Shmuel Goldberg is a 40-something Israeli, the son of Holocaust survivors, who was raised with an aversion to all things German — German products, German culture. And of course, he was taught never to visit Germany.
But when a man enters his used car lot wanting to sell a collector’s-item 1985 metallic blue Lincoln Continental, which would bring in a cool profit if Shmuel would only transport the car to Germany for resale, Shmuel smells a “big score”… and can’t resist.
He convinces his assistant Siso Ben-Hamo, a simple Moroccan father of four, to go in with him on the scheme, and the two head off to Germany to meet the car and close the deal.
The comedy ensues from the responses of these two Israeli fish out of water in Germany. Their edges are rough, their emotions unconcealed, and their English halting, as they enter a land of superhighways, sleek trains, and broad rivers, a culture of calm efficiency and quiet elegance.
But the poignancy emerges from the way in which brash and materialistic Shmuel is affected by his encounter with Germany, and how much the two men need each other to get through it.
