Review of Nora's Will

The film begins with a man going to his ex-wife's apartment to deliver some frozen meat. However, after looking over her place twice to see if there were any clues as to where she was, he finds her--dead. Apparently she killed herself--and did an amazing job organizing her life for the family. For example, all the food that the family would need for Passover was there--made and labeled in the refrigerator. But, the story has a few hiccups. First, the ex-husband really despised her in many ways. For example, although she was a Jew, he deliberately finds her in a Christian cemetery and with a VERY Christian coffin--talk about passive-aggressive! Second, although I never knew it, apparently some Jews look upon suicide much like many Catholics see it--like it's a mortal sin and you cannot bury such a person in consecrated ground! Really. But, there is one more hitch that unexpectedly develops--something the dead woman did not anticipate--a stray photo.

To me, this is a great example of a film that is expertly crafted but lacks one very important thing--a story. So, while I can really admire the acting (particularly Fernando Luján) and the director had a really deft artistic touch, the story itself left me flat--very flat. The biggest problem is that I kept expecting all the story elements to come together into something magical--something that would make this film worth while. But, unfortunately, it just never came. The sum of all the good parts just couldn't outweigh a story that seems like it should have seen at least one more re-write.