Check out 'Bros,' Netflix's first Hebrew-original series

• Published date: 26 April 2024
• Author: HANNAH BROWN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

If you liked their earlier work, you'll have fun with this, and if you didn't, well, you're probably not their target audience anyway. For once, there are English subtitles available, which will make it easier for many English-speakers in Israel to give it a try

It won't shock anyone to hear that they play two friends who run a bar in the Mahaneh Yehuda market called Pin-Younis, with Savyon as the hard-partying Pini, whose wife can't get pregnant (which a doctor suggests is a problem caused by Pini's drug use), and Amir as Niso, his BFF and business partner, whose girlfriend, Rotem (Yael Sztulman), works at the bar.

The main plot is about how they head to Krakow to support their favorite soccer team – Beitar Jerusalem, as you might have guessed – as it competes against a Polish team. Subplots include a possible cancer diagnosis, Niso's problems with Rotem, and a group of Tel Aviv hipsters who plan to open a rival establishment and then try to buy their bar.

Their Poland adventure takes up several episodes and allows them to delve a bit into the little-known history of how Mizrahim were victims in the Holocaust.

The Poland episodes also feature all kinds of action, including when they get chased by a group of neo-Nazis and even more dire predicaments. Like a lot of Israeli comedies, the series mixes sentimental and melodramatic storylines with the slapstick.

One thought that occurred to me watching it is that while most Beitar fans are just fans, there is a racist element to the team's fan base that you wouldn't guess at from its portrayal here. The series doesn't make it clear that the characters distance themselves from the kinds of fans who have actually unfurled "Forever Pure" banners at the team's matches – "Forever Pure" is the title of an excellent documentary about these fans – to show their opposition to the team hiring Arab players. These fans have resorted to violence to show their opposition to having Arabs and Muslims of all nationalities join the team.

But the heart of the series is Pini and Niso's friendship, and Savyon and Amir, who have been working together for decades, really project the closeness of longtime friends and, like so many comic actors, rise to the occasion when there is an emotional moment. Their self-deprecating likability lifts this series above its often formulaic script, and if you stick with it, it will be because you enjoy spending time in their company.

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