MUM I JUMPS$40 WINE & DINE FOR TWO. MIN „sr Countdown To Terror Israel's Blank Bullet is an Israeli drama inspired by Rabin assassination. Michael Fox Special to the Jewish News I sraeli filmmaker Haim Bouzaglo's dramatic 2011 feature film, Blank Bullet, evokes the rare and disquiet- ing experience of a country having a national nervous breakdown. Such a spectacle can be profoundly harrowing if the underlying real-world political issues are handled skillfully, or excitingly entertaining if the film doesn't take itself too seriously. Blank Bullet leans a tad toward melodrama even as it relent- lessly pulls us through its weighty series of events. Blank Bullet is set in 2005 as Ariel Sharon is preparing to implement his decision to disengage from Gaza and remove thousands of Israeli settlers. We're dropped into the cauldron via an overheated montage of newsreel footage invoking the murder of Yitzhak Rabin a decade earlier, suicide bombers and crowds of angry protestors. An array of death threats has con- vinced the prime minister to avoid public appearances with the exception of a ceremony at Yad Vashem three days hence. The shaved-head chief of the Shin Bet (Israel's secret service), Amos Snir, is convinced that's where an attempt on Sharon's life will take place. Meanwhile, Bouzaglo (who directed the landmark 1990 Lebanon war drama Time for Cherries) has introduced several other characters and storylines. Although we don't realize it at first, they represent potential assassins of the prime minister. There's the radical young leader of a group of religious settlers, whom we meet in the ambulance speeding his pregnant wife to a hospital following her shooting by Palestinians. There's the mysterious doctor who saves her life and is oddly obsessed with another patient in a coma. Don't forget the charming Israeli Arab who, beaten by the police and rejected by his Jewish girlfriend, impulsively vows revenge. (He's also the caretaker of Snir's elderly father, a coincidence that strains credulity but is necessary for certain late- in-the-game plot turns.) Finally, there's the Moroccan woman romantically involved with a high- ranking terrorist, though her motives for murder remain inscrutable. The potential is there for a fluid, Altman-esque weaving of three-dimen- sional people and plot lines that generate both thematic connections and genuine tension. Indeed, Bouzaglo hits that ambi- tious mark a good portion of the time. Unfortunately, the potential assassins, and the Shin Bet team assembled by Snir (veteran actor Amos Lavi, who died shortly after the film was completed), aren't given enough speeches of persua- sive rhetoric, thrilling bluster or moral force. Curiously, Blank Bullet barely men- tions the disengagement after the open- ing sequences and never addresses the implications or alludes to the repercus- sions of Sharon's strategy. Now there's nothing wrong with a good thriller, of course, but some viewers may feel that that the filmmaker is exploiting high-stakes reality for entertainment purposes. That feeling is exacerbated by the lone woman on Snir's handpicked team, a "profiler" who wears off-the-shoulder tops to meetings and derives more plea- sure from flirting with her co-workers than preventing the assassination. The soundtrack, which evokes a '70s made-for-TV action movie, doesn't help, nor does the slow-motion climax at Yad Vashem, which undercuts the would-be poignant ending. Blank Bullet holds our interest right to the end and raises pithy questions about Israel's security and the fallible human beings who are entrusted with it. IMIN ■ The Full Jumps Experience. For Way Less. Get two scrumptious full-course dinners — including your choice of red or white wine (Douglas Hill, our new favorite) — all for 40 bucks. Select from one of seven favorite Jumps menu entrees, with homemade bread and salad. All featuring Chef Chad Stewart's artful meld of farm-to-table freshness with Continental flair. Wine and Dine is available Tuesday through Thursday. Mp S american 63 Kercheval Ave. Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236 I 313.882.9555 jumpsrestaurant. com 1822880 SPICY BANGKOK Grand Openin THAI CUISINE 40270 14 Mile Road • Commerce Twp. Between M-5 & Haggerty next to Jimmy Johns 248-960-5577 , Dine-In or Carry-Out 15% Off Total Food Bill Not valid with any other offer. Excludes beverages and gratuity. Expires 4/15/13 wart- Tuesday Special Dine-In or Carry-Out 2 For $12 15% Off Pad Thai Must present coupon at time of order. Not valid with any other offer. Excludes beverages and gratuity. Expires 4/15/13 Total Food Bill Not valid with any other offer. Excludes beverages and gratuity. Expires 4/15/13 0 e,originai Try Our New Boneyard Beef Ribs! 7 hi ❑ BB The JCC's Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Festival screens Blank Bullet at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield at 9 p.m. Saturday, April 13. www.jccdet.org . cuisine 7 Orchard Lake Rd. South 0114 Mile Farmington Hills U TT M96 TOTAL ) g Ml Excluding tax, tip and beverages • With this ad Dine in only • Expires 5/15/13 JN 851-7000 Catering for all Occasions • Carry-Out • Our Speciality "Low Carb Ribs & Chicken & Lamb Ribs" April 4 • 2013 43