Two Men at a Crossroads "Waiting for the Messiah" shows us two different worlds and two different men and how each deals with personal and professional loss.
Ariel is a young man living in Once, the predominately Jewish neighborhood of Buenos Aires, a city that also has Latin America's largest Jewish community. The path of Ariel's life is clear and certain: marriage to Estela, a beautiful waitress working in his father's restaurant, followed by children, and a long life in the tight-knit neighborhood he's always known.
But the unexpected death of Ariel's mother and the temporary closing of the family restaurant because of Argentina's economic crisis lead Ariel, an amateur filmmaker, to leave the Once barrio each day for a night shift job editing video tape. There Ariel meets Elsa, a lesbian who makes him reconsider his earlier choices.
The life of Santamaria, a middle aged, middle class bank clerk, is also transformed by Argentina's economic problems. Santamaria is thrown out of work and dumped by his wife when his bank closes. Soon he's living on the streets and reduced to rummaging through trash to find stolen identification cards that he can return to owners in hopes of a reward. Santamaria yearns for the conventional wife and the family life that Ariel is considering escaping.
"Waiting for the Messiah" skillfully weaves together the stories of Ariel and the people of their lives as each man explores what to do next. Though the ending feels forced and almost tacked on as an afterthought, the stories that take you there are entertaining and absorbing. The real strength of this movie, however, lies in the glimpses it offers of Jewish life in Argentina and how ordinary people have coped with the country's latest round of economic troubles.
7/10
