Jewtopia

I've contemplated whether to give it a 5 or a 6. I left the theater with a smile, and actually had a good time watching it. I had smiled, laughed at times, and at one point even grabbed my belly. So I'll give it a six.

On the bad side, it is very dumb and there is lots of toilet humor. One problem is that most of the jokes are very dumb and are not funny enough to compensate for the lack of wit.

On the good side, it is not rude at all, even with all the amount of sex jokes, clitoris jokes, and toilet jokes. Even when the jokes didn't make me laugh too much, they weren't offensive and I didn't have any inconvenience watching. There are also nice stereotypes about Jews. Exaggerated of course, but taken from the reality.

Self deprecating humor can be funny. Poking fun at your ethnicity's stereotypes can make you smile if done with affection and talent. I figured the large cast of well known actors meant this would be a good attempt at such screenplay. I guess I was expecting a Jewish "My big fat Greek wedding". Boy was I wrong.

What a stinker. Poorly written, poorly directed, over the top writing and, with a few exceptions, over the top acting make this little more than a string of Jewish (and Christian) family caricatures. It feels amateurish. To be clear, when I call this offensive, I'm not referring to the insulting ethnic stereotypes and jokes. I mean the movie was an offensive to me as the audience. Half way through all I could think of was "how did they get this many people to lend their reputations to this poorly written, over-acted, poorly cast, sophomoric attempt at humor?" Jack-ass and Bad Grandpa meets It's a mad mad mad mad world - with worse acting.

By the end it felt like I watched a "film" made by a bunch of drunk/stoned twenty- somethings with a camera who think themselves insanely funny and talented the louder and more obnoxious they act. Too bad I watched it sober.

A funny film, loosely based on a popular play. Very funny scenes, and although the story might seem rambling at first, it's cohesively organized around one man's efforts to pose as Jewish to win over the heart of a Jewish girl that he's fallen for.

This film has a huge cast. Many of the cast did a great job, although Peter Stormare's strange British/Southern accent was noticeable enough to be very distracting. Some, like Rita Wilson and Jamie Lynn Sigler nail their roles impressively.

Joel David Moore is the star of this show and his scenes, even the ones that were very much improbable, were some of the best moments in this film.

I did not see the play, so I cannot compare the two works. I am Jewish and enjoy films that poke fun at Jews. A film that comes to mind is "A Serious Man" by the Coen brothers which is drawn from their upbringing in the Mid West. This was a very funny film with finely drawn characters. In "Jewtopia", the characters do not come across as real people but rather caricatures of real people. The humor is not clever but extremely silly and not funny. It shows a lack of creativity because there is a wealth of material to draw from and this is a lazy effort to poke fun at both Jews and non Jews alike. This is the kind of film that makes me angry because the effort is so poor. the story so weak that you have to wonder where it will draw an audience from. It does not deserve and audience! Once it opens in theaters I guarantee it will have a short run and generate very little income and no buzz. There are so many poor films being made and this one indicates the filmmakers have little faith in the intelligence of its audience.

So the name caught my eye, and truthfully I had to watch the trailer because of the Big name cast, with some great comedic actors. If you like movies that require little thought and do not rely on poor language, gross-out jokes or sexually explicit humor, this is a great movie. With a name like Jewtopia, the movie delivers exactly what it promises- a movie based on stereotypes that laughs societal differences and misconceptions.

The movie is easily comparable to Rat Race, Movie 43, Top Secret and many of the late model Mel Brooks Movies....

While the movie may never be a classic, there are plenty funny character interactions, racial stereotypes and gag humor to carry the movie on as a Saturday afternoon staple.