Not only have the films of the Toronto Jewish Film Festival taken me to a variety of points along a historical timeline, they have also taken me to numerous places around the world. Locations featured in the films I’ve screened include Israel, Palestine, Romania, and Hollywood. This next offering finds a familiar point in history—World War II—but a new location: Italy. Making its Canadian premiere is the documentary My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes. Writer/director Oren Jacoby’s documentary tells of the plight of Italy’s Jewish community during World War II from several perspectives.

The first perspective is a history of the time. This is narrated by Isabella Rossellini and features considerable historical footage and photos, as well as dramatic reenactments of some events. These pieces also feature interviews with several people who lived in Italy during the war and were either persecuted or protectors.

The second perspective belongs to select Italian Jews who lived in Italy during the war. These are the most personal moments of the film, of course, as these film participants return to Italy for the doc, some for the first time since the war. They visit old houses and offer personal anecdotes, and some are reunited with family members of those who rescued them.

The third perspective comes from the memoir of famed Italian cyclist and Tour de France champion Gino Bartali. Excerpts from that memoir are read by actor Robert Loggia. Bartali, in addition to being adored by the sports fans of his country, played a critical role in aiding Italian Jews during the war.

These three perspectives are woven, with the occasional crossover (such as when Rossellini narrates part of Bartali’s tale) to present the full story.

However, director Oren Jacoby is his own film’s worst enemy. My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes covers interesting subjects, such as Italy’s unique position on Jews (Italian Jews received different treatment than Jews from other countries); or the Italian doctor who made up a disease so he could keep Jews in the hospital for protection; or the Bartali story, which not only showcases a Tour de France champion secretly working against the Nazis by hiding Jews, but also recounts that same champion working with the Catholic church to help Jews escape Italy. Then there are the stories of those who lived, and returned, to tell their stories.

All of it is set up to be fascinating, compelling stuff. And yet…

Each tale is presented in such a way that the stories not only interfere with each other—thus preventing the film from establishing any kind of narrative flow—they also appear incredibly lifeless on the screen. This is no reflection on the stories themselves, of course, or their subjects, but on how they are told by Jacoby. These people lived in harrowing times, resorting to hiding in basements and sleeping with the thought that each day could be their last, yet Jacoby does nothing to create any sense of drama, despite there being very real drama in these stories.

Other technical decisions are curious and hampering as well, particularly Loggia’s reading from Bartali’s memoir, which lacks much connection to the subject, and Joel Goodman’s score, which sounds as if it recognizes the dullness of the material and tries to force a little aural drama into each scene.

My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes is an opportunity missed. Rather than recognize and present fascinating material, the film instead plays like passages from a history text read aloud to a class.

The Diary of Preston Plummer feels like a very personal film for writer and director Sean Ackerman; essentially about two young souls that fall in love and discover they each have their own painful family histories. This indie film stars Trevor Morgan and the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Rumer Willis. Although the film showed signs of ambition, it ultimately suffers from a mixed bag of acting performances and a script that tries to do too much.

On graduation day Preston Plummer (Trevor Morgan) is found drinking liquor alone in the science lab while speaking into a tape recorder. His teacher enters and asks why her best student opted not to dress up to walk with the rest of his classmates, to which he responds, that it is simply too expensive to buy a cap and gown. A few things are told in this opening scene; the first one is that Preston spends a lot of time alone. Also, that he is a smart guy but does not have much money to his name. But most importantly, it is revealed that his mother is not a part of his life anymore as he dictates his diary into a tape recorder.

Later on that evening, he attends a house party full of students (even though it seems very uncharacteristic for him to do so) who are celebrating their completion of their college degree. But just as faith would have it, he meets a girl named Kate Cather (Rumer Willis), who just has a violent argument with her boyfriend. He helps bandage her small wound and they escape from the party through a bathroom window. As he is dropping Kate off at her place, she asks out of the blue if he would drive her to her parent’s home in Florida. The request is a very particular one since they just met an hour ago. It is evident that Preston is just as taken aback by her forward request. He is hesitant to go but eventually agrees when she tells him she will pay for everything.

During the course of The Diary of Preston Plummer, there were many unintentionally awkward scenes that have leaves one scratching their head. One example of this is when Preston first arrives in Florida, he is invited to visit Kate’s grandfather John (Robert Loggia). Without bringing or even telling Kate, he pays a visit to John who goes on and on about owning more land than anyone else in the area. The conversation is awkward as it mostly involves John telling Preston random riddles, but it is eventually revealed that John does not get along with anyone in the family. It makes you wonder why anyone would agree to visit someone’s grandfather by themself, especially when they barely even know the person whose grandfather it is. Secondly, if the grandfather is so disconnected from the family, it seems awfully convenient that he knew right when Preston got into town.

The best part of the film was the cinematography from Miguel Drake-McLaughlin. He was able to capture the picturesque scenery of the Florida shoreline which made the film easy on the eyes. As a whole, the film struggled in several areas but the camera work was always on par. The most memorable scene was the opening underwater shot of furniture sinking to the bottom of a pool, setting the mood of film wonderfully.

By the far the greatest performance in the film was from Robert Loggia. Sadly, Loggia was the only one who was not rigid throughout the film. Unlike the rest of the cast, he was animated and his delivery was full of conviction. More often than not, lines felt like they were just being read aloud instead of actually being performed. This was most noticeable when the two leads shared the screen together, which unfortunately was a fair amount of the time. The performances start to come around by the very end, but by then it was too late.

It was hard to believe what is happening on the screen during The Diary of Preston Plummer because the storyline felt contrived and the acting performances lacked any conviction. In the end, the film may have tried to do too much with what it had. The subplot of Kate’s family history ends up overshadowing the main plot of the film, as it initially starts out as a road trip love story between Preston and Kate, but quickly shifts into being about solving a family mystery. Small glimpses of potential are briefly seen in the film, but they never fully emerge.