The original Hebrew title of the movie 'Highway 65" is "The Yardstick Road," which refers to a particular Israeli road that runs quite flat and straight. Why is it the name of the movie? Maybe in a spirit of irony, because the movie takes us through twists and turns. Why "Highway 65: in English? I can't think why. That's the same road's official name,, but who among us English-speakers cares?
The story isn't about the highway. It's about a woman police officer who bends the rules and is disrespected by her colleagues but is smarter than any of them. So that the audience can easily identify with her despite her brilliance, she has her failings at the personal level. She does not seem to own a cat, despite what the IMDB "Storyline" says, but she has a foible or two that can endear her to the audience while providing a little light-heartedness before the movie settles down to concentrate on suspense.
I grumbled not many days ago, in connection with the Israeli TV series "The Truth," about the overfamiliarity of this type of police officer. But in "Highway 65" I didn't mind at all seeing the stock character revived again with another crime to solve. The movie is full of Pinteresque dialogue. A question is asked, and the response is not the answer, or there is no response at all, or the scene stops short. The photography is nice, and it includes some carefully focused close-ups which the actors carry off well.
The story is set in and around the unremarkable city of Afula (near Highway 65). Although there's not much to root it in that specific area, there is a familiar aspect that roots it in Israel: The antecedent action includes an all-too-common trauma-- the loss of a young son and brother. That could happen anywhere, but in war-torn Israel it reverberates among more of the audience than in some other places.
