Pazzo pranzo di famiglia

I got lucky and was able to sneak into a screening in Hollywood of this yet to be released film. What a great couple of hours it was! Most indie movies today aren't worth the film they are shot on. This one is a great exception. Starting with a terrific script, great performances and direction...the film also has knock out production values including some great visual effects...it's hard to believe this film was done on such a small budget. "When Do We Eat" is very funny, painfully real and has great comedic performances by Jack Klugman, Michael Lerner , Ben Feldman, Lesley Ann Warren (as good as her performance in "Victor, Victoria") and Max Greenfield. "When Do We Eat?" should be required viewing for all indie producers and directors on how to do an indie right!

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.

Very cute film! Was not sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised from start to finish. I laughed (so did the whole audience!!) - lots of great moments and lines thru the whole film. Music was fun and different but fit well. Kudos for getting Jack Klugman! I love Lesley Ann Warren & Micheal Lerner! The rest of the cast was wonderful & I look forward to seeing them in future projects. I hope this film will show the amusing, warm, loving and crazy side of being Jewish... Like most religions & cultures, we all have our nuttiness! However, anyone will be able to relate to this family and the evening they share. Great little film! I will tell others to see it!

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!

The central themes are universal (dysfunctional family, holidays gone wrong), but the story unfolds in the unique setting of a passover dinner--which I believe is a movie first. The filmmakers wisely put a non-Jew at the table to make us non-Jews feel at home. The characters are well-developed and convincing--a real feat in a story about a family that includes a sex surrogate, an autistic teen, a Hasidic Jew, a lesbian half-sister, and a stoner. Fantastic cast. Michael Lerner is wonderful as the father. He plays a wide emotional range very convincingly. Why hasn't this guy been in more great roles? This film really gives him a chance to shine. Ben Feldman, Cynda Williams and Meredith Scott Lynn also give great performances. Stunning visual effects and a great soundtrack.