FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed & Written by: Shemi Zarhin. Produced by: Eitan Evan. Director of Photography: Itzik Portal. Edited by: Einat Glaser Zarhin. Music by: Yonatan Bar-Giora. Released by: Strand Releasing. Language: Hebrew. Country of Origin: Israel. 94 min. Not Rated. With: Oshri Cohen, Esti Zakhaim, Arie Ellias, Yonatan Rozen & Aya Koren.
Pimply, blank-faced Shlomi, 16, tries to keep the peace in his chaotic and demanding family. He
runs the household and cooks the meals while his kvetching mother works. (His philandering
father has been kicked out). Ordered about by older and favorite son Doron, a preening, would-be
Lothario, Shlomi is really a doormat. Only his French-speaking grandfather, whom Shlomi also
has to bathe, appreciates the boy’s efforts. Hormones running wild, Shlomi silently carries a
torch for girl-next-door Rona (played by Aya Koren, an Israeli Liv Tyler), a no-nonsense,
independent young woman, who may be one of his brother’s conquests. Shlomi is, in fact, easy to
overlook, until his math teacher realizes he is a mathematical prodigy and urges him to pursue
higher education. For years, his mother has ignored any hint that her son may have a future other
than being a cook.
Like Broken Wings, this Israeli domestic comedy/drama focuses squarely on a turbulent
working-class household. As Shlomi, Oshri Cohen’s simple and understated performance is well
balanced by the broad, but not over-the-top, family members. His mother is so needy she sucks
all the oxygen in the room. But her selfishness understandably comes from pain of rejection. The entire cast adds depth to roles that could have been one-note instead. While the outcome is
never in doubt, it is not forced, sharing the mother’s take-it-or-leave-it attitude. However, it is not
quite believable that Shlomi would be considered “semi-retard,” given he can whip up amazing
dinners and desserts.
Comparisons to Good Will Hunting are obvious. Shlomi, like Will, is also an overlooked
diamond in the rough coming of age. Fortunately, Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi lacks the
smugness or excessive sentimentality of its American counterpart. It’s sweet, with more than a
hint of lemon. Kent Turner
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