DVD Review: $9.99

Posted Feb 22, 2010 by Kevin Walker

Updated Feb 22, 2010 at 01:02 PM

$9.99
Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Anthony LaPaglia
Director: Tatia Rosenthal
Plot: The short stories of Israeli writer Etgar Keret come to life in this stop-motion animation film from fellow Israeli animator Rosenthal. The movie revolves around the lives of people living in an apartment building. They include a depressed father and his two sons, one of whom is willing to do whatever it takes to please the woman he just met. The other wants to buy a book that proclaims to offer the meaning of life for only $9.99. There’s also an older man who meets an angel and a little kid who finds his new piggy bank is his favorite toy.
Bottom line: Keret is a fabulous writer, working in the realm of magic realism but always with some point to be made about everyday life, especially love and loss. Check out his story collection “The Nimrod Flipout” for proof. Here, one misses his prose and the production values are less than they could have been, but the animation is interesting and the stories, much like his own short stories, are deceptively complex despite their brevity.
Extras: An earlier version of the film’s opening scene, plus another scene involving a cheating husband and super glue.
Quote: “Are you one of those atheistic, nihilistic, left-wing good-for-nothing communists?”
78 minutes (R; profanity and brief sexuality and nudity)