Hunting Elephants

This isn't the first movie about old men who rob a bank, nor the second. But Reshef Levi comes by the theme honestly; his own father was a bank robber for the Jewish underground before Israel regained its independence in 1948. Like his previous movie Lost Islands, which was a great success, this one involves a largish web of characters and relationships, all interesting. The problem with Hunting Elephants is that in order to put the puzzle together, it has to rely too much on verbal explanations of past events. Sometimes it even jumps into the future to show people talking in retrospect about what happens in the main plot. There is also something of a credibility problem with the way the brains of the elderly characters are sharp or muddled depending on what suits the moment. But the performances are good-- it's rather an all-star cast, including many of the bit players-- and there were many lines that had the audience laughing appreciatively. I'm not sure anyone mentions it, but the film takes place in Jerusalem.