by Dov Kornits
Worth: $14.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Jon Bass, Meghan Leathers, Kyra Sedgwick, David Paymer, Theo Taplitz, Milana Vayntrub, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Ashley Zukerman, Catherine Curtin, John Bedford Lloyd
Intro:
… mildly amusing and pleasant …
The title of this harmless black comedy refers to the traditional Jewish greeting on the Sabbath, ‘Good Shabbos’, except here it has turned very, very Bad.
On this particular Shabbos, a Jewish tradition that gathers the whole family for candle lighting, eating, praying and arguing – not in that particular order – David has invited his Catholic fiancé’s parents to meet his family for the first time. We know early on that a body is going to fall to its death – courtesy of a cute cameo by Josh Mostel and Stephen Singer – but who will it be? Similar to the White Lotus set-up, we wind back to the beginning of the night to figure it out.
The film is very specific in its depiction of a Jewish family in New York, with committed performances from the entire cast – the scene where David Paymer makes up a chanting ritual to distract the non-Jews, is a silly highlight – but how much the film will appeal to anyone other than a Jewish viewer is debatable. Specificity is usually the key to transcending your obvious audience, but in this case, what surrounds the specificity is so vanilla that it could very easily just be a feature length episode of Will & Grace. There’s a reason that the film won the Audience Award at the Tribeca Film Festival, and is releasing in cinemas off the back of becoming one of the most successful films for the Jewish International Film Festival.
There’s still plenty to recommend about Bad Shabbos. The performers are at the top of their game, particularly Paymer, Kyra Sedgwick as the ‘Jewish mom’, Catherine Curtin as the ‘Shiksa mom’ and John Bedford Lloyd as her po-faced, put-upon husband. Most impressive is Wu Tang Clan’s Method Man, as a loyal doorman who has it all figured out – there’s a great Pulp Fiction-referencing scene in the film in which he is crucial. And Australia’s own Ashley Zukerman is great as the villain of the piece.
There are negatives, though, such as charisma free zone Jon Bass in the leading role and also the family’s youngest son’s obsession with the IDF, which leaves a bit of an unnecessary political sour taste in the mouth, considering the current war and narrative being spun by the majority of Western media (the whole film could be read as a thesis on the current war, but that’s another journal’s review).
This type of film and story is part of the Hollywood tradition, brought to life by a talented cast and a neat screenplay, resulting in an easily digestible experience, as long as you’re not over-reading things or expecting it to be anything more than just a mildly amusing and pleasant story.
Good Shabbos!
