Everything Is Illuminated

A young man takes a strange and unexpectedly funny journey in search of a family heroine he's never known in this screen adaptation of the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer. Jonathan (Elijah Wood) is a lifelong collector of any and all objects pertaining to his family, and he has become obsessed with a woman he's never met. The woman saved the life of his grandfather Safran during World War II, when the city in the Ukraine where he was born was destroyed by Nazi troops. Wanting to know more about the woman, Jonathan flies to the Ukraine, where with the help of a driver who has claimed to be blind since his wife's death, a good-natured but tongue-tied tour guide and translator named Alex (Eugene Hutz), and a dog named Sammy Davis Junior Junior, he searches for the meaning of the present that lies buried in the past, unexpectedly shedding the same such light on the lives of those around him. Everything Is Illuminated was the first directorial assignment for acclaimed actor Liev Schreiber.

AMG Review: Everything Is Illuminated is a quirky, surprisingly comic drama (serious comedy?) with a smart visual style. It's especially confident considering who's behind the camera: actor Liev Schreiber, debuting as both a screenwriter and a director. Not only does he frame his shots with veteran finesse, but Schreiber also undertakes the difficult task of adapting the largely epistolary novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, excising portions and streamlining the remainder toward the main character's journey through the Ukraine (literally) and his family's past (figuratively). Because the main character -- named Jonathan Safran Foer -- collects all manner of symbolic physical artifacts, sealing them in Ziploc bags, the film takes on a richly colored pop-art aesthetic that lends to its arresting visual sense. Paced by Elijah Wood's reticent performance, which uses his Coke-bottle glasses as an essential prop, the film might be sober throughout if it weren't for the blast of fresh air provided by newcomer Eugene Hutz. Hutz is blessed with just the right combination of Western hip-hop posturing and Eastern European good-natured oafishness, allowing him to steal his every moment onscreen. His Alex is especially delightful in his proclivity for shoehorning English words into unusual contexts, such as asking Jonathan if he had a "premium repose" or preparing him for a "very rigid search." Alex, his eccentric grandfather, and Jonathan make a motley cross-cultural and intergenerational trio that propels the absurd set pieces that lie in their path. Just when the film lulls the viewer into a false sense of its light-heartedness, however, it effectively grapples with big issues that lie at the core of European Jews' survivor guilt. Some viewers may question Schreiber's decision to make comedy and tragedy equally dominant elements of his film, but one ends up fully illuminating the other, as it were.