Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh

A limited amount of original footage -- awkwardly enhanced with reenactments -- gives the film a somewhat narrow focus. But in a way, the dry tone fits.

Senesh was a budding writer, and her poems and diary entries add flavor to an already dramatic tale in Roberta Grossman's Blessed Is the Match.

Because Senesh died so young, it's hard to fill out a film of nearly 90 minutes that claims her as the subject, so director Grossman has resorted to using newsreel footage as well as re-creations, which, though discreet, add nothing special to the proceedings.

The title is drawn from a verse Hannah wrote just before she was captured -- and that impulse is enough to sustain audience interest.

Tells us just about everything we might want to know about her - except why she did what she did. That important information will have to wait for another film.

Documents courage, but steers clear of character.

An ungainly hybrid of straight-up documentary and ingenuous reenactment.