Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi (Ha-Kochavim Shel Shlomi, 2003)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: B-
Shlomi (Oshri Cohen) is 16 years old, discovering girls,
dealing with school troubles and a life outside of his family in Bonjour
Monsieur Shlomi, a pretty good film by Shemi Zarhin that offers the kind of
smart coming-of-age tale we used to see all the time from Hollywood. Shlomi tries to keep peace and make his life
better, but there is just a bit of dysfunction to overcome if possible.
There is his wise, wheelchair-bound grandfather, his
hard-working mother, who is divorced from his father, has a sister who already
has twins and then there is a potential girlfriend. This sounds like a life to those who have it much tougher, but
stress is stress. Zarhin’s screenplay
is intelligent, funny, three-dimensional and top rate. The only problem is that we have seen some
of this before, but it is a pleasant viewing when all is said and done,
offering enough moments to save it from mediocrity.
The letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image is colorful but limited in
detail, which is a shame, because the cinematography is decent. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has a decent
score by Jonathan Bar-Giora and is from the theatrical Dolby SR analog
release. The recording is good as a
result. The only extras are trailers
for this and four other Strand Releasing titles. Too bad, because this was a film that deserved more coverage and
I would be curious to hear from the cast and crew, especially Zarhin. Hope we get more of his films.
- Nicholas Sheffo
