One of 2004's best foreign films is Walk on Water, and it is being presented Friday by Battelle Film Club.

An Israeli intelligence agent and assassin is assigned to ferret out an old Nazi war criminal. His aging supervisor wants to get him before God does. The assignment places Eyal as a tour guide for the Nazi’s grandchildren -- a German brother and sister. The brother travels to Israel to get his estranged sister to attend her father’s upcoming birthday party. She’s happily living in a kibbutz.

Eyal is unhappy. His depressed wife saw only death in him and committed suicide. Refusing to deal with the emotional devastation of the loss, he just wants to get on with the business of killing bad guys. Axel and his sister have demons of their own. She hides from hers in the kibbutz, and he finds ways to shock his conservative family.

And then there is the family secret.

There is an easy, natural flow to Walk on Water that quickly hooks you. The film is a terrific character study, and a big part of the chemistry of the characters comes from a script that is a collaboration between four writers. Two of them are the charismatic Knut Berger and Caroline Peters who play the brother and sister.

While politics and Nazi hunting unite the characters, the film doesn’t head that direction. It’s a deep look at friendship and how we need to give ourselves a little space to change and grow.

Mr. Movie rating: 5 stars

Rated R for brief male nudity, violence and mature themes. It plays one time -- 8 p.m. Friday, May 20 at Richland's Battelle Auditorium.

5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.