Who, If Not Us (1998)

What makes it different from others?

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This is a film about two mischievous young men who went into the city to make trouble. In the beginning I thought it was a comedy, but in the end I thought it was quite a sad movie.(Spoilers) In the beginning of the film, the two kids went to rob a supermarket. They stole a lot of things, because they wanted to become rich. After that, the kids were arrested. One was put into jail, but the other was under 14 years old so her was not legally responsible for his actions, and hence he did not go into jail. The younger kid felt guilty of putting his friend in prison, and hence did anything to try to save him. He met an ex-policeman, and he agreed to help them. In the end, the young kid and the ex-policeman became good friends, formed a happy family with the young kid's single mother.In the beginning of the film, I found it very funny. The scenes where the kids stole things, and also begged on the streets were entertaining. Towards the middle of the film, when the young kid met the ex-policeman, the film started to get boring. They spent a lot of time together, playing cards, singing and dancing. This was to show that they were very good friends, but it was just too long. And then towards the end of the film, I didn't understand why a woman would support the point of view of a man who had been inside the ladies' toilet. Also, why would the mother of the young kid suddenly meet the ex-policeman and held hands together? The ending was too abrupt, I didn't understand the ending. Maybe this gives some room for the audience to imagine what happened, but I prefer films that tells you what the ending is, instead of having to guess the ending.

Valery Priyomykhov is known for his excellent movies dealing with youth and difficult kids. This movie is no exception, in addition to being his last major work in this field before his death.This movie deals with two friends, 13-14 year old boys. One comes from a more or less stable home (although he is growing up with single mom) and another comes from a broken up family. One day the kids break into a store to pretty much have fun and get something to eat, short time after they get caught and one kid is sent to juvenile prison (14 year old) and another one is released to his being too young to be tried (13 years old). The younger kid feels bad about such decision, feels guilty and tries to help his friend in any way possible. While trying to help he is meeting a guy, who is ex-cop and now down-on-his-luck drunk(played by Priyomykhov himself)... the two become friends. In the finale, the ex-cop has to go one of the PTA meeting at school (his mother could not get away from work and knows nothing about the ex-cop) where suddenly his mother appears and meets the "father"...