Love, Heartbreak, and Bombs

Never judge a movie by its publicity.

An image of four nude, smiling twentysomethings sprawled around the title "The Bubble" suggests yet another raunchy, slapstick teen movie. But this flick is quite the opposite, so much so that the all-Hebrew dialogue with English subtitles seems like an afterthought.
Drama, politics and a modern-day Romeo and Juliet (played by two young gay men) provide the material for director Eytan Fox's gem, set in Tel Aviv.

The opening scene is gritty, set at a barren checkpoint somewhere between Tel Aviv and the Palestinian city of Nablus, where Israeli guards toting semiautomatic weapons bully a busload of Arabs, checking out potential suicide bombers. Among the Arab men is Ashraf (Yousef "Joe" Sweid), who catches the eye of a young Israeli soldier, Noam (Ohad Knoller), as the soldier rushes to the aid of a pregnant woman delivering a breech baby. The baby is stillborn, setting off the angry mob of Arabs, who blame the baby's death on the innocent soldier. In all the chaos, Noam loses his ID card on the roadside.

Unsurprisingly, Ashraf finds and miraculously returns it on the same day Noam returns home from his monthlong stint as a guard (after an undisclosed period of time, as time seems to fly in this movie with few transitions). So begins their puppy love saga.

Noam's two peace-loving roommates, Yelli (Alon Friedmann) and Lulu (Daniela Wircer) warily accept Ashraf into their apartment and their lives, but quickly decide they really do like the guy. Through all the roommates' torrid love affairs — and a few sex scenes (though tactfully done) — the city of Tel Aviv remains their oyster, or rather, "bubble." It is clear that living in Tel Aviv has sheltered them from the stark world of two countries at merciless war that surrounds the city.

Though the acting is consistent, the plot lacks conflict until the final 20 minutes, other than the danger that Ashraf braves being a gay Palestinian in Tel Aviv, which is only hinted at subtly. The very end might as well have been from a different movie: suicide bombings, death and destruction, none of which made appearances in the previous 90 minutes.

Though a lack of transitional tact and restrained conflict keep "The Bubble" from being spectacular, it is still certainly a movie that far outdistances its own publicity.