ACCORDING TO A BLURB IN The Broward Jewish Journal , a free distribution tabloid, the movie The Wedding Plan — not to be confused with another movie, The Wedding Planner — is a must see.
It might be, but . . .
The flick is playing in south Florida on May 19 — a Friday — and May 20th, Shabat. The newspaper is dated May 17. I happened to be at my barber’s for post-Lag b’Omer cut on the 18th and grabbed a copy of the newspaper on my way out.
The movie’s premise is that the datee (religious) woman’s beau gets cold feet (“I don’t love you”) at the last moment. The hupa, already planned, is — was — to be erected in a short month. (No, the review and trailer failed to mention if the month was a Jewish month on a “regular” month.)
May 19 is a Friday. Obviously, May 20 is Shabat.
I checked online to see where The Wedding Plan was showing.
The theaters showing the film on Friday all had pre-Shabat showings (matinees) as well as at least one showing after the candles are lit. The Shabat day theaters all had motze Shabat showings (as well as during the day).
The Wedding Plan is in Hebrew with English subtitles. It is supposed to be light fare. A movie, in short, that Israeli ex-pats would enjoy.
Granted, many — perhaps most — Israelis-in-America are not shomrei Shabat, but there are many who observe the day. There even are a few American Jews who actually understand Hebrew (vs. reading from a sedur words they don’t comprehend — the plague of the Diaspora).
Most Israeli men, and many women, too, work on Friday. That rules out the matinee showings. Unless everything is already ready for Shabat, most (observant) Jewish women are putting the finishing touches on their Shabat preparations; that rules out the early evening, pre-Shabat showings.
On the flip side, while a heloni might take in the movie on Shabat, there probably are other things already planned. So much for matinee or early evening shows. Besides, if there are children, someone has to find a baby sitter regardless of the level of (Jewish) observance.
The datee won’t be able to get out of the house until after Shabat — locally it ends at about 8:45. There are late showings — one starts after 10p.m. — but it IS late after all. A motze Shabat showing in the winter is “do-able,” but with summer’s long daylight hours . . .
I have no idea WHY the weekly printed the puff piece at the last minute; perhaps the PR just arrived or perhaps, if the reviewer really did see the flick, the reviewer’s invitation came late — either way, the PR was poorly done. (Lousy PR — hasbara in Hebrew — is typical of Israel, even, or perhaps especially, at the government level.*)
Bottom line: While The Wedding Plan may be a great movie and one I would like to see, I’ll have to pass. Now, if it is brought back and shows on a Sunday or weekday (that’s not a holiday), maybe I’ll be able to see it. Israeli comedies usually are excellent – that’s how Israelis in Israel maintain their sanity … at least in my day.
* For a brief time I flacked (worked in PR) for Tel Aviv University so I have some firsthand knowledge of Israeli PR. I also did PR work in the Several States.
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
