Foer is a bookish somber 'collector' who literally Baggies practically ever piece of ephemeras that has some significant personal value to him so he won't forget what it meant at the specific time he has saved it.  His collection is literally one large wall in his home marked with names of family members and serves as an inspired form of family tree. Just before his grandmother passes away she gives him a fading photograph of his grandfather at roughly the same age as he is now with a woman in a field.  This prompts him to learn that the woman was in fact the one who aided in his grandfather's survival during WWII.  Foer's journey to The Old Country is a quirk-fest to say the least.

Upon his arrival he is greeted enthusiastically by his guide/interpreter Alex (Ukrainian musician Eugene Hutz making a remarkable film debut as an actor) - who serves as the film's narrator - and his crusty grandfather (Boris Leskin) who will drive them in his baby-blue taxi with his 'seeing eye bitch' a mongrel named Sammy Davis, Jr. Junior.  Alex considers himself hip with his gangsta rap patois and accruements of a running track suit with some bling and his Norm Crosby-ism malapropism including the word "premium" as a suitable adjective to practically everything he encounters.  The quartet begins their journey in the attempt to find Jonathan's grandfather's shtetl and in the long run form an unlikely bond of camaraderie.

Adapted and directed by first time filmmaker actor Schreiber makes an audacious leap of faith in his decidedly personal account of this odyssey (Liev Schreiber reportedly had penned a script about a young man not unlike himself to re-discover his Ukrainian ancestry and discovered a soul mate in Foer's story) with some humor interspersed with the heavy drama of such a tremendous weight as the Nazi occupation of Europe and the devastating toll at heart.   The visuals are best depicted with the real-life planting of a sunflower field to enclose the tiny home to the woman the foursome are in search of.  It is a blinding, beautiful and ultimately overwhelmingly emotional oasis in a desert of closure, which is a suitable metaphor.

Wood's ethereal eyes are framed by blocky black framed glasses and his black suit ensemble suggests a Sixties era spirit while attempting to find significance in his life through the portal that was his grandfather.  It is no mistake that Alex's own grandfather serves as a surrogate for Jonathan and that eventually all three men will discover something within and perhaps a healing of sorts.  Hutz, whose music appears on the soundtrack (which was originally what Schreiber was meeting Hutz for and instead cast him on the spot), is all gawky hipster wannabe moxie and his Festrunk Brothers from "SNL" meeting "Ali G" is inspired lunacy indeed.

There are some wonderful moments in the film's final act that feels a tad rushed but is overwhelmingly emotional thanks to Laryssa Lauret as Lista, the woman they have come to find.  Her aged beauty is a treasured moment forever caught in amber not unlike the grasshopper brooch Jonathan has: eternally poignant.

Film Rating:  êêê  (out of 4)