Maktub
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Israeli mob comedy has violence, cursing.
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Maktub
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What's the Story?
In MAKTUB, Steve (Hanan Savyon) and Chuma (Guy Amir) make their living collecting protection money for the mob. But their lives change after being the only ones to survive a terrorist bombing in the restaurant where they were eating. When they chance upon a note someone left in the cracks of the Wailing Wall, they take it upon themselves to grant the desperate prayers of those leaving notes at the Wall. After helping a man to get a raise and some time off from work to spend more time with his wife and children, Steve and Chuma find that they enjoy helping others. They use some of their money they stole from the restaurant to help a bullied tween have the perfect bar mitzvah, which leads to Steve meeting and becoming attracted to the boy's mother. Meanwhile, Chuma has been assisting Steve's ex-wife (Chen Amsalem) and essentially parenting her young son, who wants nothing more than for his real father to accompany him to a father-son out-of-town soccer trip. Even as they carry out their good deeds, Steve wants to flee to America with the stolen money, as their former boss and his thugs start to track them down. Steve and Chuma must find a way to confront their own mistakes and to change themselves.
Is It Any Good?
This Israeli film careens wildly between dark and light comedy. Humor mined from mafia and terrorist violence pairs with the awkward bumbling of the two lead characters trying to do right by others after years of being not-so-nice as mob henchmen. It's a tricky combination to pull off, and yet Maktub (the Arabic term for fate or destiny) on the whole succeeds in using the two sides to illustrate the movie's deeper reflections on destiny and redemption. It also manages to find a fresh angle on mobsters and the "mafia movie" -- with an awareness of the almost played-out tropes of the genre, acknowledging them and finding the humor in these clichés.
It isn't a perfect movie. The changes in the lead characters feel too abrupt at times, with action and story twists forced in a heavy-handed fashion to make the audience absolutely certain that they understand the theme of the movie. The comedy veers a little too close to the edge of melodrama. Overall, it's an entertaining premise thoroughly explored. It doesn't take much imagination to see Maktub being remade in Hollywood, with any number of the luminaries of the "mob genre" putting their iconic spin on the story. Either way, Maktub is deserving of the international acclaim it has already received.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about movies centered on characters who are in the mafia. How does Maktub compare to other "mob" movies you've seen?
How was violence used in the movie? Would the movie's overall message be just as effective without the violence? Why or why not?
How do you think this movie would be different if it had been made in Hollywood instead of Israel?
Movie Details
- In theaters: October 5, 2017
- On DVD or streaming: June 15, 2018
- Cast: Guy Amir, Hanon Savyon, Chen Amsalem
- Director: Oded Raz
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Comedy
- Topics: Friendship
- Run time: 100 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 27, 2022
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