Round Trip (2003) User Reviews

Overage drama queens

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 20 May 2006]

Israeli divorcée with two kids has a lesbian affair with the black woman she hired as a nanny, but the romance doesn't go smoothly. Foreign film follows all the clichés we've already used up here in the States: if the narrow-minded, egocentric ex-husband isn't threatening to take the children away, the nanny (who also works as a janitor) is found out to be accepting money for sexual favors. The performances (particularly by the two female leads) is, however, outstanding, and the natural, non self-conscious rendering of the central relationship makes this shopworn plot far more engrossing than it has any right to be. The concluding events are haphazard though, and one not familiar with the rules of etiquette in Israel might understandably feel the picture leaves them behind. ** from ****

Memorable story of difficult interactions & choices

[hquain · 7/10 · 27 March 2006]

Very well done in a gritty, low-budget verité style, with compelling non-actorly acting. Anat Waxman is a palpable force as the likable-unlikable main character. The sense of urban grit and oppressively limited choices (as much by character as socio-economics) is pervasive. The children come across as very natural, and radiate different personalities in the background through limited exposure. Particularly gnawing is the poisonous mother-daughter relationship, which goes well beyond overt conflict. The disappointment is that the plot-closing twist induces a resolution that is oddly neat and rather jangles with the whole design of the film, as if the filmmakers themselves couldn't quite face up to it all.

Very Good Movie

[Scott-221 · 10/10 · 11 March 2006]

Very inexpensively made movie, yet very good. Yet the writing was very good. As someone who has experience with women from Africa, it is very accurate regarding the problems that gay women face in Africa. One of the best things about the film was the way the director included the images of the child's drawings to "narrate" the story. It was interesting to see how prejudicial against blacks Jews in Israel can be, while at the same time being afraid of the Arabs/Muslims that they live alongside. I am surprised that this movie was not included in the Sundance Film Festival, considering its "independent" nature and themes.

Life was not supposed to be easy

[mmunier · 15 March 2010]

What am I doing here? Well I caught the last five or ten minutes of this lunch time TV movie and was quite astounded by it's quality and came to IMDb to find out a little more about it. It ends with a beautiful song and until I came here to find out more about this story I did not even had any idea where it was! But it seems what I saw in these last few minutes did cover a lot about this film. I have no idea about the ending being a little at odd with the rest as I did not see it. Yet I accepted it as realistic and good enough. I hope I can catch it again when the round trip passes again! OK not enough lines to post! Would this do? Thank you!