The local cinematheque screened in a preview session one of the Israeli films that has a good chance of becoming the summer hit of 2022. The title is ‘Hummus Full Trailer‘, an action comedy that gathers in its cast some of the most popular Israeli actors and is directed by Asaf Kobrovsky, who is also a co-writer. Kobrovsky is in his first film, but this can hardly be felt. The story combines the genres of action comedies and gangster movies with local comedies in the tradition of ‘bourekas movies’, inspired by Israeli reality. It is a complex reality, but it can also be a good source for comedy. Violent conflicts in today’s Israeli society ultimately have, if we think about it, a healthy dose of nonsense, and one of the best ways to deal with conflict and violence is to laugh about them
The story is well structured and could belong to some of the most successful films of the genre anywhere in the world. In the huge harbor of Haifa, a corrupt official rounds off his income by smuggling in illegal containers. When he is assassinated, three containers are waiting for their recipients. Each of them has a precious, illegal, and explosive – figuratively, if not literally -charge. The recipients are mobsters of various categories and nationalities, among those who violently confront each other in the underground world of Israel: gangsters from the old guard, newcomers from the former USSR, ultra-religious Jews and Arab traffickers. Added to them is a gay couple of … flower merchants. The mix-up of the containers leads to a crazy race on the roads of Israel, which can only end with a bloody shooting duel … like in the movies. On the way, every minute, countless jokes and more or less original comic situations, based on stereotypes related to ethnic and religious groups, but also with a few well-aimed satirical current arrows.
I liked the movie. The script is well written, the comic situations abound and the laughter comes often and spontaneously, without much vulgarity. Many of the characters are well-defined, and even if they represent stereotypes, the talent and experience of the actors bring them to life on screen. Moni Moshonov adds another role to the gallery of mob bosses he played in previous films, perhaps a kind of parody of them. His out of the screen son, Michael Moshonov, is his son in the film, a hi-tech nerd genius who tries without too much enthusiasm and without too much success to break away from the ‘family’ tradition. Menashe Noy and Keren Mor create a delicious and memorable couple of ultra-religious mobsters. Noticeable is also Yaniv Biton in a role of composition of great fun. There are also some misses. The cinematography, otherwise well-designed with clever uses of split screens, has a problem – perhaps technical – seeming to lack contrast in some scenes. The final scene is messy. The lack of experience in the Israeli movies in creating action scenes with many characters in which the ballet of violence is well orchestrated and filmed is obvious. Only very good directors of the genre succeed here, and Asaf Kobrovsky still has work to do in this direction.
It is worth paying attention to the details. There are many and significant. For example, the portrait of Itzhak Rabin on the wall of the harbor office of the mobster who is probably also a union leader. Or the scene in which the hungry Jews fill the Arabic restaurant on the day of the fast of the Jewish holiday of 9 Av. I believe that viewers will respond enthusiastically to this movie by filling theaters this summer, and perhaps by adding the film in the future to the beloved, seen and seen again gallery of Israeli comedies. If a movie like this has any moral conclusion, the one in ‘Humus Full Trailer’ is kind of … immoral. In a violent society where laws are made to be ignored, anyone can become a gangster. Even Holocaust survivors.
The film will hit theaters in Israel starting June 9.