Wholly unsurprising drama fails to spark
Holy Lands (M, 96 mins) Directed by Amanda Sthers Reviewed by James Croot ★★★
Harry Rosenmerck’s (James Caan) late-in-life career change has caused plenty of angst.
Not only for the family he has left behind in New York, but also his new Nazareth neighbours. They are none-too-pleased with a pig farmer plying his trade in the Holy City.
Among those opposed to the lapsed Jew and former cardiologist’s presence is resident motorised-scooter-riding rabbi Moshe (Tom Hollander).
‘‘I think that man is a degenerate,’’ he informs his wife, while erecting signs protesting Harry’s piggery. But this ‘‘Larry Flint of bacon’’, as his children call him, isn’t about to go quietly, pointing out there are plenty of Israeli Jews gorging themselves on his produce.
But as his war with the rabbi and the local priest escalates, events back in America begin to increasingly play on his mind. Exwife Monica (Rosanna Arquette) is facing a health crisis, daughter Annabelle (Efrat Dor) has money worries and estranged son David (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is playing out all the family dramas on-stage.
Adapted from her 2010 critically acclaimed French novel of the same name, Amanda Sthers’ (Madame) Holy Lands is an engaging, if not wholly entertaining, drama.
The impressive cast do their best to add spice to a tasty premise, but they are let down by a script and direction that are somewhat heavy-handed with the symbolism. There’s a little too much portentous dialogue and ploddingly predictable plotting, as the Rosenmercks lurch from one disaster to another.
But there are some definite highlights and sparking moments, most notably the interplay between Hollander’s initially rabid rabbi and Caan’s cantankerous interloper. If the story had focused more on these two and their growing, grudging admiration, Holy Lands might have been more of a must-see.