Eugene Hutz …. Alex
Elijah Wood …. Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan Safran Foer …. Leaf Blower
Jana Hrabetova …. Jonathan’s Grandmother
Stephen Samudovsky …. Jonathan’s Grandfather Safran (as Stepan Samudovsky)
Ljubomir Dezera …. Young Jonathan
Oleksandr Choroshko …. Alexander Perchov, Father
Gil Kazimirov …. Igor
Zuzana Hodkova …. Alex’s Mother
Mikki …. Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.
Boris Leskin …. Grandfather
Memorable quote:
Alex: Make sure to secure the door when I am gone. There are many dangerous people who wanna take things from Americans, and also kidnap them. Good night!
Jonathan is an American Jew with a particular prediliction for preserving items in Ziploc bags. In order to avoid forgetting, he picks up an object, in the moment, and preserves it in a Ziploc bag as a reminder of his experiences.
Just before his grandmother dies, she gives him an item that belonged to a woman that saved his grandfather during WW II. Jonathan decides to make it his mission to find the woman. In order to do this, he must fly to the Ukraine, where his family was from orginally.
Before Jonathan arrives, we are introduced to Alex. He is “carnal with many women because he is a premium dancer.” His father runs tours for Jewish people wishing to return to the Ukraine to see where their ancestors died during the war. Alex’s gruff grandfather is to be Jonathan’s driver and Alex, with his small knowledge of the English language, will be the translator. Grandfather refuses to drive without his “seeing eye bitch”.
Grandfather and Alex retrieve Jonathan from the airport and they are off. The are in search of a small town that may no longer exist. The movie chronicles their search for this town. They are able to stumble upon the “town” and Jonathan meets his “archiving” match in the town. He is also able to discover the past concerning his grandfather and the woman that saved his life. Alex’s life takes a twist at the end as well.
The scenery is wonderful and the music, though in Russian, I truly enjoyed. It definitely helped to add to the mood of the film. Elijah Wood and Eugene Hutz (Alex) had excellent chemistry in this movie. I found the character of Alex to be completely captivating. This movie made me laugh and cry. Not in that corny way either. The twist at the end is something unexpected. Alex’s explanation of how he sees everything is very interesting at the end. This movie is so much better and completely different than I would have ever expected. I can see how some would perceive that it is slow in parts. However, I believe that wanting constant, instant gratification in film is stupid. This is NOT that kind of movie.
I’ve read that the book is excellent as well, but far different from the movie.
I recommend watching the special features as well, if nothing else, but to understand why the scenes were cut from the movie.
Overall grade: B+
