Jerusalem, Israel. Professors Eliezer and Uriel Shkolnik, father and son, have dedicated their lives to the study of the Jewish scriptures. Eliezer is a stubborn and methodical scholar who has never been recognized for his work; Uriel is a rising star, someone admired and praised by his colleagues. The fragile balance that has kept their personal relationship almost intact is broken in an unexpected way by a simple phone call.
<em>'Footnote'</em> didn't really do it for me. The slow start was hindering early on, specifically that very first scene where we just linger on Eliezer and Uriel; I get why, it just didn't work in getting me hooked. I found the characters kinda unlikeable too; by design but still.
I don't need to like characters, but if they aren't the most watchable in that department then they need to be interesting - the main bunch, although this element does improve (as the film does itself) as the run time ticks on, aren't all that noteworthy to see onscreen.
The second half of the movie is most certainly the better portion. Not only does the aforementioned get better (albeit not enough to make me say I enjoyed this) but the editing and score gets pretty lively. The subtle humour scattered in, mostly at the start actually, is decent too.
Acting-wise, Shlomo Bar-Aba and Lior Ashkenazi are OK - two I could see myself liking in a different flick. I do like what the movie attempts to say and on paper it is interesting. This is evidently a well liked film, so who am I to say otherwise? I didn't dislike it, it's just not for me.