Mi Gran Boda Judía

This is the tale of Suzie Gold, a 20 something Jewish girl in North London. The film takes place in the months leading up to her sister's wedding to a nice Jewish boy. Her family are semi-orthodox, but have traditional views as far as marrying out of the faith. Suzie falls for a non-Jewish guy called Darren. However she cannot introduce Darren to her family because of their perceived attitude.

I and my partner are both Jewish. When we saw the film at the local cinema I suspect that most of the audience were Jewish. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the film, but my girlfriend hated it thinking it was too stereotypical. To me the film reminded me a little of the excellent TV play The Barmitzvah Boy, and it had a stronger and more believable story than the other Jewish film of recent years, Leon The Pig Farmer.

I thought Summer Phoenix put in a very convincing performance as Suzie Gold - her North London accent was good enough to fool me, and the film was very entertaining.

This is quite an entertaining little film, very much in the vein of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'. Like that hit movie, it deals with family and cultural expectations when it comes to marriage. Summer Phoenix stars as Suzie Gold, a true romantic who wants to marry for love rather than prestige.

I laughed a lot at the start of the film. A fine ensemble cast includes Miriam Karlin, Frances Barber and Stanley Townsend.

What lets the film down, in my opinion, is the total lack of chemistry between Ms Phoenix and Leo Gregory as Darren, the love of Suzie's life. You just don't believe that these two are crazy about each other which is a shame as it's otherwise quite fun.

The story of a Jewish girl who comes from a conservative family - and wants to brake free. But Not your stereotypical Jewish family - one memorable scene is in which the pushy mother Yells at rebellious son (who "thinks hes black" by Suzan - Golden comments) and start throwing his beloved tapes out the window. After acting totally insane she smiles to a next door neighbor and says "cids ey?" - cracked me up. The mom is superb at being a "caracter". Another scene the rebellious son doesn't want to go to a religious ceremony, because he "dosen't even believe in god" and the mother answers - whats that has to do with it.. ha ha. It's not so "Jewish" film if you can read between the lines you can see an accurate portrayal of hypocrisy within a "riligiose" family - maybe looking OK for the neighbors isn't the most important thing - Everyone have their dirty little secrets - and that's only humane. if you get the humor, you'll enjoy.

_Suzie Gold_ takes the first act from _Fiddler on the Roof_, stirs in a little _Pride and Prejudice_, and tries to update this blend for 2004. While the Jewish traditions, and anxieties, have survived intact into the new millennium, the chief innovation for the young seems to be four-letter words. And while the plot revolves around the dilemma of "marrying out" (outside of the Jewish faith), it isn't clear why any of these nice Jewish girls should care about marriage, since they all are ready to sleep with their boyfriends, whether likable or not. This ribald caricature will prevent this film from matching the wide popularity of _Greek Wedding_, which is too bad.

If you can overlook these contradictions, the portrayals are charming, the ladies handsome, and the ancient faith is shown to be alive and well. Mom, Dad, and Grandma all come through for the perplexed little Suzie, although she does what she wants instead of what they would think she ought. Suzie's father is such a warm and wise fellow, that he could singlehandedly carry the story, and he indeed must ultimately make the right call for his little girl. The film is entertaining, but not because anything is really resolved in the end (and the plot is as old as storytelling itself), but rather because the people and events are fun to watch, and a few are worth emulating.

Happened upon this film late one night on the TV, when I might have been a tad pickled. I wasn't expecting too much but I thought I would give it 20 minutes or so before retiring to bed. Before I knew it, I was hooked, I was genuinely interested in what was going to happen to the main characters. Granted, it was riddled with stereotypes and clichés but enjoyable all the same. There was a time when I would never have showed my emotions openly but I cried three times during this film. I found it to be a sympathetic portrayal of the difficulties of living and working in a multicultural society when your parents, their parents and your 'community' expect you to behave in a certain way and to follow a path that does not deviate from the norm. I found redeeming features in all of the characters and although the film poked fun at some of their habits and actions, I thought it was done with affection rather than malice.