Starring Sasson Gabai and Ronit Elkabetz. In English, Arabic, and Hebrew with English subtitles. Rated PG. Opens Friday, February 15, at the Cinemark Tinseltown

Well, it sure sounded like the right place. Thanks to a misunderstood direction, a travelling Egyptian police band winds up in the Israeli equivalent of a turnpike trailer park in this rollicking Middle Eastern comedy. When Tewfiq, the band’s conductor, asks where the Arab cultural centre might be found, the answer is unequivocal: “No Arab culture here. No Israeli culture either. No culture at all.”

Of course, what begins as a logistical nightmare turns out to be a blessing in disguise. For Arabs and Jews alike, despite initial misgivings (to be mutually understood, everyone is forced to speak English), the 24 hours that follow are far more fun than if they’d been conducted in a diplomatically approved manner on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Friendships are formed, affinities discovered, and even love comes perilously close to thumbing its nose at political and religious disputes.

The Band’s Visit would not, however, be nearly as funny as it is without the presence of Ronit Elkabetz.

In the role of Dina, a ruefully frustrated shopkeeper, Israel’s answer to Anna Magnani illuminates every scene with her super-sexy life force. Without wanting to take anything away from Eran Kolirin’s inspired writing and direction, or from the splendid ensemble acting, it is Israel’s most womanly star who really keeps the movie running.

Who knows? Maybe she should run the country, too.