Is That You? (2014) Reviews

• "the road not taken" movie left me unmoved

  paul-allaer2016-02-19

  "Is That You?" (2014 release from Israel) brings the story of Ronnie, who at the beginning of the movie is fired from his film projector job in Israel, and as part of the compensation package, gets a plane ticket to the US, to visit his brother Jacob (somewhere in New York, it appears). When Jacob tells Ronnie that by happenstance he recently ran into Rachel, Ronnie's flame some 40 years ago back in Israel, Ronnie decides that he wants/needs to meet her. With the help of Jacob's son, they are able to find Rachel's address on the internet (or so they think), and off Ronnie goes on a road trip. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: this movie is directed and co-written by Dani Menkin (best known for "39 Pounds of Love"). Here, Menkin examines the issue of 'what could've been in life', something that I'm sure many of us can relate to. To get to the bottom of 'the road not take' issue, Menkin decides to make this into a road movie, literally, as Ronnie goes from one place to the next to try and track down the elusive Rachel. Along the way we see him making new friends, hearing other people's stories, etc. but the bottom live is that I never felt emotionally invested in the story, and hence this movie left me mostly unmoved. From a technical perspective, please note that the picture ratio was very peculiar (much narrower than the usual 16:9 ratio), resulting in a very narrow letter box format (I'm guessing the movie screen was close to two-thirds blacked-out). I thought that something wasn't quite right as it started playing, but eventually you get used to it. Bottom line: this isn't a 'bad' movie by any stretch of the imagination, but neither did it come close to what my own expectations for this were. I recently saw this movie as part of the 2016 Jewish & Israeli Film Festival here in Cincinnati. The one-time screening for this movie was attended very well (as were most of the other movies I attended at the festival). If you are in the mood for a road trip movie, both literally and figuratively, I encourage you to check out "Is That You?".

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• I think that this film is a little gem.

  JimtownSteve2017-12-17

  It's about a 60-year-old Israeli man who gets laid off from his job and goes to the US to find the long lost love of his life, the one that got away 40 years ago. The story turns into a road trip movie of sorts with interesting, funny, quirky people-encounters all along the way and reflections about regrets in life. It would be giving away to much to say more but suffice to say the ending is a romantic, bittersweet outcome.

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• Israeli Film??? cmon....

  GeoPierpont2017-10-15

  Rachel sure looks great for 60! Ronnie, not so much, a shave might have been a good move but we have to make our men feel better by looking most disheveled when they hang with young chippies, eh? The premise makes you think this will be full of twists, turns and great surprises. Well, they do have a surprise party for Rachel and that about sums up the excitement here. I saw way too many typical American influences in the directors tool box and was very very disappointed to see no stamp of country of origin. I watch many foreign films just for this purpose to get away from the expected slow dialogue, non-value added story arcs, and mumbling actors. Let's get with the program here folks and shine your country's ability to inspire, educate and entertain!

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• I expected more from a screenplay by Eshkol Nevó

  kolnoaMograbi2015-01-14

  While "Is That You?" is an enjoyable road flick with a cute premise, its randomness distracted me from fully enjoying it and giving it a higher rating. It bothers me when writers give characters ethnic names / names that are obviously not of the dominant culture (Golan in this case, a distinctly Israeli name) when their backgrounds are immaterial to the plot. Doing so is just a distraction, as was the seemingly random choice of song that Roni plays at Rachel's birthday party. There having been no prior reference to or mention of this song, why was it chosen? Not a hit song from their youth (the 1970s), and certainly not a song that an Israeli is likely to know. Finally, a motel clerk declining a couple a room and then being persuaded to give them a room: Why bother putting it in? It gave us no added information; neither did it alter the plot. Superfluous. First-time screenwriters, we're watching you!

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• Meh

  jodyxweiss2019-05-21

  To be honest I washed to like it but it's a bit of a mess