes to play against the Israeli team which consists of Indian retirees and, due to shortage of able Israeli Cricket players, Moroccan immigrants who play the game with zeal and vigor despite the fact that they have absolutely no idea what this game is about (and I don't blame them).
This film is of course not about Cricket, moral values or teenage rebel. Its about the clash of mild mannered Indians with outgoing and zealous (over zealous at times) Moroccan immigrants and how it deeply affects the lives of two female teenagers that out of the common search for reason in this age, form a genuinely deep bond.
I realize that i have been a little murky in my review but I can't give away the major plot advancements as well as detailing the vast (too vast, maybe) ensemble of characters and the drastic changes in their lives that bring the above referenced friendship to a crisis. I believe that the movie is aided with acting and wonderful colorful collage of the Israeli melting pot on the expense of emotional scenes that don't exude the emotional charge the director, Avi Nesher, hoped they would and the movie is a short of greatness primarily because of that.
Nesher, who also directed my personal favorite Israeli film of all time (Halehaka), said on the premiere screening that i attended, that the movie is very personal and an attempt to create something to be moved by after years of Hollywood flicks he had trouble relating to.
The movie moved him, I'm sure and it moved me too but not enough to call it a masterpiece or to learn the idea behind Cricket scoring.
8 out of 10 in my FilmOmeter.
P.S. For the conservative viewers among you, the movie is pretty explicit as far as nudity and intercourse are concerned. I found it slightly disturbing but in comparison to films like "y to mama tambien" or the Israeli "Late wedding" this film is a Disney production.
