Keeping Up with the Steins

Infobox Film
name = Keeping Up with the Steins

---

caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Scott Marshall
producer = A.D. Oppenheim
writer = Mark Zakarin
starring = Daryl Sabara
Jami Gertz
Jeremy Piven
Larry Miller
Sandra Taylor
Carter Jenkins
music = John Debney
cinematography = Charles Minsky
editing = Tara Timpone
distributor = Miramax Films
released = May 12, 2006
runtime = 99 min.
country = flagicon|USA
language = English
Hebrew
budget = $5 million
gross = $4,409,373
website = http://keepingupwiththesteins.com/
imdb_id = 0415949

"Keeping Up with the Steins" is a 2006 comedy film directed by Scott Marshall, and starring Garry Marshall, Jeremy Piven, Jami Gertz and Daryl Hannah. The film is also a commentary on how too many Jewish families see a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah not as a coming of age for their son or daughter, but rather as an excuse to throw outrageously lavish parties.

Plot

Benjamin Fiedler (Daryl Sabara) is the 13-year-old son of Adam and Joanne Fiedler (Jeremy Piven and Jami Gertz). After attending the elaborate bar mitzvah party for the son of Arnie Stein (Larry Miller) - which was done on a cruise ship, with a "Titanic" theme - Benjamin's parents decide to go all out for his bar mitzvah. The plan is to rent Dodger Stadium for the bar mitzvah party, complete with movie stars and everything. Adam even books Neil Diamond to sing the National Anthem. However, Benjamin doesn't want to go through with it, as he doesn't even understand the words of the haftorah he has to read as part of his bar mitzvah rite. To try and stall the planning, he secretly invites his grandfather Irwin (Garry Marshall), who is now living on an Indian reservation with a New Age woman named Sacred Feather (Daryl Hannah). When Benjamin's grandfather arrives, it puts a kink in the planning - as Irwin had a falling out with his son Adam, both for having left Adam when he was a teenager, and for Adam's own humiliating bar mitzvah. Irwin must then pull off somehow reconciling with his son while helping his grandson deal with the question of what it means to be a "man."

Now appreciating his bar mitzvah not as an excuse to throw a party but rather as a rite of passage in his Jewish life, Benjamin gets up the courage to tell his parents to call off the over-the-top bash they had planned. After he does very well at the service, the party is just what it should have been in the first place - a casual backyard affair with lunch, a klezmer band (with a guest-star singer and guitarist, as Adam "couldn't cancel Neil Diamond") and lots of family and friends.

Cast

*Daryl Sabara as Benjamin "Ben" Fielder
*Jami Gertz as Joanne Fielder
*Jeremy Piven as Adam Fielder
*Larry Miller as Arnie Stein
*Sandra Taylor as Raylene Stein
*Carter Jenkins as Zachary "Zach" Stein
*Cheryl Hines as Casey Nudelman
*Garry Marshall as Irwin Fielder
*Daryl Hannah as Sandy / Sacred Feather
*Doris Roberts as Rose Fielder
*Miranda Cosgrove as Karen Sussman
*DJ Quik as Himself

Trivia

* The working title for this movie was "Lucky 13".
* While shooting this movie, Daryl Sabara was also studying for his own Bar Mitzvah. The Haftorah portion that his character chants in the movie was Sabara's actual Bar Mitzvah portion.
* DJ Quik makes a cameo as himself as the rapper at the Stein's Bar Mitzvah, which is one of many things that makes Jeremy Piven's character jealous. In episode 10 in the second season of "Entourage" (titled "The Bat Mitzvah"), DJ Quik makes a cameo as himself as the deejay at Piven's daughter's Bat Mitzvah.

Pop culture references

*"Titanic" - Zach appears at the front of a mock Titanic boat with his arms spread out and a girl behind him and says he's the "king of the Torah!"
*"The Passion of the Christ" - A rabbi says he wrote a book called "The Passion of the Jew".
*"The Graduate" - A kid (also named Benjamin) jumps in a pool to escape his dad and grandpa's arguing, but they see him and think he's drowning
*"Fast Times at Ridgemont High"- In the scene where Benjamin and his friends try alcohol, a character says something similar to what Forrest Whittaker's character says after he crashes his car.

Reception

The film scored 35% at Rotten Tomatoes, making it "rotten," although not overwhelmingly so. Criticism generally focused on the film's tendency towards melodrama, and that the material was better suited for a sitcom on television than for a motion picture.

External links

* [http://keepingupwiththesteins.com/ Official site]
*
*
*