Turn your brain off and enjoy!

by Martin Hafer

Cupcakes isn’t normally the sort of film I would go out of my way to watch. It’s rather predictable and the ending is a bit trite, as everything and everyone seems to instantly have a sort of perfect, happy and completely improbable ending. Yet, despite a few imperfections, this Israeli film is well worth seeing — particularly if you just accept it for what it is.

While the plot is about a group entering the fictional UniverSong contest, it’s obviously meant to be about the Eurovision Song Contest — something about which few North or South Americans are likely to know much about. Oddly, my daughter and I actually watch Eurovision each year live, and seeing a non-European nation like Israel in the competition isn’t that unusual.

Cupcakes
Directed by
Eytan Fox
Cast
Dana Ivgy, Keren Berger, Yael Bar-Zohar
DVD Release Date
9 June 2015
Martin’s Grade: B-


The story begins with a party and a small group of friends — who seem to have almost nothing in common — but sing a song to try to cheer up their sad friend. One of them records it on their cellphone and this gets into the hands of national sponsors of the UniverSong competition. Without any knowledge that they were even entered, the friends are selected to represent Israel in the contest! This part of the plot calls for a liberal dash of willing suspension of disbelief.

Through the rest of the film, there are two main themes. Firstly, the newly-formed group struggle to be true to themselves, despite pressure from their sponsor to be more marketable. Secondly, each character turns out to have some important life struggle, all of which magically seems to be resolved by the end of the film. Again, keep that brain from thinking too much, as the resolutions to all these issues seem a bit trite and difficult to believe.

If you’re looking for some light and bubbly entertainment, Cupcakes is a decent bet. The music is catchy and the film is easy to like. Technically speaking, everything is professionally handled, with the acting and direction pretty solid. I just wish the movie hadn’t tried so hard to end so neatly, and instead focused more on believability. This really took a decent idea and made it all seem a bit too formulaic at times.

Cupcakes will be released on DVD by Strand Releasing on 9th June 2015