Tailing Hany Abu-Assad’s “Omar” into theaters is “Bethlehem,” an Israeli-produced film on the same theme: an Israeli Secret Service agent and his Palestinian charge. Directed by first-timer Yuval Adler and co-written by Palestinian journalist Ali Waked, it’s a slickly plotted ticking-time-bomb thriller with a crisp look and one standout debut performance, by Hitham Omari as a ruthless leader of a terrorist cell.
The film has plenty of propulsive drive, and the complicated betrayal storyline is handled with clarity. But Adler lacks Abu-Assad’s skill at giving the people the movie sympathizes with a set of true, deep flaws. Razi (Tsahi Halevi) is a good cop, period. Meanwhile, the young informant Sanfur is played by Shadi Mar’i with a constant scowl; his lines find him mostly airing grievances. That means his fate mostly isn’t a matter of grave suspense.
Exposition takes precedence over a penetrating sense of character. One strong scene, where an Arab hospital patient confronts Razi with what happened to one of his informants, ends abruptly when Razi’s wife and cute kids show up for a visit. The finale is quite effective, but this movie overall isn’t as tough as Razi.