James' Journey to Jerusalem
Round Table Cinema | Release Date: March 5, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
3
Negative:
2

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago TribuneJohn Petrakis
This wise, clever Israeli film reintroduces the once-popular concept of film as allegory, as it follows a Christian pilgrim on his bumpy road to salvation. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Wonderful first feature. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Isn't glossy, but it has a thought-provoking mix of skepticism, hopefulness, and respect for all but its most scurrilous characters. Hollywood could learn from its canny blending of psychological and multicultural insights. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Has something to add about the toll Western society takes on spiritual values, and the ugliness of consumerism. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
A parable about greed. But don't let that serious-sounding description keep you away. It also is funny, knowing and immensely enjoyable. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
There is a lot to recommend about James' Journey to Jerusalem. Its people are not among them. This searing little parable contains some of the more deplorable folks you're likely to see in a movie about faith. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The film turns into a story of corruption on many levels, and it moves fast, without a scrap of fat in the telling. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Sly and insightful fable. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
A deceptively modest fable of innocence abroad that resonates with the situation within Israel and without. Read full review
70
VarietyDerek Elley
There's a fable-like quality to this first feature by documaker Ra'anan Alexandrowicz that packs just as much punch as a more "serious," didactic movie while entertaining the viewer at the same time. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
As social criticism -- not only of Israel, but of other affluent countries as well -- James' Journey is both potent and a little didactic. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Its brightly colored surfaces and chirpy, picaresque tone notwithstanding, filmmaker Ra'anan Alexandrowciz's first feature is a scathing condemnation of the rampant venality he perceives as having gripped his country. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyJohn Powers
An enjoyable, sneaky-smart fable about the collision between innocence and experience. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Devastating and amusing. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Entertaining and improbably endearing.
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
A wonderfully unsentimental parable that backs no horses in the movie's secular/religious dualities. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It's interesting to see this more quotidian aspect of Israel displayed on film, but the parable of James' Journey to Jerusalem has the sophistication of a Sunday School lesson. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
That the film avoids the conflicts making the daily headlines out of Israel is one good reason why James' Journey, though not very well made, is interesting. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
While the film occasionally stretches credibility and is also rather schematic in its characterizations, it tells its tale with skill and economy, and its observations about consumerist Israeli society are critically insightful without being overdone. Read full review
60
EmpireSteve O'Hagan
The muddled mix of documentary rawness and fable-like naiveté prevents it from fulfilling its parable pretensions. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
An awkward marriage of fairy-tale and social realism. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It's hard to say exactly what the point is to this sour tale. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
You'd think that the film would ask you to be appalled at this scenario of forced servitude -- but no, it's treated as harmless and cute, like an Israeli ''Chico and the Man.'' Read full review
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