Rating: 
Summary: Pious evil
Review: Despite occasional implausibilities in characterization and an ordinary if vivid cinematography (Hollywoodish), this film is definitely worth seeing. This is a thriller centering around a plot to blow up the Al Aqsa mosque, a plot instigated among three naive and good-natured IDF boys by an Ultra-Orthodox settler rabbi who claims he seeks to hasten the arrival of the Moshiakh. Who would have predicted, even so late as the end of World War II, that a mere cleric could precipitate a hell on earth by manipulating antiquated religious dogmas? And yet we know that this is one of the principal hazards of our time, and in fact can arise anywhere among the numerous fanatics who infest all three of the major Abrahamic religions.
Aside from the assured, evasive and malevolent rabbi, the best performance is rendered by Tinkerbell in her portrayal of his independant and ethical daughter. She achieves, among other things, a highly effective and dignified love scene, cinematically the height of the film.
Rating:
Summary: Missing the essential point
Review: Director Cedar has produced an exciting and frightening film which helps us see how natural hateful religious mania has become in Eretz-Yisrael. It is only through the agency of a person despised by traditional Yahaduth, a woman, that a horrible disaster is averted. Some reviewers have questioned the director's knowledge of Judaism. I cannot address that. But I am reminded, in this context, of the anecdote concerning Hillel's answer to the skeptic who asked him teach him the Torah while he, the skeptic, stood on one leg. Hillel is said to have replied, "The essence of the Torah is this: what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. All the rest is commentary. Go and learn it." And this the Jewish daughter knew, when her learned father did not. Thanks to Cedar for bringing this valuable Jewish lesson before an audience which perhaps only sought a thrill and a confirmation of their prejudices.
Rating:
Summary: a taut, finely scripted thriller
Review: Director/writer Joseph Cedar has crafted a fast paced, riveting thriller around the current themes of ethnic and religious tension in Israel; throw in a love triangle, and you have a nifty, highly entertaining film.
The cast is attractive and the acting excellent, among them Tinkerbell, who plays the love interest, and Idan Alterman (a television comic in Israel) as the rabbi's favorite student Pini, and Abraham Celektar and Amnon Volf as the soldiers Itamar and Mookie, but the two who are most memorable are Aki Avni, who is fabulous as the main hero Menachem (and is a major hunk as well), and Assi Dayan as Rabbi Meltzer.
Dayan gained fame in 1968, when John Huston chose the handsome actor to co-star in "A Walk with Love and Death" (he was known as Assaf Dayan then) and also for his heritage, as his father was the famous general with an eye-patch, Moshe Dayan. Dayan is a multi-talented man, and is brilliant here, as he teaches his students that "whoever does not know that sometimes a dead lion is more alive than the living dog will stay a dog".
The plot of this film concerning the Temple Mount has been around for ages of course, and was one of the central teachings of Meir Kahane (who was gunned down on a NYC street by an Egyptian in 1990), and he had a surprising amount of support, and not just from "the crazies".
Because of its theme, this film will also appeal to people who have an interest in the "end times" and apocalyptic Bible prophesy, and it is refreshingly free of nudity and bedroom scenes.
The script for this award winning film is above average, the cinematography by Ofer Inov very effective, and the score by Jonathan Bar-Giora terrific; the final piece that plays with the credits is fantastic...those in the habit stopping before the credits run, should not miss this song.
This is a film that gets better with repeated viewings, and total time is 102 minutes.
Rating:
Summary: Good Foreign Cinema
Review: I found this movie to be a real interesting exploration of modern Israel and the power of religious extremism. At the same time, this fine foreign film manages to include a very interesting and absorbing love story.The story of Time of Favor centers on a group of Israeli settlers whose leader is a fundamentalist rabbi. The army, reluctantly, gives the authorization to create a company of men made up of the rabbi's yeshiva students. The rabbi himself has some alarming views, including the belief that for the messiah to return, the temple mount has to be cleared, meaning the Dome of the Rock has to be destroyed. Along with this public persona, the rabbi begins to manipulate one of his best students, even setting him up with his own daughter. The other main character is the Captain of the military unit, who has fallen for the rabbi's daughter. While has fallen for her, he still values his relationship with the rabbi's apprentice. This relationship is strained as the apprentice is rejected, and descends further into violent rage. The shooting of this movie is very elegant in a way. Sweeping views of the geography are shown, as are very realistic views of Israeli settlement life. It's just a very honest and insightful view of the power of religion and what it can make people do.
Rating: 
Summary: great foreign movie-action and romance in one
Review: i saw this movie last week the audience and I loved it -it combines great acting,love and romance,and action with a great plot located in Israel.
Rating:
Summary: It pulls no punches.
Review: In a nutshell, this movie is a critisism on a struggle between the religious and secular Israelis, with two young people in love stuck in the middle.
The religious leader is portrayed as somewhat clueless, arrogant man, the extreme of religious self-righteuosness who loves to get his way with no regard for his own family. A love-struck, gullible student sees the teachings of his mentor as command to violence.
The secular military sees any religious manifestation as a possible threat. They can't understand why the orthodox soldiers are so eager to serve. The see no need to understand the faithfull and have no qualms about accusing an innocent man of a crime, simple because he comes from a religious background.
The two lovers in the storyline are trapped between the two worlds.
Bear in mind that THE PLOT USES THE EXTREME OF BOTH SIDES. It does a great job of showing the worst part of the struggle in Israel today. It favors no one. Instead it blames the fundamental ignorance of the extremists on both ends of the spectrum.
The acting, cinematography and the storyline are superb. To truly appreciate this film one must stop to think and comprehend what the writers are trying to tell you.
Rating:
Summary: Wow, great movie
Review: Loved it, so did my wife, who's not Jewish, gripping, really well-acted.
Rating:
Summary: ¿Time of Favor¿ Somewhat Favorable¿
Review: Once in awhile when my roommate and I get a little free time we head down to the video rental store to watch a few movies and I rarely expect to find a movie about Israel or the Middle East that doesn't focus on terrorists and silly Hollywood plots about what they think the Middle East is like (Hollywood does a horrible job of depicting both Arabs and Jews). To my surprise, the last time we went I saw a slick movie case with Hebrew on it extolling the virtues of this Israeli-made film that won quite a few awards. On that whim, we rented "Time of Favor" and hoped for the best. The film is the story of a small religious community from the Yesha (a Hebrew abbreviation of the combination of the words Judia and Samaria, the ancient biblical names of the area the popular press likes to call the West Bank) and their decision to form their own unit when compulsorily enlisting in the Israeli army. In Israel, everyone does national service in the army or for a governmental organization (including women, the handicapped, and a few other groups with a few exceptions). Most recruits serve in a unit local to the area the live in and stay together as a unit until old age finally renders no longer fit to serve as soldiers. "Time for Favor" puts forward a hypothetical situation (to my knowledge) of having an entire religious community serves together in one infantry unit. The unit's officer explains that the Druze and Bedouin have their own units in the army, why not the religious Jews? The movie's plot revolves around a love triangle between the Rabbi's daughter, Michal, the captain of the community's army unit, Menachem, and the Rabbi's most promising student, Pinchas or Pini, also a soldier in the community's army unit. At the same time, there is a political plot by some of the fundamental members of the Yesha community to blow up the Dome of the Rock, the Islamic Temple built upon the ruins of the Jewish Temples from Biblical history. There is also an additional plot extolling the stresses of Michal and her father, Rabbi Meltzer. At one point she explains that she can't forgive her father for bringing her mother out to the Yesha, which had no toilets at the time, while she had cancer and wanted to live in the city, but the Rabbi wouldn't go. He said that if he left, the community would fall part. In addition, there is another plot direction in which Menachem struggles with his conscience as to what to do about Michal whom he loves, Pini, who is his friend and also loves Michal, and the eventual plot to destroy the Muslim Dome of the Rock. Thankfully in the midst of the serious drama, there is some comic relief. The army unit has a secular Jewish member, Mookie, who can't understand how the religious soldiers can push themselves so hard. He finally breaks down and asks one of the religious Jews how they do it, who explains that they do it "For Something," a Hebrew phrase that explains that they have a reason for living and it all leads back to God. Or to draw it out, they are soldiers so that they can live, they live so that they can study Torah (what Christians call the Old Testament), and they study Torah to serve God. It's an elaborate answer for a secular person who lives in a two-dimensional world. Part of Mookie's comedy comes from his base ways, always eating and drinking even under field conditions. The acting, overall, was very good. Tinkerbell (Yes, that's her real actress name!) who plays Michal did a haunting job in the role, expressing angst in a way I expect from German or Russian art films. I'm not sure if she is supposed to be a sex symbol because throughout the film she has dark bags around her eyes and looks more sick and tired than healthy and sexily vibrant. I wonder if her appearance was one of the film's more subtle messages. Aki Avni, who plays Menachem, and Idan Alterman, who plays Pini, both played charismatic likable characters. I enjoyed their acting. Rabbi Meltzer, played by Assi Dayan (Is he Moshe Dayan's son?), was also very good and convincing in his role. Some other reviewers have explained that the film is about suicide bombing, Hellish clerics from the Abrahamic religions, Israeli settlers, or other ideas that don't capture what the film is really about. The film is about the conscience of Israel and the hard choices that get made there every day. It's ethics at its' most poignant, choices with elements of both right and wrong, where no answer is best or obviously correct. Using the term "settlers" is very misleading when used to refer to communities in the Yesha. Jews are no more settlers in Israel than Native Americans who live off of reservations in the USA are "settlers." The Jews have been in Israel since long before the Romans tried to rename the land Palestine, Islam existed as a religion, or even before the idea of nationalism arose in the Arab countries as expressed through men like Arafat. Overall, I enjoyed the movie, but got the impression that the director, Joseph Cedar, is a secular Israeli Jew and that he really doesn't practice Judaism as a religion. His depiction of the religious Jews in the Yesha wasn't very favorable, which I felt was incorrect for a brave and dedicated people. It certainly appears the the director doesn't have much of a grasp of what Judaism is about. Sure there are nuts in the midst of any group of people, but I felt the film didn't do the Israeli communities in the Yesha justice. I recommend "Time of Favor," but not highly. Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan
Rating:
Summary: Wow, great movie
Review: The real star of 'Time of Favor' is cinematographer Ofer Inov. About half the movie takes place at night & the actors appear bathed in an almost bluish tint, with glowing eyes. It's a superb effect. I can see why this movie swept the Israeli version of the Oscars for films released in 2000. It's a well-told, gripping saga of a confrontation between the religious and secular forces that push for ascendancy in Israel. Contrary to what we may think back here in the States, there's a healthy skepticism and mistrust in many parts of Israeli society of the ultra-religious, especially when mixed into national institutions like the Army. Throw in West Bank settlement politics, a messianic rabbi, his flowering daughter, an unbalanced star Torah student, a studly company commander, the Mossad, a star-crossed love triangle...and you've got yourself a very compelling movie. My only problem: the ending is a little too melodramatic and over the top; but it's still a good ride. 'Time of Favor' is in Hebrew with English subtitles. The subtitles are very legible and well-timed. Certain untranslatable words and concepts are transliterated from Hebrew and presented in quotes. All in all, the subtitled version of the film loses none of the emotion and subtlety of the original.
Rating:
Summary: Great cinematography and good insights into Israel today
Review: The real star of 'Time of Favor' is cinematographer Ofer Inov. About half the movie takes place at night & the actors appear bathed in an almost bluish tint, with glowing eyes. It's a superb effect. I can see why this movie swept the Israeli version of the Oscars for films released in 2000. It's a well-told, gripping saga of a confrontation between the religious and secular forces that push for ascendancy in Israel. Contrary to what we may think back here in the States, there's a healthy skepticism and mistrust in many parts of Israeli society of the ultra-religious, especially when mixed into national institutions like the Army. Throw in West Bank settlement politics, a messianic rabbi, his flowering daughter, an unbalanced star Torah student, a studly company commander, the Mossad, a star-crossed love triangle...and you've got yourself a very compelling movie. My only problem: the ending is a little too melodramatic and over the top; but it's still a good ride. 'Time of Favor' is in Hebrew with English subtitles. The subtitles are very legible and well-timed. Certain untranslatable words and concepts are transliterated from Hebrew and presented in quotes. All in all, the subtitled version of the film loses none of the emotion and subtlety of the original.
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