Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi

Shlomi, the teenager at the center of this Israeli film, is a remarkably even-tempered youngster who acts as the peacemaker in his fractious family even as he is starting to feel the first pangs of youthful lust. He's also a talented baker, making elaborate pastries and cakes, but somewhat slow scholastically, and his teachers mull over his indifferent performance in their classes, before discovering that he's a mathematical genius. Shemi Zarhin's Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi is as sweet as any dessert the young man concocts, featuring a fair amount of cuteness and whimsy as the writer-director ties together all the story threads about Shlomi's ostentatiously eccentric relatives and potential girlfriends, although at times the picture threatens to degenerate into a full-length sitcom about a likable schlub (kind of a teen version of Charly) dealing with a bunch of colorful zanies. What saves it from saccharine banality, however, is the gentle, unforced performance of Oshri Cohen as Shlomi, and while there's never a doubt that things will work out, and the narrative arc is entirely predictable, this warmhearted movie makes for a pleasant cream puff-worthy divertissement. Recommended. (F. Swietek)