By Dennis D. McDonald

This is the best "road picture" I've seen in years.

What starts out as quirky and off-center ends up as thoughtful, almost elegiac. It's a gorgeously photographed bittersweet comedy that spends the bulk of the film driving through the countryside of the Ukraine as a young American Jew, played by Elijah Wood, seeks memories of his past.

He's taken on his trip by a young Ukraine man and his grandfather whose business is driving "rich American Jews" around the countryside to see where family members died. What starts out as very quirky (Wood collects things associated with his family members and puts them in Zip-Loc bags) ends up as an emotional journey that affects everyone as memories of World War II are revived after many years of being held at bay.

It's a thoughtful, funny, emotional film. Check it out. The music is great, too.