Tag: Lior Ashkenazi

FOXTROT (2017) – Review

Despite the title of this film’s association with the dance world, its subject is not the stuff of bouncy, bubbly musicals. It concerns the struggles and challenges faced by a military family. This was explored last year in a couple of films, most notably THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. Though sharing a similar service setting, the Middle East, this new film comes from Israel, where a stint in the military is mandatory for citizens (we learned that from the media frenzy surrounding one of last year’s biggest stars, Gal Gadot). The story bounces back from the home front to just a few hours away. Watching the drama unfold, the title makes sense. This particular dance is highly structured, with an exact number of steps which leads you right back to where you began. That’s the basics of the FOXTROT.

 

The film is structured much like a play in three acts or a short novel in three chapters. The first act unfolds on a warm day at a swank high-rise apartment building in Tel Aviv. There’s a knock on the door of the Feldmann’s unit. Daphna (Sarah Adler) opens the door and promptly faints. As her husband Michael (Lior Ashkenazi) looks on in stunned silence, three soldiers rush in to attend to Daphna. Later a doctor arrives, who instructs Michael to hydrate (setting his watch alarm to remind him on the hour), as a sedated Daphna slumbers. Why the commotion? An IDF rep confirms Michael’s fears. His son Jonathon, who has been a border guard in a remote area, has been killed. As his brother arrives to help, Michael tries to contact his daughter (it just goes to voicemail), then leaves to break the news to his dementia-addled mother, who can’t grasp the information. Eventually more IDF agents arrive to lay out plans for burial. A now agitated Michael disrupts the standard procedures as he insists on viewing his son’s body. As they try to calm him, more shocking news shatters the family. The story shifts to the second act as we meet Jonathan (Yonaton Shiray) a few days prior. Along with three other soldiers, he guards a gate on a dirt road out in the desert. The men try to keep warm and dry as they fight the effects of monotony. They take shifts sleeping in an old train car, which is slowing sinking into the mud, as they try to keep their broken down radio device working. When a driver does pull up to the gate, one soldier mans the tower spotlight as the other checks the driver’s identifications, while another looks the ID up on the computer. The men count the days till the much awaited transfer, but the boredom and routine begin to wear on them. It’s only a matter of time before a mistake is made and tragedy occurs. After witnessing its aftermath, we return to the Feldmanns for the third and final act. The actions of the first two acts have caused a crack in the marriage of Michael and Daphna. Over a meal and wine in the kitchen the two try to come together, hoping that they can be a couple once more. But is it much too late?

 

 

After doing terrific work mere weeks ago in 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE, Ashkenazi confirms his skills in much more intimate film. This time he mutes the charms of the politicos in DAYS and last year’s NORMAN, for the more flawed, emotional Michael. In the film’s opening scenes he reacts with a befuddled numbness, as though his blood was replaced by Novocaine, while he tries to begin the work of burying his son. Very slowly that aloof demeanor gives way to frustration and fiery outrage. He’s an inferno that can’t be stilled by friends and families, only stoked by the bureaucracy. Late in the film, his Michael is still a man in pain, though he’s learned to cope well enough to function. Despite this he’s determined to win back his greatest love. Ashkenazi never strikes a false note in this superb performance. Though absent from much of the opening sequence, Adler proves to be a perfect sparring partner for him in the film’s final act. Her Daphna fails to tame the fury in Michael’s heart as he demands answers that no one offers. Later on, she struggles with her own sorrows while blocking Michael’s efforts to rekindle their romance. She knows his ticks and tricks, while pushing some familiar painful buttons to keep him off-balance. And all the while she is able to heighten her allure, even flirting as if on a first date. The bond between the two is too strong to ever be severed. As the center of the second act is their adored son Jonathon, played by Shiray as a young man just trying to work through the fatigue and return to his former life. He forms a warm, brotherly bond with the other soldiers as they joke, taunt, tease, and adapt to their dismal conditions. When the tensions finally fray, he’s consumed with despair and regret, while trying to push the memory out of his brain.

 

Director/writer Samuel Maoz has delivered a compelling story of a family in crisis told in three parts with three very distinct tones. The first, almost told entirely in the sprawling apartment, conveys the shock of loss where everyone seems to be moving at a much slower speed. As Michael awakes from his stupor it shifts into a screed against an uncaring “big brother”. The most interesting “act” may be Jonathon’s story at the border. The men trudge through mud, fiddle with frayed electronics, and consume gurgling potted meat (very unappetizing). Boredom leads one of them to roll a can across the floor each day, timing it to figure out the increasing decline of the boxcar into the mud. Before the heartbreaking tragedy, we (and the men) are given a brief respite as Jonathan relates his father’s “Last Bedtime Story”. His pen and ink illustrations are brought to life via limited animation techniques to form a moving graphic novel (though the subject may be closer to that of racy “underground comix”). This bit of whimsy heightens the horror of the nighttime “incident”. That final act is like a two-character (though another person drops in for a few moments) drama that nicely sums up the themes of the previous acts. And they do work in a bit of dancing including a lesson involving the title. For those looking for a break from the noisy studio thrillers, shuffle down to the compelling drama of FOXTROT.

 

4 Out of 5

7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE – Review

 

Though the Oscar ceremony is less than two weeks old, the studios are returning to real-life subject matter with a non-fiction flick usually released toward year’s end for awards consideration. Oh, and this true tale from nearly 42 years ago has been dramatized multiple times. It all really depends on this film maker’s take, their perspective. Big battles of WWII have been the source of several films. Just last year the story of Dunkirk was the backdrop for three films: the propaganda romance THEIR FINEST, the acclaimed Churchill profile THE DARKEST HOUR and Christopher Nolan’s same titled multi-story thriller. Now, returning to theatres is the tale of a hijacked airliner and the secret rescue of its passengers back in 1976. Shortly after the incident, the broadcast networks rushed out two dramatizations (later released theatrically overseas), “Raid on Entebbe” and “Victory at Entebbe” were multi-starred TV events that echoed the “disaster movie” formulas (with casts that included Elizabeth Taylor, Burt Lancaster, and Charles Bronson). And a year after the events, the story was made into a true feature film by the “Go-Go” boys over at Cannon Films as OPERATION: THUNDERBOLT with Klaus Kinski and Sybil Danning as two of the main hijackers (not one to leave a good plot unexploited, the same studio produced a slightly fictionalized version nine years later as THE DELTA FORCE with Lee Marvin and Cannon superstar Chuck Norris). So with over four decades passed, and more information released, will time be an ally in this very latest docudrama/ thriller, 7 DAYS IN ENTEBEE?

 

The film begins minutes prior to the fateful Air France Flight 139’s boarding in the Athens airport (after originating in Tel Aviv). Near the gate, two members of the German Revolutionary Cells, Bridgett Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilifred Bose (Daniel Bruhl), try to make discreet eye contact with two members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-External Operations. Once the jet is in the air on the way to Paris (after that stopover in Athens), the four take out their weapons (pistols, grenades) and announce that the plane is being hijacked. Bose heads to the cockpit, sending out one crew member, as he gives the pilots part of the new flight plan. When they touch down in Libya for refueling one of the passengers who pretends to be pregnant, is released for medical attention. She contacts authorities who pass on the information. Word eventually gets to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi) during a cabinet meeting. After the seven hour refueling, the plane lands at its ultimate destination, Uganda at Entebbe airport near an old unused terminal. There everyone is greeted by the country’s president Idi Amin (Nonzo Anozie), who supports the hijackers while assuring the passengers that he is their “hero”. The next day the hijackers issued their demands: $5 million USD for the release of the plane and the release of 53 Palestinian and pro Palestine prisoners. If the demands are not met, they threaten to begin killing the passengers in two days. Shortly after, passports are inspected and the Israelis are separated from the other hostages (who are soon taken away by buses on to other flights). Rabin meets with his security teams. When diplomatic talks with Amin break down, defense minister Shimon Peres (Eddie Marsan) insists that they send in a rescue team. Despite mounting pressure to negotiate, Rabin agrees to the  mission, named “Operation: Thunderbolt”, and an elite military team begins the planning and preparation. One of the soldiers, young Benji (Ben Schnetzer) tries to calm his dancer bride (Andrea Deck), who wants him to attend an important recital, but most importantly, prays the he returns to her from the deadly assignment. And all the while temperatures climb as tensions between the hijackers mount back at the Entebbe airport terminal.

 

 

For most of the film’s first act the story centers on the two Germany-based hijackers, a duo united by a mission but with very different personalities. Pike as Kuhlmann is the more focused, perhaps the toughest of the two. Her motivations are more clear as she seems to be seeking revenge for a fallen friend. With her eyes blazing with fury, Pike is a formidable force who still lets her guard down occasionally to clumsily try to comfort a distressed child. Other times she plays the “bad cop” to Bruhl as the often wavering Bose. His reasons for joining are never really concrete. He proclaims himself an idealist, but we’re not shown via flashback how this publisher of radical tomes made this huge leap to action. In between his furious chain-smoking, Bose rankles at his PFLP superiors, and we seem him strain to convince Kuhlmann that they may have been duped, or at least kept in the dark. Bruhl conveys Bose’s disenchantment and unease at his role, especially when the Israelis are singled out. Both Pike and Bruhl relate the still fairly fresh disgust and shame over their homeland’s WWII atrocities. The story shifts in the second act to the Israeli power base, headed by the calm, contemplative Rabin, portrayed with subtlety by Ashkenazi (who were saw as an ambitious politico last year opposite Richard Gere in NORMAN). We can see him slightly struggle to keep his cool (more furious chain-smoking) as he’s bombarded by his country’s press and citizens (they even storm his offices) along with those in his cabinet. The loudest voice may be the tough-talking Peres played with pit bull tenacity by the glowering Marsan . Almost chanting “Israel does not negotiate with terrorists” as a mantra, he hovers over Rabin’s shoulder as the voice demanding action, not talk. Anozie brings an unpredictable affability to the role of Amin. At times an engaging buffoon whose fragile ego can cause him to turn, on a dime, into a vicious raging beast. Also of note is Denis Menochet as the member of the flight crew who is filled with a quiet dignity as he tempers his disgust at his captors’ cruelty. In one scene he delivers a much-needed “wake up” call to Bose, saying that sometimes the world may need plumbers and mechanics more than idealistic radicals.

 

The depiction of the first minutes of the hijacking is taut with tension with the terrorists in as much of a sweaty panic as many of the passengers. Unfortunately director Jose Padilha (the recent failed ROBOCOP re-boot) then begins to loosen the reins. The internal machinations of the Israeli cabinet is still compelling as are the plotting and rehearsals of the planned rescue. By that time the short flashbacks to the hijackers’ secret meetings in Germany have concluded without really giving us a clear look at their motivations and ultimate goals. And then Padilha and screenwriter Gregory Burke commit a narrative blunder usually foisted upon audiences of the 40’s and 50’s. The film screeches to a halt as we are introduced to the young couple, the soldier and his dancer paramour, perhaps to give the story a more personal, relatable angle. I always think back to the stateside romance that undercut the courtroom tension in THE CAINE MUTINY (Bogie going bananas is much more interesting than the two colorless lovebirds). As if that weren’t bad enough, the actual raid sequence is intercut with the dancer’s big recital, the one her elite forces beau is skipping (the rehearsal scenes weren’t distracting enough). Perhaps the film makers were making an artistic commentary, saying the Middle Eastern conflicts were a never-ending dance of destruction and death. What should be a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat finale is completely derailed, making the final act more frustrating than engaging. And these poor choices make 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE feel like a full month.

 

2.5 Out of 5

 

Focus Features Releases First Trailer For 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE


Credit : Liam Daniel / Focus Features

Daniel Brühl stars as “Wilfred Brose” and Rosamond Pike stars as “Brigitte Kuhlman” in this first trailer for José Padilha’s 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE.

Focus Features will release the film in select theaters on March 16, 2018.

A gripping thriller inspired by the true events of the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight en route from Tel Aviv to Paris, the film depicts the most daring rescue mission ever attempted.

There have been two TV movies about the rescue.

RAID ON ENTEBBE (1976) starred Peter Finch, Charles Bronson, Yaphet Kotto and was directed by Irvin Kershner (THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK). It won the Golden Globe for “Best Motion Picture Made for Television.” VICTORY AT ENTEBBE was helmed by Marvin J. Chomsky (TANK) and starred Elizabeth Taylor, Linda Blair, Helen Hayes, Richard Dreyfuss and Burt Lancaster.

The 2017 film is from director José Padilha (“Narcos,” “Elite Squad”) and written by Gregory Burke (“’71”) .

Visit the official site: focusfeatures.com/7-days-in-entebbe

NORMAN (2017) – Review

Here’s the story of one of those fellas you pass by almost everyday, if you live in one of the big cities. And if your city has a bustling business district (like Wall Street in NYC, La Salle Street in Chicago, etc.), the chances are much greater. They shuffles about, slightly disheveled, in a suit that’s definitely seen better days. Though the suit is in better shape than the shoes, which they try to save by avoiding taxis and taking public transit only when the weather turns especially nasty. These men facing middle age (and often past) aren’t homeless, but barely head there for just a few hours of rest, You could call them investment hustlers. “schmoozers”, or, as this story’s lead character’s dusty sleeve of cards proclaim, “business consultant”. Inside their worn overcoat is a bulging frayed address book along with a legal pad to connect their , um, connections, like the diagrams of an NFL coach’s touchdown plays. One such man is the focus of this story, NORMAN, and the film’s subtitle fills us in a bit more on his fate: “The Moderate Rise and Tragic Flaw of a New York Fixer”.

The sun is just starting to blanket the big apple, and Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) is already on the move. Really he’s on the hunt for his next commission. He disrupts the early morning jog of Bill Kavish (Dan Stevens), much to the exec’s annoyance. Secretaries and office hours mean nothing to the dogged Norman. Then he’s on the phone to his frazzled nephew Phillip (Michael Sheen) to try to get a meeting with the big energy mogul Taub. Perhaps Norman could get an invite to a big party the big shot is throwing, if he can bring one of the speakers at an international symposium on new energy sources. Inside the auditorium, Norman is impressed by the  (deputy) energy development secretary from Israel, the charismatic Mr. Eshel (Lior Ashkenazi). Back on the street, Norman follows Eshel as he wanders back to his hotel. When Eshel lingers at a high-end clothing store’s window, Norman strikes up a conversation. The two enter the store, and, as a friendly gesture, Norman purchases the very, very pricey shoes for Eshel. Then invites him to join him at the big party at Taub’s. But on the advise of his staffers, Eshel ignores Norman’s follow-up calls causing an angry Taub (Josh Charles) to escort Norman out of the party.

Three years later, Eshel has used that charisma to become the Prime Minister of Israel. Phillip brings Norman along to the big NYC reception for the new PM. They’re stunned when Eshel spots Norman’s name on the greeting list and embraces him warmly. Eshel insists that Norman will be his US advisor, and suddenly the hustler is in the big leagues. But now Norman must juggle the requests and needs of all those that suddenly want his ear. Eshel needs help getting his son into an ivy league school. Taub and his rivals want access to Eshel. Even Norman’s rabbi (Steve Buscemi) wants him to help secure the funding that will save the synagogue. But a chance encounter with an Israeli special agent named Alex (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and a political scandal may bring the high-riding Norman crashing back to Earth.

Gere has chosen an unexpected path for this, the fifth decade of his movie career. For much of that time he was the “go-to” guy for romantic hunks and other dashing leading men. Of course he’s still quite the “silver fox” and will still grab a “heart-throb” part, as in the last MARIGOLD HOTEL installment and make hearts flutter. Many of his contemporaries have steered toward the cuddly grandpa’ or the sly, twinkly gray “rascal”, but Gere has instead chosen to really go “out on a limb” with several offbeat character, but still “leading”, roles. Norman is one of the most enigmatic. There’s little glamour to this conniving, often desperate “idea” man who has few ideas left. Some of the Gere charm is there, but he let’s us see the “flop sweat” and his awkward attempts at inserting himself into inner circles. We understand why many “big shots’ view him as an irritating “gnat” and scurry away as he tries to catch their eyes. What’s his home life like? What about his past? It’s barely mentioned, Gere shows us a tired traveler who only care about the present and the future, gathering contact names and numbers like a squirrel hoarding food for the winter. Somehow, Gere can still surprise us on screen.

The character that’s nearly as compelling as Norman may be Ashkenszi as the target who becomes a benefactor. Eshel is courted, almost “wooed”, by Norman in their first meeting (hmm, similar to Rodeo Drive scenes with Julia Roberts in PRETTY WOMAN). But after the “shoe seduction”, Eshel rejects Norman, only to become his “fairy godfather” years later. But Ashkenazi plays Eshel as a younger variation of Norman, one that is just as ambitious, but more “smooth” (he’ll never let you see him sweat). Sheen, as Norman’s nephew, can barely mask his frustration with his needy uncle, but there’s still signs of affection, especially when it seems Norman’s “ship has finally come in”. Gainsbourg projects a steely demeanor as Alex, who is first annoyed by Norman, but sees him as a way to advance her own career. She’s got a powerful “BS” detector and will not tolerate Norman’s flaccid attempts at flattery. Buscemi is solid as the sympathetic rabbi who cares for Norman nearly as much as his nephew (letting him “crash” at the synagogue and raid the kitchen), until he has had his fill of Norman’s “hemming and hawing”.

With his first English-language film (with a few subtitled scenes), writer/director Joseph Cedar delivers an often engaging character study mixed with a cautionary tale of the “movers and shakers”. There’s no noble “Jefferson Smith” in this political landscape as friends are “thrown under the bus” with nary a second’s hesitation. Despite a couple of indulgent fantasy flourishes (Norman is bombarded with new connections, culminating in a choreographed mass business card exchange) and overlapping phone conversations (rather than a split screen, players share a slightly divided background), the film glides along at a fairly brisk pace. Unfortunately it loses its footing with clumsy attempts at comedy (Eshel sleeps with his new shoes?) and certain scenes make little sense (why does Norman feel compelled to impress Alex?). But the location work is superb (little of Israel, while NYC is a frigid Hellscape), and Gere totally inhabits this role, making us wish we knew more about what drove Oppenheimer to this point in time. He’s the main reason to “take a meeting” with the sad, funny, frustrating NORMAN.

2.5 Out of 5

 

NORMAN opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

Richard Gere Stars In First Trailer For NORMAN

Norman_Onesheet

Sony Pictures Classics’ has released the first trailer and poster for Academy Award nominee Joseph Cedar’s NORMAN starring Richard Gere.

The cast includes Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Michael Sheen, Steve Buscemi, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dan Stevens, Hank Azaria, Josh Charles and Harris Yulin.

The new film by Academy Award nominated director Joseph Cedar (FOOTNOTE) is a comic and compassionate drama of a little man whose downfall is rooted in a human frailty all too easy to forgive: a need to matter.

Norman Oppenheimer (Richard Gere) lives a lonely life in the margins of New York City power and money, a would-be operator dreaming up financial schemes that never come to fruition. As he has nothing real to offer, Norman strives to be everyone’s friend, but his incessant networking leads him nowhere. Always on the lookout for someone willing to pay attention to him, Norman sets his sights on Micha Eshel (Lior Ashkenazi), a charismatic Israeli politician alone in New York at a low point in his career. Sensing Eshel’s vulnerability, Norman reaches out with a gift of a very expensive pair of shoes, a gesture that deeply touches Eshel. When Eshel becomes Prime Minister three years later, he remembers.

With his very real connection to the leader of a major nation, Norman is awash in the respect he has always craved. Flush with his newfound feeling of success, Norman attempts to use Eshel’s name to leverage his biggest deal ever: a series of quid pro quo transactions linking the Prime Minister to Norman’s nephew (Michael Sheen), a rabbi (Steve Buscemi), a mogul (Harris Yulin), his assistant (Dan Stevens), and a treasury official from the Ivory Coast. Norman’s kaleidoscopic plans soon go awry, creating the potential for an international catastrophe he must struggle to prevent.

NORMAN The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer hits theaters April 14th.

Visit the official site HERE.