Customer Reviews

When Do We Eat?

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

'When do we eat?' For years Jews have been asking that same question at the Passover Seder (festive meal), a meal which tends to go on for a very long time, with all its prayers and traditions, the food being just about the last thing on the schedule.

In the family comedy 'When do we eat?', Ira Stuckman (Michael Lerner) tries to hurry things up as much as possible, when he gathers his unique dysfuctional family together for what he declares will be 'the fastest seder', but it turns out to be everything but.

From lesbians to druggies to sex surrogates, this family has it all. The oldest son, is an ex-yuppie, who has now become a Baal Teshuva (a seculer Jew who 'returns' to observant Judaism), a part played perfectly by Max Greenfield.

The script is clever and funny from beggining to end, although some of the sit-commish lines will make you roll your eyes. As the seder moves along, it seems everyone's got dirty laundry to air, and all sorts of bottled up feelings and revelations start surfacing. While some of it is way over the top, the film remains reasonably believable thanks to the actors, who stay within character and play out their parts well. The film manages to be funny without being too outrageous, and meaningful without being too preachy.

Some of the jokes may be too 'inside' for non-Jews to get, and too offensive for Jews to appreciate. As one critic put it 'If this film was not made entirely by Jews, it'd be considered anti-semitic'. Perhaps, but as a Jewish person myself I found it to be stereotypical in the same way that 'My big fat Greek wedding' stereotypes Greeks, but not offensive by any means (atleast not for people who have a sense of humor).

Bottom Line: The Movie is fun, entertaining and heartwarming and should not be taken too seriously.

You know it's going to be a bad day when you need two boxes of matzah on the night of the first seder. Sure enough, a family's biggest problems come to light during the Passover seder as they try to get through the "world's fastest Passover seder," which turns out anything but. Instead of rock 'n roll, prepare for sex, drugs and zany antics of the Jewish kind.

Ira and Peggy Stuckman (Michael Lerner and Lesley Ann Warren) head the diverse blended family consisting of a son addicted to drugs and Dad thinks he cured him; a yuppie-turned-Hassidic son who won't work with Dad in his Christmas ornament business; a daughter who is a sex therapist and Dad knows it; a daughter who is a lesbian from Ira's first marriage; and an autistic son. Bring together a family like that, and you know it's not going to be an ordinary or speedy seder.

Ira and his father Artur (Jack Klugman) lost most of their family during the Holocaust. Grandpa is still angry with Ira for not going into the family haberdasher business and makes him feel like the least favorite despite of being the only surviving child. Still, Ira urges his Hassidic son to go into the Christmas ornament business.

Out of respect for her recently turned Hassidic son, Peggy hires Rafi, a tough-looking Israeli with an eye patch, to build the tent so the family can hold a seder like the old days complete with pillows and lamb roasting on a spit. Before the seder begins, the drug addict fetches antacid for Dad and adds Ecstasy to give him a different perspective. That's only the beginning of the family's journey as Dad starts seeing things including Moses and starts believing he, like Moses, must lead the family out of darkness into the promised land of acceptance and forgiveness.

Though a spoof-style comedy, the story intertwines humanity and lessons without an overdose of sweetness. The family gathering can easily be seen as a Thanksgiving gathering, a Christmas dinner or any other family get-together where members clash over who they are and what they want others to be.

When Do We Eat? rolls humor, quirkiness, Jewish traditions, inspiration, spirituality and a dysfunctional family into a 90-minute funfest. Don't expect it to be the funniest movie ever. If you're OK with Jewish and drug humor, prepare for a good time as the movie contains plenty of laugh-a-lot moments and plenty of witty and animated dialogue.

Extras: not captioned or subtitled.

This is a wonderful film for a person of ANY faith tradition, especially if you have had to endure "difficult" family gatherings...but if you also enjoy Jewish humor, THIS IS IT! The creative, hilarious, and sometimes tender scenes are surrounded by the story of a "dysfunctional" family Seder.

Be sure to watch for a couple of minutes after the end credits begin rolling for a final scene. Also, don't miss the Rabbis who discuss the different layers of meaning to the film in the "special features" section. Their insights are universal in thought, entertaining, and quite meaningful for anyone. I watched the film again after viewing the Rabbis' commentary and enjoyed it even more. The soundtrack is fabulous, which includes the Moshav Band's "Higher and Higher" (the placement of the song within the context of the film is genius, and I am still laughing).

The film is extremely well done...a main course of hilarious scenes with side dishes of family dynamics and the true meaning of life. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!! Don't be meshugeh...buy it already!

It has a ton of individual moments throughout that Jewish viewers will giggle at, or go "A-Ha!" and yet the non-Jewish viewers will not feel at all discluded on the fun.

And YET......there are a few uncomfortable and also serious moments of family drama sprinkled throughout this film to prevent the feeling you are watching a farce of an "Afterschool Special". NOT your standard "stoner-comedy" flick at all - and Lesley Ann Warren really grounds the film with her always-to-be-counted-on acting chops.

A warm and funny little movie, with a gaggle of stereotypical characters - sometimes more than one in the same person. Let's see, there's the Angry Overworked Father, the Dude teenage beanied druggie son, the ex-yuppie horny Hassid, the Hot cousin, the Vin Diesel-like super Israeli, the lesbian-and-in-pain Barbara Streisandy step-daughter, the Suffering Cipher wife, the insightful non-Jewish African American and the Holocaust Representative grandfather. You can bet they play off one another and set off one another just by being in the same room. Not everything works and there is an attempt to clean up the drug connection issue at the end which is just not believable and seems to have been put in at the demand of the Propriety Police. . .

Overall, however, the movie is delightful. It's a mix of broad comedy, predictable conflict, and some extraordinary bits of truth and pain mixed in. In that regard, watch the movie if only for Jack Klugman. He's an old man with a suitcase full of pain, literally and figuratively. His acting is superb and he transcends what could have been a two-dimensional maudlin part. Bravo.

"When Do We Eat" is a small gem that you will keep for a long time in memory.

This is a funny irreverent movie. If you have ever sat through a long Passover seder, and they are all long, you know where the title comes from. Hilarious and poignant look into family dynamics. I highly recommend watching the special feature about the Haggadah that is used in this seder. Very meaningful. This is a movie I have handed around, and watch each year before Passover.

The movie can be hysterically funny for the Jewish viewer. The music is wonderful. Our chavurah loved it. It also offers some veiled innuendos of Kabbalah. Everything that could go wrong at a seder, in a very exaggerated way, with a highly disfunctional family, is effectively resolved in the end. It is a feel-good movie.

If you're not Jewish (or play one on tv), you may not get the humor and "inside jokes" on this DVD. I daresay that if you're a Jew who's embarrassed by the old traditions, you may not get or like this movie. I loved this movie and laughed all the way through, except, of course, at the poignant parts.

Jack Klugman is a gem in this movie and by far my favorite character. Although we were way too busy to show this at Pesach for our guests, this a movie worth enjoying all year 'round.

At first my very conservative Jewish friend felt offended when I showed her the movie. At the end of the movie she admitted how great it was which is not easy for this girl. Having been around the 3 jewish roommates in college and being taken to many a passover dinner I thought it was beyond funny. Throughout the movie the importance of the Sedar is stressed by Grandpa. Grandpa is right. The characters and their acting really made it seem like you were going to another Sedar. Watch with someone Jewish for explanation or just watch. Everyone should go to a Sedar Dinner!

The best comedy movie Ihave seen recently. Well acted,written, a humotous way to look at a dysfunctional family that works on their problems. Very engaging. I have reccomended it to all my friends.