Frank's film tip: War is hell in Joseph Cedar's revered but uneven Israeli terrorist thriller "Time of Favor"
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"Time of Favor" is the riveting docudrama that won six Israeli Academy Awards. Although impeccably produced, writer-director Joseph Cedar's gritty and defiant film loses focus when the political intrigue and religious fervor are sidelined for what amounts to be a needlessly hokey love triangle theme. The juggling act by Cedar to fortify this terrorist thriller with a convoluted and misplaced romance only cheapens the solidity of the film's dramatic scheme. While the performances are strong and the tensions run deep within this conflicted story of warped idealism, "Time of Favor" is a provocative but overwrought time bomb that explodes into scattered pieces of mediocrity.

This whole premise, based on a factual story, tells the tale of a devoted Israeli soldier named Menachem (Aki Avni) who has been handpicked to lead a company of extreme religious fighters within the Israeli army. Menachem is not only committed to his cause as a dependable officer, he also is committed to the ultra-religious leanings of Rabbi Meltzer (Assi Dayan)?a figurehead whom Menachem absolutely respects and admires. But when Meltzer instructs his gun ho prot?g? and the men he commands to blow up some considerable territory on Mount Temple in Jerusalem, Menachem is bewildered and starts to question where his allegiance lies. Should Menachem obey the orders of his hard-nosed mentor Rabbi Meltzer and carry on this desperate act or should he adhere to his army commander's reluctance to enact on this mission? Understandably, Menachem is confused and torn apart by this pending dilemma.

In the meanwhile, the rabbi's daughter Michal (played by the strangely named actress Tinkerbell) has her eye on Menachem and wishes to be romantically linked with the dashing war hero. However, her father wants Michal to marry the reserved and brainy yeshiva student Pini (Edan Alterman). Pini not only is Rabbi Meltzer's
number one pupil but he also happens to be Menachem's best friend. Again, Menachem is put in the middle of an unwanted conflict because he doesn't want to hurt his buddy's feelings and claim Michal away from him. And again he risks the ire of the rabbi should he coral Michal as his sweetheart therefore undermining Meltzer and backstabbing poor Pini. As for the obstinate Michal, she can care less what her father wants or how Pini feels?she craves Menachem?plain and simple!

"Time of Favor" starts to brim with intensity when Cedar unlocks the ghastly floodgates for the turmoil to take place. It is when the political and religious agenda start to clash with one another that this movie reverberates the extremism that exists between the two factions of Jews?secular and non-secular. Once the manipulative tactics begin to emerge and we witness the heated showdown between the rabbi's extremist militiamen and that of the Israeli army, "Time of Favor" resonates as a decent Molotov cocktail of perplexity. But Cedar ineptly leaves all of this brewing drama afloat while incorporating a tepid three-way lovelorn soap opera that clouds the overall tormented big picture of what could have been a durable, thoughtfully disturbing military melodrama.

Overall, "Time of Favor" could have given audiences the time of day by concentrating on the elements of a revealing alienation among a culture of people who sadly are at hostile odds with one another through recklessness and retaliation.

In Hebrew with English subtitles

Frank rates this film: ** ? stars

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