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KNIGHT AT THE MOVIES The Bubble, 3:10 to Yuma
by Richard Knight, Jr.
2007-09-05

This article shared 4451 times since Wed Sep 5, 2007
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Writer-director Eytan Fox and his co-writer, producer and life partner Gal Uchovsky, continue to chronicle gay life in modern-day Israel in their third film collaboration, The Bubble. I'm still raving about their previous efforts, 2004's Walk on Water and 2002's Yossi & Jagger, their first feature collaboration. All three movies share the same hallmark—they're terrifically entertaining. Plus, given their location—with its inherent, ongoing political strife—there is added depth that makes them resonate long after they're over.

'The Bubble' refers to Tel Aviv, a cosmopolitan city that has gotten the nickname because, for many of its citizens, it seems to exist apart from the political unrest surrounding it. Three of those citizens are roommates Noam ( Ohad Knoller ) , Yali ( Alon Friedmann ) and sultry Lulu ( Daniela Wircer ) ; the first two are gay. The three twentysomethings chatter about the latest episode of the Israeli version of American Idol, their latest crushes, where to hold the next rave, etc.—pretty much anything but politics.

But politics arrives on their doorstep, literally, in the person of Ashraf ( Yousef 'Joe' Sweid ) a young Palestinian who returns Noam's wallet after Noam, who's a member of the National Guard, lost it during one of his stints on checkpoint patrol. An attraction between Noam and Ashraf is immediately apparent. 'So that's how Jews kiss,' Ashraf says after he and Noam do just that. Later, after a first round of lovemaking on a rooftop, Noam replies, 'So that's how Arabs do it.' Noam then invites Ashraf to move in temporarily and entreats Yali to give him a job at the café. They insist that Ashraf pretend to be Israeli to avoid problems and then indoctrinate him into their fun-loving life style. One night they're nightclubbing; the next visiting a gay cabaret; and on the third, Noam and Ashraf attend a production of Bent.

But when Sharon recognizes Ashraf as a Palestinian and asks him point blank about it one day at the café, Ashraf, who is in the country illegally, takes off in terror of being arrested as a suspected terrorist. On a whim, Lulu and Noam decide to cross the border, posing as a French reporter and cameraman, to visit him and make sure he's okay. During the visit things escalate and, at this point, both get a wake-up call that moves the movie from a breezy romantic dramedy into a political melodrama.

It's to the credit of Fox and Uchovsky, who did much the same thing in Walk on Water, that the change in tone doesn't completely negate what has gone on before. But the melodramatic excesses of the script at this point, while certainly entertaining, do seem to stretch credibility. It would have been more interesting but much less dramatic to have gone with a different non-resolution for the gay couple. By going the melodramatic route for the last quarter of the movie Fox and Uchovsky turn their movie into more of a tragic gay version of Romeo & Jules and less an entertaining slice-of-life variation on Three's Company, Israeli-style. Surprisingly, I wanted more of the latter. I wanted to stay inside The Bubble for the duration—visiting this rarely-glimpsed world that seems closely yet somehow desperately patterned after ours. In Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles. The Bubble plays exclusively at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema.

Earlier this summer, a resounding return of the musical occurred with Hairspray, and now the western comes galloping back in with 3:10 to Yuma, a beauty of the genre with another star performance by Russell Crowe. Crowe plays a vicious outlaw who nevertheless speaks beautifully; sketches to pass the time away; is irresistible to the ladies; and is polite and gracious, for the most part. He's like a Wild West version of Hannibal Lector—a lethal lothario—who somehow connects and empathizes with Christian Bale, a one-legged former Civil War soldier-turned-cattle rancher who is down on his luck, in his eyes as wellas those of his wife and two sons. The rancher is charged with delivering the outlaw to a train that will take him to prison and collecting a fat reward for his efforts. But before he can do that, of course, the rancher will have to just about go through hell in order to succeed.

3:10 to Yuma is director James Mangold's remake of a 50-year-old movie and works because, like its predecessor, it relies first and foremost on expert, compelling storytelling, the basis of any movie that hopes to stand the test of time. The bravura performances of the cast ( aside from Crowe and Bale, Ben Foster who played the misunderstood, coded gay mutant with the angel wings in X Men: The Last Stand is a standout ) and the breathtaking location cinematography help this old-fashioned, entertaining western kick off a great start for the fall movie season.

Circumcision, a topic that is surely of wide interest to men of all sexual persuasions, is the subject of Cut, a documentary made here by Chicago filmmaker Eliyahu Ungar-Sargon. The film, which focuses on the controversial practice, explores the topic from religious, medical and ethical perspectives. Sargon will attend the film's Chicago premiere, which is being held on Sun., Sept. 9, at 5 p.m. at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State. See www.siskelfilmcenter.com .

Check out my archived reviews at www.windycitytimes.com or www.knightatthemovies.com . Readers can leave feedback at the latter Web site, where there is also ordering information on my new book of collected film reviews, Knight at the Movies 2004-2006.


This article shared 4451 times since Wed Sep 5, 2007
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