MIT Lecture Series Committee

Someone to Run With (2006)

Sponsored by MIT Students for Israel, as part of the week-long Israel@60 event, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel.

Based on the best selling novel by David Grossman, Someone to Run With captures the original's unrelenting pace, suspense and heartfelt drama as it sends viewers on a riveting ride through the streets of Jerusalem at the end of a Labrador's leash.

Assaf, a shy, awkward seventeen year old, is yanked from his mundane summer job and given an impossible task: to track down the owner of a lost Labrador found wandering the city streets. As he follows the dog on its circuitous rounds, Assaf begins to piece together the incredible story behind the owner's disappearance, a story that captures his imagination and draws him in: the story of a young girl named Tamar.

One month earlier, Tamar, a gifted musician, embarks with her dog on a desperate quest into Jerusalem's seamy underworld, and becomes ensnared in its dark clutches. Assaf, smitten by the mysterious girl he has never met, has no choice but to set off on a run in Tamar's footsteps. The film follows Assaf and Tamar on parallel timelines, highlighting the distance between them and the loneliness they must endure until their narratives finally converge. For the two, this will be an accelerated journey into adulthood, a test of courage and commitment, and a story of self-discovery and first love. [www.someonetorunwith.com]

118 minutes.

Mystery, romance and a golden Labrador race through the more seamy byways of Jerusalem in Israeli helmer Oded Davidoff's "Someone to Run With," a breezy cross between "Lassie" and "Oliver Twist."
      -- Ronnie Scheib, Variety. Read this review.