Tango Shalom

Tango Shalom is the independent film of the year. Karina Smirnoff and Jos Laniado shine bright both on and off the dance floor, and Lainie and Renee are the dynamic duo we all need! The interfaith themes come together to emphasize that in these trying times, we are all human beings no matter what our religion / background may be. Go watch Tango Shalom with your family!

A truly bad film, with amateur acting, writing and directing. My husband and I are still in shock that this even made it to theaters. The storyline could have been decent, but there were many times where the characters' goofiness or poor acting got in the way. A better editing job could have fixed some of this.

This was pitched as a comedy about a rabbi trying to navigate Argentine tango dancing while adhering to his religious tenets. It's ... not that. There's hardly any dancing, the movie dwells on excessive and unnecessary B-roll footage when time could be spent on better script writing and character development. The film tries to make a bigger point about religious pluralism, but ends up whiffing given that the script writer probably spent 20 minutes on Wikipedia looking up the traditions of each faith. The lack of depth absolutely shows, and the filmmakers try to patch over it by providing elaborate shots of religious ceremonies.

The acting quality wavered from Hallmark movie to high school production - and I'm not even referring to the kids (who were fine). The jokes were dragged out, intolerably so.

So that this isn't a completely negative review, a couple of standouts from this otherwise. I thought Judi Beecher as Raquel, Moshe's wife, acted well, given the material that she had. Her character was the only one with any sort of depth. Karina Smirnoff was also in her element in the dance scenes, although her character suffered from lack of proper development.

This film had a lot of promise but missed the mark completely.

Years ago-- I'm not sure the word "crowdfunding" had been invented yet-- I saw a rough clip on the web with an actor playing a bearded Jew who is inspired to dance the tango and asks "Am I going meshuggah?" Yes, it's amateurish, the web message said, but we're just presenting the idea and we hope people will help us get the movie made. It's a stupid idea, I thought, and the representation of Jewish culture seems pretty flimsy.

And I forgot all about it till the finished movie popped up on TV all these years later. It's still a stupid idea, unfortunately, and the representation of Jewish culture still seems pretty flimsy. So many filmed stories about strongly Orthodox Jews suffer from the same problem-- they can't include your standard Hollywood interactions between men and women without veering way outside the realm of credibility. Nonetheless, while this movie may not deserve any first, second, or third prize, or honorable mention, it does deserve a special new award for getting a preposterous idea onto the screen against all odds. And even recruiting some respected actors.

Tango Shalom (2021) was actually filmed several years ago but seems to have finally been released in theaters and on streaming platforms. Despite some awkward editing cuts and a few draggy spots (it runs 115 minutes) it is ultimately a pleasant comedy with the kind of message this old world truly needs.

Written by the late Joseph Bologna with Claudio and Jos Laniado, the story concerns a rabbi with financial problems. He leaves his comfortable Brooklyn neighborhood (Williamsburg?) and goes into "the city" to find work but runs across a Latin dance school, which fosters his secret dream of dancing the tango. The snappy teacher (Karina Smirnoff) notices his innate talent and talks him into being her partner in a big televised dance competition. The problem is that being an Hassidic Jew, he's not allowed to touch a woman other than his wife.

So the rabbi (Jos Laniado) goes on a quest to visit various religious leaders (Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu) to learn how various religions would deal with such a problem. Once he finds his solution, he then has to face the TV cameras and his astonished family. While the ending isn't quite as rousing as in, say, Strictly Ballroom, it makes its point.

Some nice cameos by Renee Taylor, Lainie Kazan, Bern Cohen, and Joseph Bologna (who died in 2017) as the priest. Directed by Gabriel Bologna.

I guess the ultimate message is that as we are different, so we are one.