Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
39 Adventures of Power
66 Afterschool
73 Amreeka
49 Antichrist
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
71 Big Fan
65 Black Dynamite
76 Bliss
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
44 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
76 Broken Embraces
70 Bronson
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
60 Collapse
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
53 Dare
50 Defamation
67 Departures
70 Earth Days
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
88 Fantastic Mr. Fox
31 Fix
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
xx From Mexico with Love
28 Gentlemen Broncos
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Horse Boy, The
74 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
26 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
43 Little Traitor, The
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
46 Love Hurts
84 Maid, The
45 Mammoth
75 Messenger, The
55 Missing Person, The
59 More Than a Game
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
48 New York, I Love You
66 No Impact Man
26 Oh My God
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
79 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73 Red Cliff
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
65 Skin
41 Splinterheads
42 Staten Island
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
58 Storm
82 Sun, The
49 Ten9Eight: Shoot for the Moon
73 That Evening Sun
61 Trucker
49 Turning Green
83 U2 3D
45 Uncertainty
67 Visual Acoustics
32 War on Kids
67 Way We Get By, The
65 Wedding Song, The
xx White on Rice
59 William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe
74 Woman in Berlin, A
43 Women in Trouble
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Ushpizin

EMAILPRINTPicturehouse Entertainment LLC

Ushpizin reviews
70
9.4 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 12 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama  |  Foreign

Written by: Shuli Rand

Directed by: Giddi Dar

Release Date:
Theatrical: October 19, 2005
DVD: April 4, 2006

Running Time: 90 minutes, Color

Origin: Israel

Summary

RATING: PG for mild thematic elements

Starring Shuli Rand, Michal Bat-Sheva Rand, Shaul Mizrahi, Ilan Ganani, Avraham Abutboul, and Daniel Dayan

Director Gidi Dar's film, Ushpizin (roughly translated as "holy guests"), is a revelatory and humorous look at the daily lives of ultra-orthodox Jews learning, living and loving in modern-day Israel. (Picturehouse)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Does what the best movies can do: take viewers to what might be unfamiliar places, into a culture with unique customs and traditions, and show, through drama and comedy, how the fundamental truths of the human experience need no translation.

Read Full Review >
83

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

In addition to providing a fascinating, agenda-free look at an unseen way of life, the film presents a lesson that should be welcome among people of any faith or none at all.

Read Full Review >
83

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The unusual intimacy and authenticity can't be faked: The cast is peppered with nonprofessionals, most notably Michal Bat Sheva Rand.

Read Full Review >
83

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Jew or Gentile, a good story well told is a thing to be cherished.

Read Full Review >
78

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

The Israeli comedy Ushpizin begins something like Guy Ritchie's "Snatch" and ends like the Coen brothers' "Raising Arizona" – in between it's a wholly original movie.

Read Full Review >
75

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

You need not be a believer to appreciate its humor and humanity.

Read Full Review >
75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Ushpizin takes us to a fascinating place, and hands out the sort of brochure that tourists always need but seldom get -- the charming kind, fun to ponder and rewarding to browse.

Read Full Review >
75

Miami Herald Marta Barber

Ushpizin may not turn out to be as popular as Miracle on 34th Street, but if you believe that miracles can happen, it is a perfect outing during the holidays.

Read Full Review >
75

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The new Israeli movie Ushpizin, a film about man's clumsiness and God's grace, is a touching and amusing tale that expands our horizon and also should open our hearts.

Read Full Review >
75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

On paper, Ushpizin (Aramaic for "holy guests") looks like a hard sell. It works, however, thanks to a witty script and believable performances from real-life husband and wife.

Read Full Review >
75

TV Guide Ken Fox

There's little difference between this joyful holiday film and the standard-issue yuletide-miracle movie, except that the holiday isn't Christmas.

Read Full Review >
75

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Gentle and affecting, it offers an introduction to a mostly unfamiliar world while touching on issues recognizable to all.

Read Full Review >
70

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Stylistically Ushpizin belongs to a classic tradition of raucous Yiddish comedy that is easy to enjoy if taken lightly. At the same time, it sustains a double vision of ultra-Orthodox life.

Read Full Review >
70

Village Voice J. Hoberman

As directed by Gidi Dar, Ushpizin has a disarming folk quality.

Read Full Review >
70

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

In the charming comedy-parable Ushpizin, religious orthodoxy inspires not unbending dogma but humble, sometimes baffled spiritual striving by its embraceable, flawed characters.

Read Full Review >
70

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

A warm, conciliatory entertainment.

Read Full Review >
70

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A gently humorous fable about the power of faith and the possibility of change, Ushpizin not only takes place in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, it was filmed with that media-shy group's cooperation and followed religious law at all times.

Read Full Review >
70

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

The ability of faith to reintegrate a damaged personality is one theme here, although the film doesn't strive for psychological realism; in its heartfelt embrace of religion as ethical path, it owes more to the bygone Yiddish drama than to psychodrama.

Read Full Review >
70

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

A charming comedy with a philosophical undercurrent that provides a fascinating glimpse of Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Jews, who live in a realm almost literally sealed off from outsiders. But the most remarkable thing about the film is that it exists at all.

Read Full Review >
70

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The picture has enough good feeling and chuckle to take it out of the parochial.

Read Full Review >
70

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

A good-hearted movie aimed at Orthodox Jews who don't normally go to the movies.

Read Full Review >
60

Variety Jay Weissberg

An enjoyable seriocomic tale of a poor couple whose holiday-time miracle becomes a test of faith.

Read Full Review >
60

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Most revelatory here is Malli, who defies the stereotype of submission and subservience and emerges as a woman of self-possession and substance. (The earthily beautiful Bat-Sheva Rand infuses the character with a generous dollop of her own zaftig sensuality.)

Read Full Review >
60

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Ushpizin's effortlessly authentic depiction of Jewish orthodoxy--and the palpable, almost ecstatic sense of joy its characters take in it--ultimately tips the film's hand.

Read Full Review >
60

Empire David Hughes

A flawed but fascinating (and frequently funny) insight into a culture seldom explored on film from an insider's point of view.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chad S. gave it a7:
The filmmaker's unwillingness to go all the way like Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" in dealing with the volatility of unwelcome guests within a pacific household hampers, but doesn't do irrevocable harm to a very unique film-going(or DVD-watching) experience. These two uncouth friends from the protagonist's past are genuinely menacing, so when the inevitable is circumvented by a collective change of heart in their attitudes towards Jewish Orthodoxy; "Ushpizin" ceases to be a real film and more like a promotion of religious ideology, the Hebrew equivalent to Christian films like "Left Behind". For the sake of religious tolerance, however, "Ushpizin" should be seen, even though it fritters away some very uncomfortable moments between the sanctified and the heathens at dinner-time. But really, only a certain Aussie would want this film to end like "Funny Games".

Joe S. gave it a10:
This movie was superb. A most remarkable portrayal of the inherent beauty of faith.

Sylvia S. gave it a10:
I loved this film. I laughed, and cried, and was lifted up by the love at the heart of this movie. The acting of Shuli Rand and his real-life wife, Bat-Sheva is superb. The film does a fine job of shedding light on the hasidic community about which there is so much misunderstanding.

Carol M. gave it a10:
Awesome! Love this movie! So poignant! Got to get a copy! Can't get the song out of my head, either!

patricia b. gave it a10:
Great movie. A touching story very authenticly preformed. I loved.

Neil P. gave it a10:
Normally I don't like foreign movies with subtitles, but I loved this one. It is a charming comedy-drama that the whole family can enjoy together. "Fiddler on the Roof" meets "Miracle on 34th Street".

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use