Elijah Wood has had a pretty diverse career thus far. He has played many h's in his life. From football hooligan; a casting decision that leaves you more confused than a dubbed Febreze advert, all the way to hobbit. And now with Everything is Illuminated, a human being.

The film follows Jonathan Foer (Elijah Wood) in his journey to find the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust. He must venture out of his comfortable surroundings in the States and journey forth into Eastern Europe; the Ukraine more specifically, a small town in the Ukraine to yet be even more specific. Unaware of his new surroundings Jonathan seeks the guidance of you guessed it - a guide. And he is rewarded in kind with an Ukranian eccentric and pop-culture enthusiast in his guide Alex. An irritable grandfather and border collie also come along for the ride.

Released in 2005 I am unaware if this film received any sort of publicity or promotion in the United Kingdom. If it did it was probably modest at best and marketed as an out-and-out comedy rather than a thoughtful drama. Although Everything is Illuminated has some funny moments peppered throughout it, it really is not your traditional humour filled road movie. The humour when present is often subtle and understated. It is the visuals and emotion filled plot that really are the shining lights of Everything is Illuminated.

Debuting director Liev Schreiber manages to craft a lovely path through the movie. We begin in the shaking and worn streets of Ukraine; an uninspired landscape that really would be best suited being viewed in black and white and from a distance. But slowly we move away from that and by the end of the movie we end up in the beautiful and vibrant field of sunflowers. In a scene that is worth the price of the film alone, we see Jonathan slowly amble up a path to an isolated house within a moat of sunflowers. Slightly entering the area of gushing here I shall stop there with the scene description.

Liev Schreiber is best known for his acting roles; he has featured prominently in the Scream trilogy and has recently starred as Sabretooth in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But as previously mentioned, Everything is Illuminated is his directorial debut. I will admit that I wasn't expecting such a confident debut, but as like many directorial debuts there are a few creases that do need ironing out. There are a few scenes that could do with a bit of a trimming here and there, but for the most part the film is a strong promising piece of work. Hopefully, Liev Schreiber has the opportunity to continue with his directorial career as he certainly shows glimpses of being more than secure with both style and substance. His acting career may take first billing, but it would be shame if Schreiber wasn't allowed at least one more film to allow his directing talent to develop.

The film easily surpasses its price tag and for such a small investment, Everything is Illuminated is worth a venture. It has more than enough unusual sights and sounds to please even the most avid cinematic traveller, or regular traveller for that matter...