Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

gradyharp While the world continues to struggle to understand the constant schism between Palestine and Israel and yet permutations of that unsettled hot fire whose coals continue to smolder between aggressive flares, along comes a film such as this one - THE OTHER SON or Le fils de l'autre - and provides some insights that at least for the moment offer a better understanding of a very long struggle. Based on an idea by Noam Fitoussi who wrote the screenplay with Director Lorraine Lévy and Nathalie Saugeon, this is a gentle film about resolution of conflict - at least on the family level. It is a French production filmed in the West Bank and Israel under the sensitive direction of Lorraine Lévy.It's not uncommon for those who rightly resent being biologically categorized on government questionnaires, to defiantly write in 'human' when asked to indicate their race. And the same holds true in its own compelling but curious way for the switched at birth DNA-driven identity crisis drama, The Other Son.The relative stability of the two families in question - the Israeli Silbergs (Emmanuelle Devos and Pascal Elbéand) the Palestinian Al Bezaaz (Areen Omari, Khalifa Natourkin, and older son Mahmud Shalaby) in the West Bank - is shaken up when eighteen year old Joseph Silberg (Jules Sitruk) puts his musical aspirations on hold to report for mandatory military duty. But an army blood test confirms that he could not be the child of his parents, an odd stratagem, that a military on such permanent alert would be so thorough, especially since Joseph's father is a high ranking commander. But during a Gulf War missile attack near the Haifa hospital where Joseph was born, a Palestinian mother gave birth at the same time. And in the ensuing confusion, the babies must have been released to the wrong women. Joseph's distraught parents first waver, then seek out the Al Bezaaz family. And Yacine (Medhi Dehbi), their designated 'other son' in question, who has returned home for a visit from his medical school studies in France. While alternately fearful and hopeful mixed emotions become entangled, compounded by a profound cultural divide along with two fathers into deeply disapproving denial. Yet it is the coming together of the three 'brothers' that offers a ray of nope that in time this festering conundrum may be resolved.The cast is splendid, especially Jules Sitruk and Medhi Dehbi whose humanity holds the story together. Highly recommended. In French, English, Arabic, and Hebrew with subtitles. Grady Harp

peter henderson A hospital mix up results in an Israeli army colonel and his wife raising a Palestinian baby as their son, while a Palestinian family raise the Israeli baby as their son. The film deals with the discovery of the administrative error, while raising the obvious question - why apartheid is alive and well in Israel.OK. Let's deal with the "elephant in the room" criticism of the happy (or at least positive), Hollywood ending out the outset. David Stratton (ABC TV Australian 20/4/13) summed it up..."The resolution Levy proposes isn't  entirely satisfactory however and there is a nagging feeling that this scenario is a little bit too schematic"Remember, it was the Sabras who finally imposed their reluctance to obey orders and break the bones of rock throwing Interfada demonstrators that changed the way these matters were policed. Why could it not be the same Sabras who take on their elders over the way the country is governed?There is a great quote in a 1998 back packers tourist guide that makes this idea plausible"Israel adores its children they are indulged, undisciplined, ill mannered and forgiven by everyone.Even dare to mention that they might be a nuisance and eyebrows will be raised. Somehow their exuberance and enthusiasm, their noisy boisterousness, their robust tanned health and energy all seem to symbolize the state itself. Israel too is young and new and vulnerable. But above all the children of today are alive. Even now when Israelis look at the children they are reminded of a dark past and an uncertain futureSurely no film has captured so dramatically the police state mentality that pervades Israeli culture, and not just at the border crossings. Who says the next generation can't be involved in knocking down (both figuratively and literally) the walls so evocatively depicted in this film. It is the mothers who have garnered the most notice for the quality of their acting. Both Emmanuelle Devos (all grown up since I last saw her in "Read My Lips") and Areen Omari depict a near erotic delight in stroking their estranged sons faces as they are re-united over the course of the film. It is quietly powerful stuff in what is essentially a comedy of manners. The other cast members deliver too. And the cinematography brings the viewer right into the localesI found myself caring less and less about the criticism of the unlikely resolution as I thought about the film more and more. Like that other outsider's film (Spielberg's "Munich") this film may well change attitudes in Israel, this time for the better. A satisfying and quietly enjoyable film about hope

richard-1787 I'm surprised that there are only two reviews - now three - of this movie on IMDb. It got a very good review when it played up in Cleveland, and since I couldn't make the trip up there to see it, I waited and rented it from Netflix. It was worth the wait.The situation is straight out of an early Shakespeare comedy: two babies are switched at birth by mistake in a maternity ward, such that a Jewish Israeli family raises a young Arab and a Palestinian family raises a young Jewish Israeli. Just short of their 18th birthdays, they learn the truth.The first part of the movie deals with the reactions of the four parents. All four actors give truly moving, first-rate performances. The Jewish father is an officer in the Israeli army, someone who has spent his life fighting Arabs. Still, he is torn apart by what he perceives as the loss of his son. The Arab father doesn't know how to react: is he now harboring a hated Israeli in his own poor home? But he, too, loves his son very much, and cannot deal with the thought of losing him.The two mothers also experience a feeling of loss, but are able to speak to each other in ways that the two fathers, for political reasons, cannot.The son of the Jewish couple finds acceptance in the Palestinian family through a mutual love of music. It is less clear how the son of the Arab couple will fit in the Jewish family. Will Yacine be able to tolerate living with an Israeli army officer? How will his family deal with that? The movie, as I said, is based on a clichéd theatrical device, but there is nothing clichéd about the acting or the script here: it all seems very real, and often very intense. It never seems fake. Unlike what the other two reviews suggest, not everything is resolved here by the end of the movie. That would have been too pat, too American-TV.I strongly recommend this movie. It's really well done.

A M This is an excellent piece of cinema, treating of a very tricky and complex question with intelligence, sensibility and heart. Extremely well acted, the characters are full of warmth, and both sides in the end seem equally right. Of course, we wish the current conflict could be sorted with the same compassionate approach but sadly this would be naive. Still, the film gives a very hopeful message that one likes to believe in. I am just back from Israel and feel the atmosphere of the movie is very true and genuine. If only understanding each other's culture could be done in a similar heartfelt way.Enjoy!