APRIL 7 • 2022 | 49

BEN FOSTER IN TWO NEW 
FILMS, ZELENSKYY IS 
BACK ON NETFLIX, CNN+ 
PREMIERES

Ben Foster, 41, is an 
excellent actor who you 
might know from X-Men: 
The Last Stand (2006); 3:10 
to Yuma (2007); and Hell 
and High Water (2016). 
By coincidence, Foster 
has lead roles in two new 
movies opening this month: 
The Contractor (opened last 
week) and The Survivor, 
an original HBO Max film 
(premieres April 27). 
Foster was raised in his 
father’s Jewish faith and 
was a bar mitzvah. He is 
married to Laura Prepon, 41 
(Donna on That ’70s Show). 
Like Foster, Prepon is the 
child of a Jewish father and 
a non-Jewish mother. 
Contractor is an action 
film about James Harper, a 
former special forces soldier 
(Chris Pine) who goes to 
work for a private company 
along with his best friend, 
Mike (Foster). Harper needs 
friends when he takes on a 
very dangerous overseas 
mission.
The Survivor is based 
on the true story of Harry 
Haft (1925-2007). Haft, 
a Polish Jew, was just 
16 when he was sent to 

Auschwitz. His strong build 
prompted the SS to train 
him to be a boxer. The SS 
found it “entertaining” to 
force prisoners to box to 
the death before military 
personnel. Haft survived 76 
such matches. (Foster stars 
as Haft). 
There are quite a few 
Jewish characters, but 
Foster and Israeli model 
and actress Dar Zuzovsky, 
31, are the only Jewish 
actors who play a Jew. 
Vicky Krieps, who plays 
Miriam, Haft’s (real) Jewish 
girlfriend, isn’t Jewish — 
but I give Krieps a “pass” 
because her real-life 
grandfather was an anti-
Nazi resistance leader. The 
film was directed by Oscar-
winner Barry Levinson, 79.
Frankly, I think this — I 
don’t like seeing Jews beat 
other Jews to death. Also 
consider the reception to 
Triumph of the Spirit (1989), 
a true-life film about Salomo 
Arouch, a Greek Jew forced 
to fight in Auschwitz. 
Critics panned Triumph, 
and the late, great critic 
Roger Ebert pointed-out the 
film’s main flaw —a flaw that 
may bedevil The Survivor, 
too. Ebert felt that by 
focusing on the fights, and 
expecting viewers to root 

for Arouch, the filmmakers 
in effect forced audiences 
to behave no differently 
from the Nazis in the story. 
Another real-life “fighting 
Jew,” Ukrainian President 
Volodymyr Zelenksky, 
44, is back on Netflix. A 
couple of years ago, they 
streamed his hit Ukrainian 
comedy series, Servant of 
the People and, for obvious 
reasons, Netflix recently 
brought it back. It originally 
aired in the Ukraine in 2015-
2019. Capsule plot: After 
a Ukrainian high school 
teacher’s tirade against 
government corruption 
goes viral on social media, 
he (Zelensky) finds himself 
the country’s new president.
 Obviously, life imitated 
art when Zelensky was 
elected the (real) president 
of Ukraine in 2019. 
CNN+ began streaming 
on March 29. This new 
subscription service says 
it is “a completely distinct 
experience … offering live 
news reporting and new 
original features.” It appears 
that new service features 
boil down to these: (1) 
Some interactive live news 
programs where viewers 
can ask reporters (live) 
questions. “Regular” CNN 
anchors Wolf Blitzer, 
74, and Dana Bash, 50, 
are already set to host at 
least some of these live 
interactive programs. (2) 
Interview programs, like 
the new Jake Tapper Book 
Club. The first episode 
of Book Club streamed 
on March 29. Tapper, 53, 
talked to Dolly Parton and 
James Patterson about 
their new books. Also, 
look for Who’s Talking 
to Chris Wallace?, an 

interview program hosted 
by former Fox anchor Chris 
Wallace, 74 (yes, he is 
Jewish). (3) There’s some 
traditional straight news 
reporting. Wolf Blitzer will 
go from his late afternoon 
(regular) CNN broadcast 
to the CNN+ studio and 
host an evening “straight 
news of the day” program 
and; (4) Some programs 
and original films that first 
ran on “regular” CNN will 
be available, on-demand, 
via CNN+. This includes 
Anthony Bourdain’s Parts 
Unknown and RBG, a bio-
film about the late Justice 
Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 
If you subscribe on or 
before April 26, you get a 
50% discount on the regular 
subscription price (regular 
price is $6 per month). 
This discount is “lifetime” if 
you act by April 26. “Early 
subscribers” will get half-
off the regular price if, and 
when, they raise the CNN+ 
subscription price (i.e., if 
they raise it to $8 — you’ll 
pay $4)
You can get CNN+ via 
cable or satellite, on most 
interactive devices, like 
smart phones, and on 
Amazon Fire. It’s not yet 
available on Roku. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

DELEPOT - OWN WORK

Dar Zuzovsky

JIM GREENHILL FROM ARLINGTON AND DURANGO, USA

Chris Wallace

BLANKA BOROVÁ (KAROLÍNA ČERNÁ)

Ben Foster

