The Wedding Plan (Laavor et hakir) [Audio: Ivrit]

An engaging (and surprisingly entertaining) examination, not of belief, but of a believer, a struggling soul who more often than not blocks her own path to paradise.

The film's structural shortcomings will matter less to most viewers than the personality of the central character, Michal.

This is a film of subtle humor and universal appeal. Just don't expect a carefree romp.

You've probably never seen a romantic comedy like "The Wedding Plan."

Unexpectedly rich, "The Wedding Plan" uses the frame of an apparent romantic comedy as a vehicle to study religious faith, loneliness, culture and inner turmoil.

Once this measured film kicks in, predictability falls away, sending Michal on a twisty, awkward, darkly humorous and emotionally raw march toward the chuppah.

Burshtein doesn't critique the social restrictions that Michal feels, which keeps her film from feeling parochial.

Director Burshtein is both morally serious and subtly funny, overcoming the clichés of romantic comedy with a sideways exploration of the nature of love and faith.

Yes, [it] sounds like high-concept nonsense, but the movie transcends such confining boundaries, probably because of Burshtein's good-humored affection for the characters who populate her story.

The Wedding Plan won Israel's award for Best Film, for very good reasons.

The way Burshtein has the story keep chugging along mimics the uncertainty felt in the whole business of dating and falling in love.

It's a message movie, a window into a culture that makes the specific and personal universally relatable, and still manages to tell a good story.