"Swede" Levov is a rich Jewish sport hero who marries Dawn, a beauty queen. Apart from biographical reasons, the Jewishness is an irrelevant side note (one of many) in this narrative.
Some 40 years after the happy marriage, writer Zuckerman goes to a high school reunion and is brought back to memory lane by photos of his acquaintance, the Swede. Zuckerman thinks about the perfect life the Swede must have had, only to have his thoughts destroyed by the impact with reality, narrated by the Swede's brother, also present to the reunion.
Turns out that Dawn and Swede offspring was a creepy, stuttering child, nicknamed Merry, who grew up in the 60s and became a terrorist, in protest against ... well, everything.
Dakota Fanning as Merry is incredibly annoying and her stuttering distracting. The plot starts as a tragic tale of social upheavals and turns into a weird, flaccid search for a missing daughter who went bonkers on the field. The whole political and social part, introduced at length, is dropped suddenly when Dawn starts to go bonkers herself.
Lots of scenes are cringeworthy disconnected, like the long riot scene around the Swede factory, and the attempted seduction of the Swede by yet another bonkers female character.
Long, disjointed, disappointing movie whose only point seems to prove that even those who start as winners may end up disillusioned and disappointed by life... not exactly ground breaking news.
Some 40 years after the happy marriage, writer Zuckerman goes to a high school reunion and is brought back to memory lane by photos of his acquaintance, the Swede. Zuckerman thinks about the perfect life the Swede must have had, only to have his thoughts destroyed by the impact with reality, narrated by the Swede's brother, also present to the reunion.
Turns out that Dawn and Swede offspring was a creepy, stuttering child, nicknamed Merry, who grew up in the 60s and became a terrorist, in protest against ... well, everything.
Dakota Fanning as Merry is incredibly annoying and her stuttering distracting. The plot starts as a tragic tale of social upheavals and turns into a weird, flaccid search for a missing daughter who went bonkers on the field. The whole political and social part, introduced at length, is dropped suddenly when Dawn starts to go bonkers herself.
Lots of scenes are cringeworthy disconnected, like the long riot scene around the Swede factory, and the attempted seduction of the Swede by yet another bonkers female character.
Long, disjointed, disappointing movie whose only point seems to prove that even those who start as winners may end up disillusioned and disappointed by life... not exactly ground breaking news.