Review of Desperado Square

In English, this movie is called Desperado Square, and when we think of a desperado, we often think of a swashbuckling scrapper who has nothing to lose. But the word is related to despair, hopelessness. And that's the meaning that was in the original Hebrew title. A place full of people who feel hopeless. At least that's the Hebrew title that scrolls up at the end of the final credits of the print I saw. Square of the Hopeless. As advertised, though, the Hebrew title was quite different - Square of Dreams. I guess commercially Square of the Hopeless didn't look like a good bet.

Anyway, the people feel hopeless because, to begin with, they live in a down-at-heel neighborhood. And on top of that, a major consolation - their local movie theater - has been eliminated. As the story begins, the owner of the movie theater has died but has appeared to his son in a dream (so the son says) and told him to run one more movie. There's a reason for that, and it plays out as a soap opera that is lightened (or at least is supposed to be) by the presence of several colorful supporting characters including a trio of tubby middle-aged stooges who unfortunately don't manage to be funny at all. There is also a good amount of music, and the music - including original work by Shem Tov Levy - helps keep the otherwise slightly leaden movie afloat.