When Do We Eat?

First movies are by definition hit and miss. They are usually self indulgent (often justifiably so) and either modest or insane. This movie is astonishingly none of those things. The movie is a mass-appeal charmer with some real touching moments blended in with the many physical comedy bits the movie uses to elicit laughs.

The laughs come easy and the viewer forgets the movie is a debut movie, filmed on a modest budget as opposed to a Hollywood blockbuster. The effects are effective, funny and just low-tech enough to fit the visionary elements of the movie. The cast demonstrates legitimacy and insight, even in performing characters that are comically extreme and yet more than on dimensional, led by memorable performances by Michael Lerner, Max Greenfield and the venerable Jack Klugman.

It's a charming movie about a Jewish experience but really, it is one that any family gathering has elements of and thus the movie is familiar to the viewer within the first minutes. The jokes are cute, accessible, funny and insulting only to the most oversensitive among the Jewish diaspora. The few Jewish in-jokes that non-Jews would wonder about are not particularly germane to the plot, but could be tightened up in the future.

You can't fake laughter. 700 saw this movie in its opening night gala world premiere at the Palm Beach Film Festival. I laughed, they laughed and hopefully, a star is born in the creative juices percolating in Salvador Litvak's head.

I thought this film was nicely done and very evident of how even the most dysfunctional of families can come together and forgive one another for past wrongs. The cast gave great performances and were very believable as a family in great need of forgiveness and spiritual guidance.

I don't think the film tried too hard to be funny; I thought that the film did a great job of getting the humor of the situation across in a lighthearted and warm way. Although I was confused by some parts of the script, the story was pretty easy to follow and intermittent flashback scenes added to the film's charm and the ending was very nice! I would recommend this film to anyone, Jewish or not. I highly enjoyed it!

When Do We Eat? is a wonderful movie. It's very comical and smartly done. I'm not Jewish, but I definitely related to the craziness and abnormalities of a dysfunctional family coming together for a specific purpose or event. The acting was quite decent, of one particular actress, Shiri Appleby, who was absolutely incredible in the film. It was a very different role for her and I was pleased to see how well she did with the transition. I'm a huge fan of hers and having the opportunity to see her in a movie that she had no difficulty identifying with was great. I definitely recommend this movie and I'd love to see it again.

I saw this movie over the weekend at the Boston Film Festival and just loved it. It's a Seder supper that is going terribly wrong with the world's most dysfunctional family. But then it takes an unexpected turn and... well that's what makes this film so great. It's not just a run of the mill comedy. It's not predictable. It manages to surprise and delight you. Plus, it has some excellent visual effects. I laughed, I cried and in the end, found it truly heartwarming. Michael Lerner's performance brought me to tears. Lesley Ann Warren is fabulous. Jack Klugman as the crabby grandfather is excellent. Adored Shiri Appleby's performance also. I can't find anything bad to say about this film. I can't wait to see it again!!!

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!