Joel Basman played his part well, but I wasn't honestly even sure what the point of this movie was. And how exactly is Motti "awakened" by the end of this? I mean, he has had sex a couple times, smoked, and begins to wear T-shirts. But he is no closer to any actual useful realizations about life than he was at the beginning amid all his cultural laws. He is merely learning to play by a different rulebook, but the game itself is never defined. This movie left me thinking in general about the meaninglessness of a life lived amid the bondage of religiousity and legalism, as well as that where the individual makes his own rules. No real existential questions were answered, or even broached; it was a well-filmed, reasonably well-acted journey into futility. This film has been likened to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding;" that movie, however, is funny enough and sincere enough that one manages to avoid the existential questions. "Motti" seems to wish for us to evaluate those questions, but never gives us enough meat to begin the process of chewing. Not funny enough or even remotely profound enough to be worth it. Hats off to the actors, though.
