O Jerusalem

Buddy story meets History Channel remake

By CHRIS BRAIOTTA | October 24, 2007

1.5 Stars

O JERUSALEM: Lacking dramatic grace.

In its attempt to cover the 1948 war that kicked off modern Israel, Elie Chouraqui’s O Jerusalem forges a regrettable two-state solution. As with another two-state solution one could mention, neither side goes home happy. One of the movie’s factions is a laughable drama wherein a New York Jew meets a Palestinian student. They become pals and wind up in Palestine just as the UN votes on what to do about Zionism. The result sends them to their respective sides, but it’s a small Holy Land, and the ex-friends keep running into each other at every big gun battle. Awkward. The other side aims for the Big Picture, with a Groucho-inspired Golda Meir and Ian “Bilbo” Holm in an Einstein wig as a pocket-sized David Ben-Gurion. The buddy story and the History Channel remake clash; neither wins. It doesn’t help that Chouraqui’s direction shows all the dramatic grace of an IMAX ballooning film.

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Topics: Reviews , United Nations, David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir

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