Yossi & Jagger
Strand Releasing | Release Date: September 24, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
If the situation has all the ingredients of a shrill, tearful melodrama, the filmmaker, working from a taut screenplay by Avner Bernheimer that doesn't waste a word or a gesture, keeps the emotional lid firmly in place. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Enlivened by journalist Avner Bernheimer's delicately witty script and some lively ensemble performances under the direction of Eytan Fox, the film offers a haunting portrait of a generation forced to risk their lives in the service of military goals they're far from totally committed to. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Performances are crisp, as is everything else about this vital, economical film, proof that less really can be more. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Short but powerful drama. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The lazy story takes on a passion and urgency that peaks in an emotional finale. Read full review
75
PremierePeter Debruge
Although director Eytan Fox focuses on Yossi and Jagger's specific situation, he also casts a critical eye on the responsibility military service puts on all young people who are still in the process of discovering themselves. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Slight but extremely effective, and its characters so engaging that even the sad finale, which is not entirely unexpected or original, manages to pack surprising power. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Surprisingly lighthearted, thanks to Israeli director Eytan Fox's deft touch with comedy and old- fashioned romance. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
What the movie lacks in ambition, originality, and grit, it makes up for in pure feeling. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
Most of the film's action takes place on the base, where Fox smartly concentrates on how this relationship -- tormented at times, lighthearted at others -- exists in Israel's military bubble. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerHoward Shapiro
Y&J could have been made anywhere, really; it's a tale of being scared, of being hopeful, of the unsettling intersection between commitment and loss. Read full review
70
VarietyDerek Elley
It's a very small pic but engagingly played by a fine cast. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
At 71 minutes, the movie is scarcely more than an anecdote. But vivid as it is in establishing a specific milieu, its economy is its strength. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The film ambles along at a relaxed pace, well depicting the uneasy relationships among the soldiers and the mixture of boredom and danger that marks their daily existence. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderReece Pendleton
Despite the mostly static setting, director Eytan Fox keeps this 2002 Israeli feature surprisingly lively, gracefully balancing the various story lines and making good use of an excellent ensemble cast. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It’s amazing what Yossi & Jagger does manage to relay in its brief time onscreen. And instead of melodrama and fireworks, the film goes the more difficult route of restraint and psychological tension. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
The film is hampered by a somewhat shallow, soap-operatic climax. But Knoller is superb as a practical man trying to balance reason and emotion. Fox does an excellent job capturing the claustrophobia of army life, made all the more suffocating by having to hide one's true self. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
A sprint when it should be a marathon, Yossi & Jagger crackles with promise, but much of it goes unrealized. Without the time or resources to develop its characters and overstuffed plot, the result feels like the Cliffs Notes for a longer, more satisfying film. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Daring, ultimately heartbreaking. Read full review
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