Pun Salad

Here are some adjectives gleaned from reviews of The Band's Visit: heartfelt, humane, funny, lonely, inspiring, sad, beautiful, fab, charming, engaging. All true. It got a big 98% on the Tomatometer.

But, nevertheless, I liked it.

It's short and simple: The Ceremonial Police Band of Alexandria, Egypt travels to Israel to play at the Arab Culture Center in Petah Tiqva. But instead a misunderstanding dumps them off in (fictional) Bet Hatikva, a small burg in the middle of the Negev. There's no transportation out until the next day; the band is stuck. This sets up amusing and deft interactions between the Egyptian visitors and Israeli inhabitants. Most of the time is spent on relationship between straitlaced band leader Tawfiq and earthy, free-spirited Dina, the oddest of odd couples.

If there's a message here, it's pretty simple: people can get along, even from cultures with a history of animosity. But the movie doesn't beat you over the head with that.

Fortunately, some band members speak English, as do all the Israelis. And, at dinner, they accidentally fall into a rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime". So perhaps there's a message there about American cultural imperialism: it's good for you.