“Kawasaki’s Rose,” the Czech Re public nominee for the foreign- language Oscar, has much going for it: solid ensemble acting, pleasing visuals. Unfortunately, a key plot device doesn’t hold up.

Pavel, a respected psychiatrist, is about to receive an award of some sort, and he’s being immortalized in a documentary.

One of the members of the film crew discovers that Pavel might have cooperated with the secret police to silence a romantic rival when the country was run by the Communists.

So far, so good — except that the crew member is Pavel’s son-in-law, who’s cheating on Pavel’s daughter.

That complex link is a tad too convenient and implausible, if you ask me. The longer director Jan Hrebejk’s film goes on, the more complex the relationships become, until the film becomes little more than a talkathon.