Broken Wings

This family drama from Israel has racked up many awards and does contain some decent acting. It also contains an American soap-opera plot and dreary music that acts as a major sedative. Maya Maron stars as Maya, a 17-year-old Israeli girl coping with the recent death of her father from a bee sting. When she’s not in school, or taking care of her brother and sister, she’s trying to front a band that sings weepy, boring music. Maya’s mom (Orly Silbersatz Banai) is a midwife, working insane shifts and driving a garbage car. Things come to a head when one of the younger siblings screws himself up doing a Jackass stunt in a swimming pool, and the family must put all of their differences aside while waiting for the wee one to emerge from a coma. Describing the plot makes it sound worse than it actually is, and this film is almost redeemed by the work of its solid cast. Alas, it’s just a tad bit too sudsy to be considered award-winning drama, even if it has had many accolades showered upon it. I’m not going to get on that particular bandwagon. (CR)