JOY by Julie Shles: Film Review
by Andre Soares
Muchrachim Lehiyot Same’ach / Joy (2005) 
Director: Julie Shles. Screenplay: Omer Tadmor. Cast: Sigalit Fuchs, Tal Friedman, Rivka Michaeli, Alex Sendrowitz
Directed by Julie Shles, Muchrachim Lehiyot Same’ach / Joy (Israel) is a modern fairy tale in which magic wands and pumpkin carriages are replaced by the more humanistic magic of empathy and forgiveness.
Set in Tel Aviv around the time of Yom Kippur, Joy follows the struggles of an overweight, homely girl who wants her lonely parents’ former friends — Dad was a major womanizer — present at a televised friends & family reunion. Along the way, she discovers both self-respect and (an unusual) Prince Charming.
Although Shles’ direction and Omer Tadmor’s script meander aimlessly every now and then, they should be commended for focusing on the characters’ quirky traits while avoiding cheap sentimentality. Additionally, Joy is worth watching because of several highly capable performances, especially those of Sigalit Fuchs (as the "Joy" of the English-language title) and Rivka Michaeli (as Joy’s bossy mother), both of whom won, respectively, best actress and best supporting actress Israeli Academy Awards earlier this year.
Reviewed at the AFI FEST 2005
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