Wedding Doll

"Wedding Doll" is an affecting, offbeat romance and a coming-of-age tale of a mentally impaired woman who rises above cruelty, prejudice and an overprotective mom.

Writer-director Nitzan Giladi understands the myriad reactions of "normal" people to the developmentally disabled but betrays his heroine with a condescending scene in which she dons a bridal gown made of toilet paper rolls.

The integrity of the filmmaking and the luminosity of Rosenblatt's performance are undeniable. And I suppose the fact that I was affected as I was by "Wedding Doll" is testimony to its emotional effectiveness.

Lead actress Morgan Rosenblatt... portrays the sunny, naive Hagit with a sense of a fully formed and detailed inner life, filled with dreams and determination.

Ms. Rosenblatt keeps Hagit's inner light aflame, despite the man-centric motivations Mr. Gilady has saddled the character with, and Ms. Levy is very impressive as a self-sacrificing parent ...

Wedding Doll may be a difficult film to accept at face value, but it's an even more difficult one to dislike.

'Wedding Doll' is worth a walk down the theater aisle.

Wedding Doll ultimately lives and dies on Rosenblatt's open, vulnerable performance in a tricky role, and she makes you feel Hagit's every joy and pain as she navigates a world that proves to be far less sunny and welcoming than her smile.

Though Wedding Doll sounds like another formulaic Hollywood romance, the intimate Israeli drama is a visually ravishing if imperfect window into a young woman's struggle for independence.

Rosenblatt is engrossing and charming as Hagit, a worker in a toilet paper factory who creates exquisite dolls from the materials there.

A thoughtful and impressively performed Israeli film about a cheerful but mentally challenged young woman whose professional and personal ambitions are out of reach.

Every time it starts to find fertile emotional ground, it can't help but become distracted and search for another surface.