Touches You

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

I thought I had heard some awful comments about this movie, so I skipped seeing it last spring. I just watched the DVD and the film had many plot twists, interesting character analyses, a lot of Judaic references, great music, great acting...it was totally worth seeing. It's a shame there's some "blue" words, because if you can get over it, it's a movie that's totally apt for a confirmation class, and even young adults, if they are into Jewish history and family relationships, will get something of great value from viewing this film. I highly recommend it. Don't get turned off by the somewhat slow start...there is a lot to come. Also some of the alternate menu options are worth exploring.

'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 dysfunctional 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 secular Jew who 'returns' to observant Judaism), a part played perfectly by Max Greenfield.The script is clever and funny from beginning 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. Definitely worth a rental.

Along with Adam Goldberg's Shaft-parody, "The Hebrew Hammer," the marvelous indie "When Do We Eat" is one of the two finest contemporary comedies with Jewish themes -- a far cry from the traditional Jewish cinema pantheon of "Fiddler," "Crossing Delancy," "Yentl" and "The Chosen." Uproariously funny, sexy and occasionally profane, yes -- but it's also deeply affectionate as "When Do We Eat" pokes fun at the righteousness of the orthodox, Passover traditions, and maddening family members from stoners to sex workers and Moshe Dayan look-a-likes. The script is sharp, the acting terrific ("Quincy" alum Jack Klugman is a riot as the Holocaust-surviving grandfather), and the hallucinogenic production values - inspired by legendary Hagadah books - is brilliant. An antidote to anyone who laments the laundering of authentic Jewish content from ostensibly Jewish TV sit-coms and films. Bravo!

One would think that watching a Jewish family celebrating a Seder in America would be rather dull but "When Do We Eat" is anything but dull. It is very well written with lots of that great Jewish humor spread all the way through. "When Do We Eat" does a great job within the ninety minutes of developing in some detail each character in the family, and there definitely are some characters within this family. The actors seemed to have had a lot of fun doing the filming and it shows in the great performances they turned in. There are a lot of different twists and turns as the action unfolds all the way through the film. My only faulting of this movie is that it is over to soon. I could see "When Do We Eat" as being the start of a funny, lite-hearted comedy series on television. If you enjoy lite-hearted comedy and want a good laugh.... this is a must see.