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So You Think You’re Jewish?
Holy Rollers Review
If it is street credit that Hasidic Jews are desperately searching for, Holy Rollers directed by Kevin Asch, definitely attempts to serve it and then some. The dark comedy, which is based on a true story, follows the conflicted Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg) as he finds himself butting heads with the orthodox customs of his Jewish community located in the center of Brooklyn.
While the heavily Hebrew accented dialogue, close-ups of matzo ball soup and yamakahs make it clear it is a film primarily dealing with the rich Jewish culture, there is a fine line that this film anxiously tries not to cross between being daringly honest to stereotypical and unoriginal. Upon being rejected by his arranged prospective wife, Gold decides to take a walk on the wild side and roll with the formerly Jewish drug pushers, Jackie and Yosef. He unknowingly becomes a drug mule transporting, “medicine for rich people,” known to the more street savvy and perhaps less Jewish as Ecstasy, from Amsterdam to New York.
The story takes a typical Hollywood turn when Gold proves himself to be more than just a “pure” Jewish boy to hide pills in, when he offers mathematical equations on how to make Ecstasy production cost efficient.
While the true story behind the recruiting of Jewish adolescents to transport over one million ecstasy pills in the late ’90s is fascinating, the movie fails to offer anything more than a few noteworthy performances (Justin Bartha, who plays the deceitful and power hungry Yosef and Ari Graynor, who plays Rachel, the troubled damsel in Jewish drug ring distress), and a couple of “So a Rabbi walks into a bar…” jokes.
For more information, please visit holyrollersfilm.com.