Holy Rollers (2010)

The presence of Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha really made me think this would be a comedy, so I was surprised to find a very serious drama about faith, family, and identity. Eisenberg plays Sam Gold, a twenty year-old Orthodox Jew studying to be a rabbi and hoping for a good woman to marry. When the family of the girl he desires turns down Sam’s family, he perceives that it is because of their lack of material success. Frustrated, he and his friend Leon (Jason Fuchs) are recruited by Leon’s ne’er-do-well brother Yosef (Bartha) to smuggle medication into the United States from Amsterdam. Upon their arrival in the States, Sam and Leon discover that they have smuggled in pure MDMA (Ecstacy) instead of the expensive prescription medication they thought they were carrying. Leon disowns his Yosef, but Sam is soon seduced into that world by Yosef, his boss Jackie (Danny Abeckaser), and Jackie’s girlfriend Rachel (Ari Graynor). Sam becomes a reliable mule, but his new line of work places great strain on his family.

Like I said, it’s a lot more serious than I anticipated. Sam is confronted with two serious relationship issues: the first is with his father, Mendel (Mark Ivanir), who insists that Sam continue with his studies, become a respectable rabbi, and his marriage will come; the second is with Rachel, who provides the temptation of physical and romantic love outside of marriage. Sam is also experiencing a crisis of faith. Throughout the film, he maintains his Orthodoxy while engaging in illegal behavior, but eventually needs to make a decision about whether he can continue adhering to the tenets of Judaism while engaging in illegal behavior.

3/5

The Hunting Party (2007)

Disgraced war correspondent Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) approaches his former cameraman, Duck (Terrence Howard) in Sarajevo five years after the Bosnian War ended. Hunt claims to have located a notorious war criminal, “The Fox” (Ljubomir Kerekeš) in the mountains near Montenegro. Duck agrees and joins Hunt on his quest for revenge, a return to journalistic relevance, and a $5 million reward. Along for the ride is recent Harvard grad and son of a network executive, Benjamin Strauss (Jesse Eisenberg), who learns quite a bit about what war journalism really means, especially when the trio are mistaken for a CIA kill squad.

I really liked this movie because it was realistic. The cinematography didn’t make things particularly lifelike, nor was the acting really superb. Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, and Jesse Eisenberg are all good, but no one stands out. No, it’s the script and story that make this movie realistic. Just like real life, things go from zero to sixty and back again all in a matter of minutes. There’s levity that breaks the tension of near death. Things tie up neatly, but that happens in real life too. Elements of near-absurdity mesh really well with some really dramatic and emotional scenes. Director Richard Shepard did a good job of balancing all this.

3.5/5

Zombieland (2009)

Brilliantly written and pitch-perfect, Zombieland pulls the genre out of the doldrums, creating a fresh take on the recent spate of zombie films. It’s funny, but with a maturity and sophistication that makes you care about each individual character.

4/5

The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Noah Baumbach has been around the block, having written and co-written several films.  He learned something from his buddy Wes Anderson in creating a world for his directorial debut to inhabit.  Unlike Anderson’s slightly skewed (in a good way) realities, though, the world of  The Squid and the Whale is imbued with realism, transporting us back to the Brooklyn of 1986.  It even feels like it was made in the late 1980s.  The picture has some rough edges and the production design provides a lot of authenticity.  I especially enjoyed the use of the Risky Business soundtrack.

The film is an unflinching picture of divorce, especially how the separation affects the two sons (Jesse Eisenberg and Owen Kline), one on the verge of adolescence, the other on the cusp of manhood.  Neither parent is particularly sympathetic.  Jeff Daniels plays the father, Bernard, a conceited literature professor who is critical of everyone, including his family.  Laura Linney plays the slightly more sympathetic mother, Joan, whose budding writing career brings out her husband’s jealousy.  The two share little screen time, but the tension is palpable when they do.

3/5