davewe Perhaps it's my American perspective, but I didn't like anything about this film. In order to characterize a film as a comedy-drama it has to be funny. I don't think there was a solid laugh in the entire film.As to the romance, audiences generally root for a likable couple that they want to see get together. Both characters were horrible. David, unemployed and not anxious to change that status, verbally abuses Batya, calling her dingbat and bitch repeatedly. Batya is not much better. They argue constantly and neither character was exactly a great wit! Even so, as a drama this can all still be salvaged if the characters change during the course of the movie. They don't. David gets successful by pure chance and by clinging to the coattails of a friend.Batya leaves him (the only smart thing she did in the whole film) and returns to her home town.Somehow they decide to get married in the end. Here's wishing they don't have any kids!

DrWhynot David, portrayed as an auto mechanic who dreams of being a magician is actually an verbally and sexually abusive boyfriend with delusions of competence. His live in enabler, characteristically and delusionally, hopes that he will change. The only magic in the film is his "magical" and unexplained rise to success. To be fair some individuals who watched it with me called it "poignant" and "interesting." However NO ONE called it "funny." The ending offers little help in giving meaning to the film. Implied oral sex and graphic anal sex contribute nothing to the vapid content.

toclement First let me say that the first 45 minutes of this movie are just wonderful. The development of the two main characters is joyful to watch, as their performances and the direction brings you deeply into their personas to where you almost feel like you've known them for years. You see almost from the opening scene their virtues, their faults, and you can understand completely why they are together, why they love one another, and why their relationship is in great danger.The story is about a couple from a small Israeli town who are having trouble making it in Tel Aviv. Batya is becoming increasingly frustrated with David's futile attempts at realizing his dream of becoming a magician (he usually lazes around the apartment all day while she works all day at the local grocery shop). The poignancy with which the film shows a woman in love, but at the end of her rope is as real as anything you'll see on the subject.The film takes a slight detour downward once Batya decides she has had enough not only of David, but of Tel Aviv. She packs her bags and heads back to Afula. The problem at this point is two-fold. First, the story stays in Tel Aviv, so we lose Batya, who up until this point was the central figure in the film. I would rather have followed her to Afula as I was so enthralled with her character. Second, somewhat miraculously (and not very credibly), David, with the assistance of his deadbeat friend Shimon, suddenly become overnight sensations in the magician world. This part of the plot takes what was previously a completely realistic (yet still fascinating) story into a sort of unspectacular fantasy. The ending also ties up a bit too neatly and bizarrely (especially regarding the involvement of some union thugs).These criticisms aside, the film still manages to come off as a more than pleasant experience and definitely worth checking out. The direction is creative, yet never overstated and the performances are wonderful on all parts, even down to Batya's biker crush. Part I gets a 10, part II gets a 6. Overall score, 8 out of 10.

Marat Parkhomovsky This movie is one of the best I have seen in 1997. Julie Shlez, a wonderfully gifted documentary creator made her first motion picture and proved again, that even with a limited budget one can make a little cinematic masterpiece. Shlez creates magic on screen. Her film is funny, sad and funny once again. The actors are wonderful: Zvika Hadar is amazing, Esty Zakheim is unforgettable and Orli Perl is so so sweet and sexy. "Afula Express" touches your soul so deeply, you will never forget this unique feeling. My grade: **** 1/2 (out of *****)