ada
the leading man is my tpye
Dirtylogy
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Neive Bellamy
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
andiam-1
It seems I enjoyed this film more than did the other reviewers. I laughed out loud several time, something I don't do often at American films. Someone said there was no satire--but there was one really biting moment of political satire, when the angels brush off Hagar and Ishmael as Arabs who therefore do not deserve their attention. There are some clever in-jokes, though I may have missed much of the Israeli humor. Feminists have often commented on the fact that many Biblical women have no names. In the film, Lot refers to his wife as "Lot's wife." Abraham refuses to share a bowl of shellfish with God, who then gets even by banning it. I also liked the reference to the story of Solomon and the two mothers. Many people have cynically pointed out that the mother who tell Solomon not to kill the child could have fooled Solomon by reverse psychology. Here. Lot knows the story and gives the "right" answer, but it backfires. In short, what I liked best is that the film pokes fun at the Biblical story but is directed at an audience well versed in Bible. I've often said that the Bible is too great a book to be monopolized by the pious. I thought the funniest scenes were those involving God and Abraham. Behind the humor we can sense the real questions theologians have raised about God's call to Abraham.
itamarscomix
'Zohi Sdom' is a feature film spin-off of 'Eretz Nehederet', Israel's most successful sketch comedy show for nearly a decade now; like in a National Lampoon movie, the cast of the TV show play various roles in a kinda-linear storyline.There was a strange attempt to market 'Zohi Sdom' as a local version of Monty Python's Life of Brian. But other than the fact that it's set in biblical times, there's absolutely no similarity (other than the lead character's outfit). There's no real satire in 'Zohi Sdom'; a shame, because with a feature film the writers had the chance to make satire more biting and more universal than what they could afford to do on network television. Instead, they used that opportunity to have more sex jokes. The humor in 'Zohi Sdom' is a neverending series of gags, none of which have any bearing on the story, and most of which are anachronism gags in the level of The Flintstones (only with a lot more sex).The movie does have a few chuckles, but the humor is so local as to never have any real impact anywhere but Israel in the early 21st century, which is a waste. It does actually have a pretty decent production, and some good actors - Assi Cohen's performance is deliciously hammy (he clearly realized how dumb the script was), and local legendary satirist/journalist Mordechai Kirschenbaum as Abraham is one of the movie's few saving graces. But ultimately it's a failed attempt, which owes all its success to marketing, and will - I believe and hope - disappear into anonymity.
Jan Lisa Huttner
To Harry: Maybe it was funnier for me, stuck here in the Chicago diaspora without knowing anything about the TV version. I truly enjoyed all the silly stuff for its own sake, & for the rest of the day, every time I snuggled up to hubby & sang the sugar-sweet "Ha Echad," we both cracked up.Dov Navon and Tal Friedman (who were so funny together in "The Schwartz Dynasty") have wonderful chemistry again as "Mr and Mrs Lot;" sad-sack Navon providing the perfect counter-weight as Friedman flies ever-higher over the top. You're probably right in suggesting that I missed some of the "local jokes," but I think anyone with a Jewish funny-bone will know more than enough.
Turfseer
Caught this Israeli Biblical spoof at the 25th Annual Israel Film Festival. It's in the tradition of Monty Python's farcical "Life of Brian" but here the focus is on an 'Old Testament' tale, the story of Lot. The story is filled with many anachronistic elements. We begin with God who is dressed like an insurance salesman carrying a briefcase which doubles as a TV monitor and a device capable of causing a nuclear -like explosion (the briefcase features an LCD timer, connoting the hours and minutes to Sodom's eventual destruction). God pays a visit to Abraham who he demands accept the offer to become the founder of the new one-God Jewish religion. Abraham bargains with God, insisting that he must save the city of Sodom's only righteous man, Lot. God sends two goofy motorcycle driving security agents to Sodom in order to extricate Lot before the city blows up.We meet Lot who's a lottery ticket vendor in the central marketplace. His goal is to sell enough tickets to open up a community center. The evil Mayor of Sodom wants to clear out all the vendors so he can have real estate developers build fancy condos at the location. When Lot is brought before the Mayor and he refuses to give up his booth, he pricks Lot's big toe and then 'tortures' him by dumping him continuously in salt water. Soon, the Mayor gets wind of God's plan and decides to switch places with Lot, hoping that when God's security people find him at Lot's house, he'll be the one who is saved when the city is destroyed.In the mix is Tal Friedman, a male actor who plays Lot's wife. She's a one joke character who wants to revive her singing career (we get to view snatches of her inept music video from her 'younger' days) and she's later set upon by Sodomites when she attempts to belt out the tune at her daughter's wedding to Prince Ninveh, the Mayor's lovestruck elder son. Ninveh's comic claim to fame is that he's lactose intolerant and he goes to great lengths to win the heart of Lot's daughter who is often seen singing mawkish Israeli pop tunes.I can't say that there are really any 'laugh out loud' moments in 'This is Sodom', but there are a few amusing bits. For example, God flips through TV shows on his briefcase, cuddled up next to a goat. One of the shows is an American Idol takeoff featuring a contest for Israel's top eunuch. Another amusing scene which features more black humor than straight out farce, is when Lot's wife attempts to select a 'human sacrifice' for her daughter's upcoming wedding. The store salesman tries to dissuade her from selecting various candidates, primarily because they either take too long or too short a time to burn to death. Lot's wife ends up selecting the God's newly imprisoned security people who are then escorted through the city encased in plastic wrap.Not all of the bits are that funny including one of the security guard's obsession in filming a documentary of their travails. In the end, 'This is Sodom' scores points not as much for the humor but its irreverence and generally being good-natured. Instead of God actually destroying Sodom, he merely causes a big fireworks display (although we're led to believe that a nuclear-like explosion has taken place). Even better is that our good guy hero Lot survives and becomes the permanent mayor of Sodom. The bad guy Mayor along with Lot's wife get to leave the city (before the mock explosion) and of course Lot's wife can't resist turning back and looking at the explosion despite being explicitly ordered not to by God. Instead of turning into a pillar of salt, a large rock formation breaks off and squishes her. The evil Mayor begs to be taken in at Abraham's door and the Patriarch tells him there's always room for more applicants in the tribe. The final exterior shot of Abraham's tent implies that the Mayor undergoes the pain of circumcision so that his wish not to be left alone in the desert, is fulfilled.The main object of 'This is Sodom's' satire is pop culture, exemplified by the TV shows and music video takeoffs interspersed throughout the narrative. Those who are enamored more with slapstick type farce and straight out black humor, 'This is Sodom' will probably be your thing. For those looking for a deeper satiric, political edge, you might come away a bit disappointed.