Movie Review: Everything Is Illuminated

Straight off the bat, I'm giving this movie 5 eggrolls out of 5. This movie is totally premium and does not have the shit between its ears.

Jonathan (Elijah Wood) is a young Jewish man on a journey to Ukraine in search of a lady he does not know about. With the help of a dodgy translator, Alex, his blind grandfather, also named Alex, and his seeing eye bitch, Jonathan finds how his grandfather was saved from Nazi invaders.

Although Elijah Wood is actually credited as the lead in the movie, I have to say that the main character to me is actually Alex, the translator. Played by Eugene Hutz (who is also the lead singer of gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello), Alex is a city kid with swagger. He likes American music and clothing, but his stodgy English can be attributed to Roget's thesaurus. He's also the narrator throughout the movie and while Jonathan is on a journey to find the lady that saved his grandfather, Alex makes some discoveries for himself.

This one packs comedy and drama all into one neat little package without seeming forced. Probably the only movie I can sit through that has strong Jewish/ Nazi themes. I highly recommend it and by the way, the movie is based on a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer (the "main character") and is the directorial debut of fellow actor Liev Schreiber (Scream, Manchurian Candidate, The Omen).

On a side note, Eugene Hutz was initially casted because he was Ukrainian but was able to finagle his band into a cameo. Russian folk music (which is quite fun to listen to) is laced throughout.