The Tenth Man

Argentine writer-director Daniel Burman's The Tenth Man is set in the Once district that serves as the center of Buenos Aires's Jewish community. New York-based economist Ariel (Alan Sabbagh) returns to his childhood neighborhood there for the Purim holiday, hopeful of reconnecting with his estranged father Usher (Usher Barilka), who runs a local charity. But Usher is strangely elusive, communicating with his son via used cell phones with prepaid minutes, instructing him to handle a series of menial jobs related to the charity. Ariel's duties on behalf of his father place him in constant contact with Eva (Julieta Zylberberg), an unmarried Orthodox Jewish woman who volunteers at the charity, and Ariel's relationship with his New York girlfriend further frays with each new phone call, giving him less incentive to leave Buenos Aires. Burman strives to give The Tenth Man a low-key style in its approach to relationship comedy, but it often feels enervated, and Usher's machinations and Ariel's gullible personality eventually grow tiresome. The cast tries their best—Sabbagh won an acting award at the Tribeca Film Festival—but they ultimately cannot overcome a weak screenplay. Not recommended. (P. Hall)