Tag: Jewish

2026 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival Runs March 15 – 26

The annual St. Louis Jewish Film Festival returns, Mar. 15-26, 2026, bursting with moving documentaries, gripping historical, thriller or romantic dramas, dramedies and comedies from around the globe, all with Jewish themes. This year’s film fest includes major releases such as NUREMBERG, ELEANOR THE GREAT, the new historical thriller VINDICTA, and documentary ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE , a new, more personal look at Elie Wiesel, the famous author of the bestselling “Night” about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp and Nobel Peace Prize-winning tireless human rights advocate who fought for the idea that the world should “never forget” the Holocaust.

John Wilson, the Director of Cultural Arts at the Jewish Community Center of St. Louis, which puts on the festival, described it as “a fantastic tapestry of documentaries, dramas and comedies.” As always, this is an international film festival and not just for the Jewish community but all audiences, non-Jewish and Jewish. “[The festival selection committee] watches nearly 80 films a year, so when we get to the final 12, our committee truly feels like we’re offering our community 6 full days of stellar cinema,” Wilson said.

Many of the selections fit in well with an aim of cultural outreach as well as offering top-notch films for the Jewish community. One example is ELEANOR THE GREAT (Mar. 26, 7pm), the drama starring June Squibb that is the directorial debut of Scarlet Johansson, and is about gray areas of identity and representation. Another example is THE PIANIST’S CHOICE (Mar. 22, 3pm), a gripping epic, romantic French drama that spans the 1920s to the post-war 1940s, told through the experiences of a non-Jewish musician in love with a Jewish woman.

Yet another example is the Opening Night film at the SLJFF, which is NUREMBERG (Mar. 15, 7pm), which stars Russell Crowe as Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels and Rami Malek as a Nuremberg war crimes trial-assigned psychiatrist, who is charged with keeping the Nazi prisoner fit for trial but who becomes embroiled in a tense game of cat-and-mouse with Goebbels. This fascinating historical drama also stars Michael Shannon as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice turned war crimes prosecutor.

The St. Louis Jewish Film Festival begins Mar. 15, with two film programs and an opening day buffet provided to ticket-holders for either film, NUREMBERG at 7pm, or FOR THE LIVING at 3pm, a documentary about a group of cyclists retracing a Holocaust survivor’s journey after being liberated from Auschwitz to his hometown of Krakow, Poland.

All films are shown at the B&B Theatre West Olive in Creve Coeur, MO, with one film making its St. Louis debut, VINDICTA, getting an additional preview screening at the St. Louis’ Alamo Drafthouse Cinema City Foundry, in midtown St. Louis. VINDICTA is an American-made thriller-like historical drama, inspired by several true stories, about a young Jewish woman who witnesses the murder of her parents by a Nazi officer, but escapes and assumes a new identity, where she embarks on a campaign of vengeance.

The festival runs Mar. 15-26 but not every night, so check their schedule online at www.stljewishfilmfestival.org for screening dates, showtimes and films, as well as ticket information. Several of the films come with guest speakers or Q&A post-film discussions to spark meaningful conversation and deepen connections with the film’s topics. Many of the films are in English but those in other languages are all subtitled in English. The films are paired together with themes, such as “Memory and Moral Reckoning” or “Faith, Family and Finding Yourself.”

A few more festival highlights include the very funny biographical dramedy ONCE UPON MY MOTHER, about a man born with a club foot who is raised by his Moroccan Sephardic Jewish immigrant parents in Paris, focusing especially on his unpredictable, fiercely-supportive, offbeat mother. Documentary highlights include ELIE WIESEL: SOUL ON FIRE, a more personal documentary about the world-famous man who worked tirelessly to ensure what happened in the Holocaust would never be forgotten, a documentary that goes beyond his work to examine the man himself. ETHAN BLOOM is a light, farcical coming-of-age comedy about a Jewish boy in the cusp of turning 13 who is supposed to be preparing for his bat mitzvah but is also secretly exploring Christian beliefs at a local church.

More information about the 2026 St. Louis Jewish Film Festival, with all the films as well as showtimes and ticket information, can be found at their website www.stljewishfilmfestival.org.

June Squibb in Scarlet Johansson’s ELEANOR THE GREAT. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

ELEANOR THE GREAT – Review

This weekend, moviegoers will get to savor another wonderful performance from a veteran actor who has been enjoying a remarkable “second act”. That curtain rose almost a dozen years ago when director Alexander Payne realized, to the delight of her new fans, that she was his “secret weapon” in the character “dramedy” NEBRASKA. In it, she earned raves and was frequently referred to as a “scene-stealer”. If that’s a crime, well, she was so “guilty” that she was “sentenced” to. her first Oscar nomination for Supporting Actress (note that I said “first”). Last year, she garnered more accolades in her first lead performance in the “sleeper hit” THELMA (and she even did some stunt work). Pretty nice for somebody who’s been in small TV and movie roles for the last 40 years (while still working on the stage, going all the way back to the original touring company of “Gypsy” with Ethel Merman). Now, she returns as another title character. And this time she’s guided by a current screen star who makes her feature directing debut with ELEANOR THE GREAT.

The royal “moniker” is given to the story’s main focus, the irascible 94-year-old widow Eleanor Morganstern (June Squibb), who is living a quiet life in a retirement apartment complex, sharing a unit with another widow, her BFF Bessie (Rita Zohar). Aside from her recurring nightmares about her time in a WWII concentration camp (Eleanor has always lived in the States), the two enjoy a quiet life in Florida. But the clouds form over the Sunshine State when Bessie unexpectedly passes. Rathing than wallowing in her grief, Eleanor decides to make a bold move. She’s relocating to NYC, and spending her last years with her divorced daughter Lisa (Jessica Hecht) and her college-aged son Max (Will Price). It’s a significant change for Eleanor, as she occupies a spare bedroom in Lisa’s place while contemplating another move, possibly to a retirement community. Lisa nudges her to go out and meet folks her own age. Initially resistant, Eleanor finally heads down to the nearby Jewish adult education facility to look into their “senior singing” classes. After a quick peek, she decides this isn’t for her and is headed back home until a friendly lady leads her into another room where her “group” is about to begin. After it starts, Eleanor realizes that this is a “support” meeting for Holocaust survivors. Though embarrassed at first, she decides to stay, perhaps getting some comfort after the loss of her old friend. But things soon take an “odd” turn when Eleanor is asked to “share”, and haltingly repeats a memory from the late Bessie. The heartbreaking tale captures the attention of a young journalism student who is “sitting in”, Nina (Erin Kellyman). She and Eleanor strike up a friendship as the “little white lie” grows and grows, with Nina sharing her story with her newscaster father, Roger (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who wants to do a feature piece on Eleanor’s desire to finally have her own bat mitzvah. Can Eleanor keep this all from her family before her “fib” is broadcast and she is “found out”?

At the “forefront” of this engaging character study is that “force of nature”, Ms. Squibb. As with her other recent work, she captures our hearts with her incredible “can-do” spirit and deft comic timing (not since the much-missed Betty White has a nonagenarian launched scalding insults with such precise accuracy). But her Eleanor is more than a sharp-tongued white-haired sprite. She’s had to put up a tough-as-nails exterior to cope with the loss of loved ones, especially Bessie, along with her own impending mortality. Plus, there’s also her panic as she scrambles to try and charm her way out of her own web of well-intentioned deceit. Happily, though, this isn’t a one-woman “showcase” (which would still be very entertaining), as Squibb proves to be an excellent screen “partner” to the talented Ms. Kellyman (I recall her interesting villainess in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”) as the much-younger woman also dealing with a major loss. Nina, despite her own tough outer “shell”, still mourns her own deceased mom, so her connection to Eleanor seems to fulfill her yearning for a matronly connection (though Eleanor may be more of a surrogate grandmother). Kellyman shows how she beams under the elder lady’s lifeforce, while her homelife is far less nurturing due to her now-strained interaction with her father. Ejiofor as Roger, also seems to be wearing a mask of strength, as he seems to be denying and “pushing down” his own grief while trying to find a way to reach out and connect to his drifting child. Hecht balances the delicate balance of an adult daughter who must also act as parent to her “prodigal” mama as she strains to retain her own freedom. In the pivotal role of beloved Bessie, Zohar is a most resilient survivor, a woman who has lost so much but pushes on, despite those demons of a distant past.

Oh, the big screen star that’s now behind the camera for this? None other than Scarlett Johansson, fresh off helming a couple of short films. And it appears she’s got another talent in her considerable “arsenal” (she’s been acting for over thirty years now). Ms. J brings a quiet sensitivity to this modern morality tale, gently pacing the plot points and set pieces, eschewing any flashy narrative tricks, though she smartly dissolves to Bessie telling her past horrors during Eleanor’s support group sequences. Johansson also shows us how the new friendship between E and Nina really helps them move forward while attempting to manage their shared grief. Much of the film’s power derives from the script by another feature film newcomer, Tory Kamen. She has a keen ear for family conversation, while still squeezing in humor to balance the pathos. And it all looks and sounds great courtesy of cinematographer Helene Louvart (the NYC neighborhoods look most inviting) and the score by Dustin O’ Halloran. as the summer of loud action blockbusters begins to recede, it’s great to have a sweet, funny, and compassionate visit from Ms. Squibb who has us worried and rooting, and a bit smitten, as ELEANOR THE GREAT.

3.5 Out of 4

ELEANOR THE GREAT opens in select theatres on Friday, September 26, 2025

BETWEEN THE TEMPLES – Review

Jason Schwartzman as Ben and Carol Kane as Carla, in Nathan Silver’s dark humor yet sweet Jewish comedy BETWEEN THE TEMPLES. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Jason Schwartzman plays a cantor who has lost his singing voice, his wife and maybe even hope, whose life is changed when his grade-school music teacher, played by Carol Kane, becomes his adult bat mitzvah student, in Nathan Silver’s offbeat, darkly funny but sweet Jewish comedy BETWEEN THE TEMPLES.

After the sudden death of his wife, Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman) has lost his singing voice, his enjoyment of life, and even, maybe, his faith. Unable to bear living in the house he shared with his late wife Ruth, Ben now lives with his doting artist mother Meira (Caroline Aaron) and his overeager, real estate agent stepmother Judith (Dolly de Leon) in the basement of their big home. Rabbi Bruce (Robert Smigel), still keeps Ben’s position as the cantor at his family’s Reform Jewish synagogue, Temple Sinai, open for him, and is encouraging.

But after a year of mourning, his rabbi, his mother and his stepmother are all ready for Ben to move on with his life, and rejoin community life. Hoping to help, Rabbi Bruce pushes Ben to resume his singing as cantor at the next Shabbat service. Meanwhile, his stepmother Judith encourages Ben to begin dating – with some dates already waiting just out of sight as soon as he concedes it might be a good idea.

But the cantor isn’t ready, and can’t handle either. Despondent after the disastrous performance at the synagogue, Ben even lays down in the middle of a road, in front of an oncoming 18-wheeler. When the truck driver sees him and brakes, Ben urges him to “keep going,” to run over him anyway. Instead the driver gives the cantor a ride to a bar, when Ben takes refuge and quickly picks a fight with someone who looks his way, and gets punched. A quirky older woman comes to his rescue, helping up from the floor, a woman the cantor soon recognizes as his grade school vocal teacher Mrs. O’Connor (Carol Kane), the person who inspired him to have a career in music and become a cantor. The two seem to connect immediately, offering the first ray of light in Ben’s dark world in a long time.

But when the retired music teacher turns up the next day at Ben’s temple things take a strange turn. She arrives as Ben is teaching the bar/bat mitzvah class, the only thing Ben has managed to continue doing for the synagogue. Mrs. O’Connor announces that despite her Irish married name, she’s Jewish and her maiden name was Carla Kessler. Now a widow, Carla Kessler has gone back to her Jewish maiden name, and she wants to have the bat mitzvah she never had as a girl. She never had one, she explains, because her parents were communists, making her a “red diaper baby.” Growing up in a Jewish neighborhood, she was surrounded at 13 by other children having bar and bat mitzvahs but she knew neither her parents nor the temple would even let her have one. Now the retired teacher wanted to do just that.

Although Ben was pleased to reconnect with his childhood music teacher, Ben doesn’t want to take her on as a bat mitzvah student, and tells her it is “too late” for her. Angered at being told she’s too old, she persists, chasing and hounding Ben, and when Rabbi Bruce intervenes and Ben gives in.

Rather than have Carla join his class of young students, Ben starts coaching Carla for her bat mitzvah one-on-one in his office. The process is supposed to take a year, during which she learns Hebrew and memorizes a Torah portion that corresponds to her birthday month. The two begin to share memories of her music classes way back when. Eventually the lessons move to her nearby home, and Carla also starts to coach Ben in breathing exercises to recover his singing voice. They trade off the role of teacher, and each gives the other support neither gets elsewhere. Ben teaches Carla, encouraging her Hebrew pronunciation, and Carla becomes his encouraging teacher again, as well as a kind of mother figure and a best friend who truly gets him.

BETWEEN THE TEMPLES debuted at Sundance to strong reviews. Director/co-writer Nathan Silver’s films are known for their sharp, witty humor but also for their emotion and heart. That humor is present here in abundance but the film also has a strange sweetness too in the scenes between Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane. Those scenes are the real moments of magic, with a charm and appealing quirk reminiscent of “Harold and Maude.” The film also has good doses of screwball comedy, particularly in the scenes with family, as well as some serious things to say, behind it all. Things may look conventional on the surface but little is underneath.

While Ben and Carla are teaching and learning from each other, stepmother Judith continues arranging dates for Ben with “nice Jewish girls,” sometimes without telling Ben or even checking much on the girls. Meanwhile, Rabbi Bruce wants to introduce Ben to his daughter Gabby, who has recently gone through a broken engagement and will be back in town soon.

There is an undercurrent of poking fun at expectations. Ben keeps kosher and his faith means a lot to him, so his rabbi and stepmother would like to fix him up with a nice Jewish girl – a traditional match. But plenty is not traditional in his life, like his two mothers. His childhood music teacher, Mrs. O’Connor, turns out to be Jewish, and Carla Kessler becomes his adult bat mitzvah student, but she doesn’t even know what’s kosher. At one point, Ben even wanders into a Christian church, and engages in an offbeat, dryly funny chat with the priest, even asking if he, Ben, started believing in heaven, would his late wife join him there. “You might check with the Mormons for that,” the priest replies. It’s clever but respectful.

Jewish mothers play a big role in the film and how it came about. Carol Kane has said in interviews that she partly based her character on her mother, a vocal music teacher who re-invented her life after being widowed in mid-life. Director Nathan Silver has said he was inspired to make the movie after his mother Cindy Silver enrolled in classes for her adult bat mitzvah, something she never had as a “red diaper baby” like Carla.

Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman have wonderful chemistry together. There is sweetness that is hard to describe and equally hard to resist, as they form an island of simplicity in the churning sea of complexity from both their families. Carol Kane is a delight in this role, giving a winning performance. Jason Schwartzman plays against his usual handsome leading man type in Wes Anderson films, by playing a slubby fellow, a bit gone to seed, with little purpose in life. It is the kind of role we are more likely to expect from Steve Carell but Schwartzman pulls it off very well. All the supporting players are wonderful as well, particularly Robert Smigel as Rabbi Bruce, delivering lines with deadpan humor.

BETWEEN THE TEMPLES is an offbeat comedy about Jewish identity that takes some odd turns but offers a surprising sweetness in the scenes between the two main characters, along with a strange yet somehow satisfying ending.

BETWEEN THE TEMPLES opens Friday, Aug. 23, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema and nationwide, and on Friday, Aug. 30, at the Hi-Pointe Theater.

RATING: 3.5 out of 4 stars

BACK TO BLACK – Review

Marisa Abela stars as Amy Winehouse in director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s BACK TO BLACK, a Focus Features release. Credit: Olli Upton/Focus Features

Talented singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse’s tragic life was already the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary, AMY in 2015, made a few years after her death in 2011at age 27 from alcohol poisoning. So my first reaction on hearing of the biopic drama BACK TO BLACK was to wonder if we needed another Amy Winehouse movie. The excellent 2015 documentary seems to have have told her story well and thoroughly, but reportedly the Winehouse family was unhappy with it. However, the family granted permission to the filmmakers of this new biopic drama, BACK TO BLACK, with access to materials and song use.

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson and writer Matt Greenhalgh previously collaborated on another music biopic, NOWHERE BOY, a fine drama about the childhood of John Lennon. The filmmakers assert that the Winehouse family had no say on the final film but the family does come across in a more positive light in this drama and they also have a more prominent role than in the 2015 Oscar-winning documentary.

BACK TO BLACK follows the familiar rise and fall pattern of biopics of other gifted but tragic musicians but does feature some nice acting performances and a chance to hear her songs again. It starts out with young Amy (Marisa Abela) on the verge of her fame, surrounded by her loving, working-class, Jewish family in the Southgate section of London. Amy is talented, and ambitious, and encouraged by her beloved paternal grandmother Nan (Leslie Manville), a still-cool, stylish, former jazz singer, who influenced Amy’s love of jazz and her ’50s-’60s fashion style of beehives, heavy eyeliner, and tight retro dresses. Amy is also funny, strong-willed, out-spoken, hot-tempered and driven. She also already has a big drinking problem.

First off, it is important to mention that the documentary is the much better film, and you will learn much more about the talented but self-destruction Amy Winehouse from it than this biopic. BACK TO BLACK often assumes the audience knows things about Amy Winehouse and her life that they may not, such as her struggles with bulimia, which makes for some confusing or even misleading scenes.

That said, Marisa Abela does a fine job portraying Winehouse, capturing her mannerisms, accent and assertive yet funny persona. The same is also true of the wonderful Lesley Manville as her beloved grandmother Cynthia, whom Amy calls Nan. Eddie Marsan is also very good as her father Mitch, along with Jack O’Connell as Amy’s charismatic, handsome but toxic husband Blake. Juliet Cowan plays Amy’s mother Janis Winehouse, a pharmacist suffering from multiple sclerosis, who raised Amy after separating from her father, and Sam Buchanan as Nick Shymansky, Amy’s friend her became her first manager, but the bulk of the narrative is carried by those first four characters.

The best parts of BACK TO BLACK are the cast’s performances and the chance to hear some of Amy Winehouse’s hit songs. However, the drama assumes that audiences know some things about Winehouse that they may not, and if you want to really learn about Amy Winehouse’s life and career, that Oscar-winning documentary is still the better choice. But you do get more of a feel for her family life and growing up Jewish in London’s Southgate in BACK TO BLACK.

Abela does her own singing and while she does well enough, she is an actress, not a singer, and certainly does not have Amy Winehouse’s distinctive, golden voice. Still, Abela does her best to sing in Winehouse’s style, and is at her most convincing singing the signature “Back to Black.” However, it would have better to have used Amy Winehouse’s real voice, instead of following this craze of actors playing famous singer doing their own singing, often with mixed results, and depriving fans of hearing the real star’s voice, the thing that made them famous.

Abela tries to capture Winehouse’s singing style, and does pretty well, but she is better in capturing Winehouse’s speaking voice, her mannerisms, and gives a convincing and touching portrayal of this funny, demanding, and fascinating talented woman who knew what she wanted and had a deep knowledge and love of jazz.

Lesley Manville is marvelous as Amy’s beloved grandmother Cynthia, a jazz singer who dressed stylishly and influenced Amy’s style and encouraged her musical interest from a young age. The film captures how Winehouse adored her paternal grandmother, whom she called Nan, and depicts Amy as she gets her tattoo paying tribute to her. The other delightful performance is from Eddie Marsan as Amy’s taxi-driver dad Mitch, who had a close loving relationship with his daughter but didn’t always make decisions in her best interests. As Amy’s career soars, dad Mitch is more of an ever-present figure, while mom Janice virtually disappears until late in the film. Mitch had a strong influence and worked closely with his daughter as her career took off, but was not always as good an influence.

Audiences may have some confusion over the relationship between Mitch and Cynthia, as Manville is only 12 years older than Marsan, and they look about the same age. It is easy to assume they are siblings rather than mother and son, and the drama does nothing to clarify this situation, one of the drama’s several problems.

The drama gives a little nod, although not enough, to Winehouse’s skill as a songwriter, and accurately depicts her as a perfectionist in her work, at least until drinking and drugging took their toll. While the bulimia is not directly mentioned until the end, the drama does a better job with her alcoholism, Even before her career really launches, Amy has already had a serious drinking problem, including incidents of seizures. A later scene depicts a confrontation with her manager about going to rehab, with her father siding with his daughter after she promises to cut back, something echoed in the lyrics of her song “Rehab.”

The film is stronger and more focused overall in its first half. The drama starts out fairly well, although it focuses more on Amy’s personal and family life than her career and work. However, it makes a turn into a doomed romance story after Amy meets her future husband Blake Fielder-Civil. The turning point comes after a strong, emotionally powerful sequence where Amy meets Blake. Those scenes are very good, with strong romantic chemistry between Abel and O’Connell, laying the groundwork for the obsessive, toxic love affair that follows. But once Amy falls for Blake, the film becomes increasingly disorganized, jumping around in time and failing to explain several things that pop up. There is a scene where the hard-drinking Amy discovers her new love’s drug problem and firmly rejects and even condemns drug use, yet in almost the next scene, we see Amy buying her own drugs, without Blake, leaving us puzzled as to what happened in between. The film continues to deteriorate in that fashion, ans once Manville’s Nan dies, both Amy and this drama go off the rails, morphing into a film about the toxic romance rather than her music, with Amy repeatedly talk about her longings to be a wife and mother.

Whether Blake was the real villain in Amy Winehouse’s life or not is another matter, as it seems more likely a combination of factors, including Amy’s self-destructive behavior, the loss of a strong hand to steady her with the death of her grandmother Cynthia (reportedly the only person she would listen to when she was out-of-control), a shark-like media, family and friends who failed to intervene to protect or help her, and her drug-addicted husband. But in this drama, the major blame is placed on a drug-addict husband who wanted to hitch his wagon to her rising star.

Although there are a few nice concert scenes after the biopic switches to toxic romance, the film continues to unravel, with several scenes that leave the audience confused about what is going on with the singer. While someone might argue that the film’s narrative falling apart might be meant to mirror Winehouse’s increasingly chaotic life, that explanation doesn’t really hold up. The film continues as a confusing mess until fizzles to a weak ending, with Amy walking away from the camera and seeming on the way to recovery, followed by a black screen and texts telling us of her death from alcohol poisoning at age 27. Then instead of just going to black, there is another scenes with Abela, instead of footage of the actual Amy, saying all she wanted to do was entertain with her songs.

Again, despite the strong performances and warm early scenes with family, you will not really learn much about Amy Winehouse in this biopic drama. Again, the 2015 documentary AMY is the better choice, and a better film overall, where you will learn much more about the massively talented but self-destructive Amy Winehouse.

BACK TO BLACK opens Friday, May 17, in theaters.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

ARMAGEDDON TIME – Review

(L to R) Michael Banks Repeta as “Paul Graff” and Anthony Hopkins as “Grandpa Aaron Rabinowitz” in director James Gray’s ARMAGEDDON TIME, a Focus Features release. Courtesy of Anne Joyce / Focus Features

Well, it’s been over two years now. I’m talking about the near-global pandemic “time-out”. So, do you recall what you did to pass the hours? Was “recall” part of it, as in revisiting old memories and childhood experiences? It appears that many “creatives”, including lots of filmmakers, took a “sentimental journey”. Of course, that’s not rare as many movie makers have opened up about their past, from Fellini to Scorsese (sure it’s the story of Henry Hill, but there’s a lot of young martin in GOODFELLAS). And now, with a few years put into making them, the nostalgic film “floodgates” are opening up. In the next few weeks, we’ll delve into the recollections of Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg. This weekend another artist gives us his “take” on the “coming of age” saga. Ah, but things aren’t bathed in a “rosy haze” in this work. Which explains its title, ARMAGEDDON TIME.

The time in question is the Fall of 1980. Aspiring comic book artist Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) shares his artistic gifts with his eight grade classmates via a cartoon of their teacher Mr. Turkeltaub (that name just begs for a human/ poultry hybrid sketch). Of course, Paul is busted but luckily another student, Johnny (Jaylin Webb) defends him. Being the only black student there, due to recent “busing” rulings, Johnny “butts up” against the school faculty. But he and Paul forge a strong friendship, leading to lots of after-school adventures and mischief. Johnny’s ailing and addled grandma (his sole parent) lives far across town, so Paul lets him stay in the clubhouse shed behind his Queens, NY home. It’s the site of many Graff family dinners, prepared by mother Esther (Anne Hathway), who’s involved in the PTA, and hosted by electrician papa Irving (Jeremy Strong). Oh, Paul’s older brother who attends a swanky private school, Ted (Ryan Sell) is there. But the most revered guest is Esther’s father, beloved grandpa Aaron (Anthony Hopkins). He and Paul bond over their shared love of art and model rockets. And yet the lad continues to get into trouble both at school and at home, which is on edge due to the upcoming elections (“That movie actor will have his finger on the button”). When the antics of Paul and Johnny get more serious, the Graffs decide that public school is not working for their youngest. Can Paul fit in with the “swells” at that stuffy elitist place? And what will happen to his friendship with the “unsupervised” Johnny?


Despite the “heavy hitters” in the cast (at least two Oscar winners), the focus of the story is Repeta as the impulsive Paul. The young actor seems relaxed and very natural in the role. Oh, and very real as he can turn from endearing and sweet to annoying and cruel “on a dime”. Sure, he’s the “center” but he’s not truly the hero. Much of that also applies to Webb as Johnny who projects an aura of tough apathy, which deflects any further disappointments and frustrations. He has big dreams that would take him far from the “mean streets”, but he knows that the odds are against him, along with almost everyone in the inner city. Supporting Paul on the homefront is Hathaway as the nurturing Esther who wants to be a progressive, but fears for her lil’ guy as he pushes against her protective embrace. The most complex parent may be Strong as Irving who must temper his affection for “his guys” with the need to be the “final word”. Strong convey a nerdy warmth as he sings a song (aided by banging a pan) to wake his lads, then becomes a terrifying “rage monster’ while dealing with Paul’s latest escapade. He truly scares the boy, but we can see in Strong’s eyes that he’s also unnerved by his out-of-control anger. Then in the final act, Irving insists on staying in the car with the boys during a memorial service, though not for their benefit as he suppresses a sob. But Repeta truly shines in his scenes with Hopkins as the ultimate grandpop’, full of patience and grumbly good humor, eager to be Paul’s sidekick in mischief. Though he seems an unlikely choice to play a Jewish family patriarch, Hopkins commands the screen as he regales his precious children with old songs or rivets them with his horror stories of survival and escape. Plus you just might feel your heart melt as Paul addresses him as “my good man”.Oh, and another big talent provides a most compelling cameo as a real figure from the era (with a big connection to the present).

All of this flows from the mind and memories of writer/director James Gray, who has fashioned an engaging “memory piece” that expertly invokes an era with almost no sentimentality. Yes, these years are full of wonder, but they’re also infused with anxiety. that mood is best seen as the adults discuss the presidential elections which may surprise younger filmgoers. Reagan may seem like an affable uncle in archival footage, and too soft now for his old political party, but for many at that time he was seen as the fellow who could bring about…the movie’s title. But the tale’s real tragedy may be the “arc” of Johnny, who will not get the second and third “chances” afforded to Paul. He’s the sacrifice to make the “system work”. The pace of the piece is problematic as it seems to lurch from one “dire incident” to the next with little coherence. Perhaps some more interaction between the parents would give a better understanding of the family. Or at least it would explain their inconsistent disciplinary strategies, especially when Paul really goes “over the line” and rebels at the first big family meal. Kudos to the production team for re-creating the hairstyles and fashions of the era (being a middle-class family, they wouldn’t be sporting the big “disco duds”). It’s worth seeing for the superb cast, but a wobbly script that just seems to abruptly stop drains the drama out of ARMAGEDDON TIME.

3 Out of 4

ARMAGEDDON TIME opens in select theatres on Friday, November 4. 2022

MY NAME IS SARA – Review

Zuzanna Surowy as Sara/Manya, in MY NAME IS SARA. Courtesy of Strand Releasing

How many 13-year-olds have the self-discipline to pretend to be someone else for two years, without once revealing the truth even to those closest to her? MY NAME IS SARA is a tense historical survival drama that unfolds more like a thriller, which recounts the true story of 13-year-old Sara Goralnik who concealed her Jewish identity in Nazi-occupied Ukraine for two years, even from the Ukrainian Orthodox farmers with whom she is living.

There is a particularly timely element to this true story film as it is set in western Ukraine, part of which was in Poland when World War II started and part of which was in the Soviet Union, but all of which was occupied by Germany when the story takes place. The film not only tells Sara Goralnik’s harrowing personal story but gives us insights into the plight of Ukrainian farmers during the war, farmers who were brutalized and exploited by the occupying Nazis but also subject to raids from partisans hiding in the woods. As much as they might support the partisans goals in fighting the Nazis, the farmers faced starvation by repeated raids from both sides.

MY NAME IS SARA feels more like a thriller than a historical drama or biography, although it is also those. During World War II, many Jews tried to survive by posing as Christians, and fear of discovery gives such hidden identity stories an inherent tension, but MY NAME IS SARA is exceptional. Not only is young Sara hiding from the Nazis but she has to conceal her Jewish identify from the very family she is living with. The Ukrainian Orthodox Christian farming family is not helping her to hide – or at least not knowingly. In some ways, they were as much a threat to her safety as the Nazis occupying the nearby Ukrainian town, since they not only share their neighbors’ antisemitic attitudes but they were also driven by fear, as the Nazis brutally punish anyone sheltering Jewish refugees. The risk of discovery is ever-present and Sara has no one she can trust, yet must appear calm at all times, a challenge for anyone but all the more so for someone so young.

Sara (newcomer Zuzanna Surowy) and her family lived in Korets in the Poland when the Nazis invaded. Before the war, Korets had a large Jewish population that was well-integrated with the Polish Catholic and Orthodox Christian Ukrainian ones. As the film opens, Sara and her older brother Moishe (Konrad Cichon) are hiding in the woods, after fleeing the ghetto where their parents and two younger brothers are trapped. They are attempting to cross the border into the Soviet Union, an area the Nazis also occupy, with the goal of reaching a farm owned by an old non-Jewish woman that their parents have paid to shelter them. But as soon as they arrive, Moishe realizes they can’t stay, as the nervous woman is likely to betray them. “You would do better without me,” he tells his younger sister, noting that her appearance, with light-colored eyes and hair, makes it easier for her to pass as non-Jewish than his more obviously Jewish features do. The next morning, Sara makes the tough choice to leave while her brother sleeps.

After making her way through the woods, the hungry and tired Sara emerges in a field where an Ukrainian farmer, Ivan (Pawel Królikowski), and his son Grisha (Piotr Nerlewski) are working. She tells Ivan she is looking for work, that her name is Manya Romanchuk and she has run away from a troubled home life in Korets. The farmer eyes her with suspicion, then asks if she is Jewish, which she denies. He demands she make the sign of the cross herself as proof she is Christian. Satisfied with her response, the Ukrainians take her to the farm of Ivan’s brother Pavlo (Eryk Lubos) and his younger wife Nadya (Michalina Olszanska) where Sara can work as a nanny for their two young sons. At the farm, Sara is challenged again to prove she is not Jewish and, again, passes their tests, although her new employers still remain wary.

While Sara faces constant threat of discovery, she also learns things about her Ukrainian farmer employers that can help her. They hate the Nazi occupiers too, and are not so fond of the Russians, with memories of the Soviet famine of the 1930s lingering. She also learns that the husband and wife each have secrets, and each tries to enlist her support in their troubled marriage.

Director Steven Oritt ramps up the tension in this film in a series of nail-biting scenes, and the threat is always in our minds. The true-story is aided by the fact that Oritt interviewed the real Sara Goralnik Shapiro extensively before her death in 2018, information that David Himmelstein used in writing his script. As well as concealing her identity during the war, the real Sara also kept the secret of her war-time experience from her family until late in life. Although it is just being released now into theaters, the drama was made in 2019 with the support of Steven Spielberg’s USC Shoah Foundation and with the real Sara’s son, Mickey Shapiro, serving as executive producer. It has played several film festivals, including the 2020 Miami Jewish Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Film, and the 2019 Warsaw Jewish Film Festival, where it won the David Camera Grand Prix Award. Oritt has made a few documentaries but this is his dramatic feature film debut.

The film was shot on location in Poland with a Polish crew and with a Polish, German, Russian and Ukrainian cast, lending authenticity. It has lovely cinematography by Marian Prokop, who took advantage of the pretty, period Polish locations, aided by nice art direction. The acting is good, with young Zuzanna Surowy particularly impressive as Sara, particularly considering her lack of acting experience. Her still, sad face has a inherent underlying steel to it which serves the film well. Often when the character is asked a fraught question or faces a situation that threatens to expose her, Suwovy’s face remains still and unchanged for a beat, before she smiles and pretends to be pleased or cooperative, a choice that has the effect of making the viewer hold their breathe for a moment, increasing the tension more than one might expect. Director Oritt does a masterful job with keeping tension high overall, without ever wearing us out with the suspense.

As the story unfolds, what is most astonishing is Sara’s ability to pass as Ukrainian Orthodox Christian. Time and again, her employers test her, suspicious that she may be Jewish, asking her to cross herself, eat pork and even recite Christian prayers. Although we eventually learn the reason for her knowledge of Orthodox ways, we remain impressed that one so young can so coolly pull off the impersonation. Beyond the religious testing, there are other threats to expose her, including that the village she fled is not so far away, and she runs the risk she might encounter someone who knows her.

The film also periodically reminds us of the deadly price the Nazis imposed on those who did shelter Jews. When another Jewish girl turns up at the farm, Sara tries to help without giving herself away, another reminder of the constant danger she is in.

There is much to admire about this film but not all is perfect. Some of the exposition is unclear, and we are not entirely certain what is happening between Sara and Pavlo, although he is clearly attracted to her. The film also has the characters speak in English when they are presumably speaking in Ukrainian but uses subtitles for other languages, a choice that some viewers might find awkward.

All in all, MY NAME IS SARA is a worthy drama, an impressive true story of surviving the Holocaust, by a teen girl on her own, forced to conceal her identity and live by her wits, told with a thriller vibe, and shot on location with fine cinematography and acting.

MY NAME IS SARA, in English and Polish, German and Russian with English subtitles, opens Friday, Aug. 19, at Marcus Des Peres Cinema and other theaters.

HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG – Review

Leonard Cohen. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Leonard Cohen Family Trust. © SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC.

The new documentary HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG is a double biography of sorts, of beloved Canadian-Jewish songwriter/singer Leonard Cohen, who has had a cult-like following, particularly among musicians, and his most famous song “Hallelujah,” a song that seems to be everywhere and has taken on a life of its own, transforming from a more sacred form about King David to more secular form that appears in countless movie soundtracks and has become a favorite at weddings, funerals and singing contest. This excellent documentary, from co-directors Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine, has plenty for both long-time fans and those new to the musician’s work.

Unlike some previous documentaries about Leonard Cohen, who passed away in 2016, this one focuses more on his career and its evolution than on his personal or romantic life. The admiring, insightful documentary also incorporates a look at how the musician’s Jewish background, and his explorations of Judaism and Buddhism, impacted his work.

The well-researched HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG has a wealth of material, including plenty of concert footage, archival photos and interview footage with the late musician. Inspired by Alan Light’s non-fiction book “The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah,” the documentary features interviews with fellow musicians and admirers Judy Collins, Rufus Wainwright, and Glen Hazard, along with former Rolling Stone music journalist Larry “Ratso” Sloman, Cohen’s producer/co-composer/collaborator John Lissauer as well as long-time friends and even his rabbi. Directors Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine structure the documentary in a different way, bracketing their tracing the journey of that song, with the story of Cohen’s career and his personal and often spiritual journey as a songwriter.

The documentary follows Cohen’s early career and his transition from poet and literary light to musician and songwriter, up to his release of his famous song, then switching to tracing the journey of that song as others recorded it and altered it, and then returning to the tale of its creator, including how the growing fame of the song altered his life and career.

Born to a wealthy Orthodox Jewish Canadian family in Quebec, Leonard Cohen came to music a bit late, at age 30 when he was already a novelist and a poet acclaimed in literary circles. First a poet and later a songwriter, his lyrics were honest and open rather than comforting, with a knowing, dark humor. His Lithuanian-born mother was the daughter of a rabbi and Talmudic writer and there were prominent figures of Jewish life on his father’s side as well.

When Cohen turned to music in the late ’60s, he was embraced by Judy Collins, Bob Dylan and other folk rock greats and developed a cult following, but wide fame eluded him. Other musicians loved Cohen’s songs, with their poetic, deeply-thoughtful lyrics that didn’t always fit into neat categories. His song “Suzanne” became a hit for Judy Collins, but wider popular fame like Judy Collins and Bob Dylan achieved, remained elusive for Cohen. A partnering with famed producer Phil Spector proved unsatisfying and Cohen found a better producing partner in John Lissauer

Cohen’s most famous song is thought to have as as many as 150 verses, which allows for its many versions. Cohen worked on the song for about seven years, a time that overlapped with his exploration of kabbalah and the Torah. He first performed it it was as a more sacred song, about King David, He recorded that version with producer John Lissauer in 1983 for his album “Various Positions,” an album that his label Columbia Records disliked and declined to release in the U.S. (although another label later did release it).

The label later dropped him, but Cohen kept working on the song. As he toured, the song lyrics evolved from sacred to secular, with some verses frankly sexual. Meanwhile, other musicians took note of the song. John Cale recorded a cover of it, combining verses from the sacred and secular versions, which was followed by Jeff Buckley’s recording of that version. A music producer working on the animated movie “Shrek,” took the Buckley version, sanitized the lyrics, and included it in the soundtrack. A phenomenon was born.

The documentary follows the song’s long and winding road, which took some very unusual turns. It might be true that at one point Leonard Cohen’s song was famous than he was, and certainly there are people who know the song and have no idea he wrote it. Many people who may never have heard of Leonard Cohen first became familiar with the song as part the sound track for the animated movie SHREK. The song has been included on countless other movie soundtracks, has been used for singing contests and has become a favorite at both weddings and funerals, often with singers or listeners unaware of its strange history.

It is a strange situation for such a revered songwriter but the success of the song enabled a wider audience for the musician later in his career, a satisfying outcome. Cohen himself was pleased with the success of the song, as he says in one of the many interviews in this fine documentary. We hear Cohen reflect on his song, the impact it had on his later life, with a kind of paternal pride that it has gone so far, a satisfying insight.

One intriguing aspect of the film are excerpts from Cohen’s song-writing journals, giving a rare glimpse into his process. Interviews also support this focus, delving deep into Cohen as a poet/songwriter and Jewish spiritual explorer. A long period of living at Zen monastery is followed by a return to Judaism and life as a musician. In featured interview clips, Cohen seemed at peace with his moderate career, as he returned to touring, enjoying an extra level of late-life fame that came with the popularity of “Hallelujah,” until his death at age 82 in 2016.

There is so much that is surprising, intriguing, and deeply insightful about Leonard Cohen’s life in this film, and co-directors Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine do a marvelous job of bringing all that out and weaving it all into an very enjoyable and informative experience.

HALLELUJAH: LEONARD COHEN, A JOURNEY, A SONG opens Friday, July 29, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

LANSKY – Review

This weekend sees the release of another addition in the movies’ complex relationship with criminals, in particular gangsters. Or the “made men”. But not “made-up men” as in those early-talkie Warners classics, or the celebrated Corleone trilogy. This guy was the “real deal”, although he would’ve grimaced at seeing his name on a theatre marquee. He preferred working and plotting (a wiz at making the numbers click) in the shadows. Ah, but films have found him fascinating because of his unique heritage, as he was one of the few underworld figures who was Jewish, rather than the prevalent Catholic-raised Italian-Americans. Now, there was a fictionalized version of himself in that second of the earlier mentioned series, being Lee Strasberg as Hyman Roth in the superior sequel, THE GODFATHER PART II. But several acclaimed actors have portrayed him on the big and small screen including Patrick Dempsey and Oscar-winners Richard Dreyfus and Sir Ben Kingsley. Now another heavy-hitter (a vet of many mob movies) offers his take as Meyer LANSKY.


But before we meet the “big man”, we get to know struggling writer/ex-reporter David Stone (Sam Worthington). He’s fibbed to his estranged wife about his trip to Miami in 1981. There’s no big “book-signing” event, but rather the chance to get back on the “best seller list’, because he’s been “hand-picked” by the subject to write a biography of legendary crime figure Meyer Lansky (Harvey Keitel). The two meet in a local “family-style” restaurant (similar to an IHOP or Denny’s) where the “big boss’ lays down a few rules, including no tape recorders and no selling it to publishers until his approval or demise. David then jots down pages of notes on the elder’s long history, going from mastering back alley craps games 70 years ago to climbing the ranks of the mob with pal Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel (David Cade) as they prove invaluable to “big man” Charlie “Lucky” Luciano (Shane McRae). In the late 30s, Meyer (John Magaro) would start a family with the volatile Anne (AnnaSophia Robb), earn a chair at the “organization’s table”, and actually aid the feds in flushing out Nazi spies. Later, Lansky was a big financial contributor to the formation of Israel. In between the interviews, David returns to his modest motel, where he’s often distracted by the sultry woman at the pool, Maureen (Minky Kelly), and by the car that slowly cruises the parking lot near his room. The driver is FBI agent Frank Rivers (David James Elliott) who soon pressures David to get info about a missing mob fortune (about 300 million). But can the down-on-his-luck scribe tread the dangerous tightrope between the “feds” and the still-connected aging gangster?

As the “silver lion” of the “organization” (maybe “last man standing” rather than “last man living”) Keitel really “delivers the goods” in the title role. Somehow he can turn on a dime, from a “reminiscing about those good ole’ days’ charmer” to an intimidating “iron hand”. Though he knows that the final sunset is quickly approaching, Keitel gives Lansky quiet dignity as he trie to “go out” on his own terms and finally chooses to boast, a bit, of his long legacy. But there’s still a great deal of tragedy, as he recalls his afflicted son and his rebuff from his “promised land”. And though he’s been in some of the biggest recent hit films (and those upcoming AVATAR sequels) Worthington is often overwhelmed in the many duets with Mr. K. It may be due to the familiarity of his character, a creative grasping at straws as he finds himself between “a rock and a hard place”. Plus his pleading phone calls with the family quickly become tiresome, as does the stilted romance with Kelly’s flirtatious “femme fatale” Maureen. That role feels “tacked on” in order to “spice up” the dreary modern-day sequences that are minus Meyer. Another addition to David’s dilemma is Elliot as the dogged, obsessed “G-man” who has the determination to carry on J. Edgar’s legacy but little of his arrogant aggression. His Agent Rivers is more of an annoyance than a true threat. As for the flashbacks, Magaro doesn’t try for a Keitel impression as the younger Lansky, but still projects a quiet menace (as opposed to the sadistic Ben) as he tries to divert the mob from being “backbreakers to “bean-counters”, replacing muscled goons with nit-picking auditors. But his version is less compelling despite the scenes of his home life. Ultimately those devolve into shouting matches with Robb’s Anne who overdoes the histrionics as she screams about “divine punishment”. I’m sure a better-written role would have showcased her considerable talents.

Everything moves at a languid pace under the pedestrian direction from Etyan Rockaway, who co-wrote the script with relative Robert. The interview segments have a quiet tension, due mainly to Keitel, but the flashbacks often feel like hazy basic cable TV crime “doc-show” recreations, complete with whirling newspaper headlines, odd hairstyles, ill-fitting fashions, and outright anachronisms, as when we see the 1920s sedans at resorts in the late 1940s. The FBI office scenes play like outtakes from a 70s TV cop show, while the repeating CGI-enhanced headshots fail to give the mob history a gritty contemporary edge. Most frustrating is that the man in the center remains an enigma, though more complex now (the Nazi-smashing and Israel support are less reported aspects of his story), many questions are left dangling as we get many long lingering pan-shots of him shuffling along the Alabama *doubling for Florida) shoreline. Despite the always compelling Keitel, LANSKY is a real letdown, often putting us to sleep, along with the fishes.

2 Out of 4

LANSKY opens in select theatres and is available as a Video-on-Demand via most streaming apps and platforms beginning Friday, June 25, 2021

THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE – Review

Most fans of film (especially comedies) may recall this quick three or four-second gag (really, this flick is jam-packed with them) from that iconic 1980 comic smash AIRPLANE. The stewardess is walking up the center aisle, clutching a load of magazines. Spotting a white-haired grandmotherly-type she asks, “Would you care for something to read?” “Do you have anything light?” “How about ‘Famous Jewish Sports Legends’?”. Then Julie Haggerty hands the elderly passenger a very thin (maybe a folded page) leaflet. Got a pretty good chuckle back then (it’s not the “surely Shirley” bit, but…). Well, the subject of this new documentary feature is worthy of a thick book (and he has). It’s a life full of drama and danger, about a man of such varied interests, he could be the hero of a thriller. And he was, in last year’s THE CATCHER WAS A SPY, played by Ant-Man himself, Paul Rudd, no less. So many historical figures and celebrities crossed path with this man, you’d think he might have inspired ZELIG. But no, major league baseball player Mo Berg was very real. And unbeknownst to most of his teammates, and family, he was THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE.

Berg’s life is an amazing story, enough for a series of films or a long TV mini-series. He was born to Ukranian Jewish immigrants in 1902. He had a knack for sports (which pharmacist poppa Bernard discouraged) and played baseball at gentile schools under the name “Runty” Wolfe (sounds like the hero of a sports comic strip). Moe studied law, much to his father’s delight, at Princeton, and was one of their baseball team’s standouts (he’d say he was a great “glove-man”, but not much of a hitter). He was recruited by the Brooklyn Robins (later the Dodgers), and begin a pro career that took him to the Chicago White Sox (where he had to choose between law and baseball), the Washington Senators, and the Boston Red Sox. In school, Moe learned a dozen languages, which came in handy when he was part of a baseball goodwill tour in Japan (the sport was getting very popular there). But he was the only member of the group to get a letter from the state department awarding him “diplomatic courtesy”. This aided him when he shot “undercover” 16 mm footage of Tokyo from the top of St. Luke’s Hospital (this was in 1934 as Japan was building up their military). In between trips and cruises around the globe, Moe was a frequent contestant on the radio quiz show “Information Please”, sort of a Jeopardy precursor. Later, when the US entered WWII, Moe was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS later the CIA), along with many civilians and some celebrities, to be an undercover operative in Europe. As the war neared its end, Moe followed the European scientific community to find out just how much progress Germany was making towards nuclear weapons. His “double life’ was more thrilling than a doubleheader.

How’s that old expression go? If somebody thought this up it would be dismissed as ridiculous or far-fetched. Yes, truth is stranger and perhaps more improbable than fiction, at least when it relates to Mr. Berg. Director/screenwriter Aviva Kempner keeps his “cradle to grave” story rolling at a brisk speed (perhaps faster than Berg’s slow trot to first base, according to sportswriters of the day), making ample use of family photos, archival footage (those bustling streets filled to the brim with vendors just outside those towering tenements), interviews (especially Moe’s older brother Sam), new interviews with baseball players, managers, and historians, and period pop music (lots of big band standards). They reveal many surprises. Father Bernard never saw Moe play baseball (Sam shows us how his pop with spit in disgust at the mere mention of the sport), while Mama Rose would scoop up neighbors to join her at the ballpark. Plus there’s film and new stories about Moe’s more famous acquaintances. He’s on the Japan tour with Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth (seems that Moe was quite taken with Ruth’s 18-year-old daughter, unlike the “sexually fluid” Berg of the Paul Rudd movie). We get to hear Moe dazzle radio audiences with his knowledge (a “book smart jock”). As war approaches, Kempner tells us of the influence of British intelligence on the OSS, mainly via several meetings with Ian Fleming (yes, of 007 fame). On his advice, the OSS goes after citizens like Berg and Marlene Dietrich (she cut records that had anti-Nazi messages). To help illustrate the US spy efforts, clips from then-current Hollywood films are intercut (there’s Alan Ladd and Gary Cooper). The only time the doc stumbles is the detour into the race for nuclear power. Retellings of the Manhatten Project and Werner Heisenberg (hey “Breaking Bad” fans) take several precious minutes away from the journey of Berg. Luckily the film gets “back on track” as it tells of that scientist’s near assassination by Berg (see the Rudd flick for more focus on that). This is another astounding tale of the “greatest generation”, one with more detours and twists than any five Hollywood true spy thrillers. History really comes alive in THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE. It doesn’t hit one out of the park, but it’s a solid triple, and so it gets….

3 Out of 4 Stars

THE SPY BEHIND HOME PLATE opens everywhere and screens exclusively in St. Louis at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas

ASK DR. RUTH – Review

Everyone knows Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the on-air sex therapist who speaks so frankly, but how much do you know about the personal story of this diminutive Jewish grandma who has been a darling of talk shows for decades, using her expertise as a PhD sex therapist to offer non-judgmental advice on sexual matters? Likely, not much. ASK DR. RUTH goes a way to correcting that. In the process, we again fall under the spell of this personable, lively, intelligent woman who has led an unusual life and overcome so many hardships.

Who knew Dr. Ruth, who seems so much fun, survived the Holocaust in a Swiss orphanage where as a ten-year-old she was put to work cleaning and caring for the younger children? Or that she was married several times? Or that she was an avid skier? These are among the surprises uncovered in this delightful documentary.

Director Ryan White’s illuminating, entertaining biographical film first introduces us to Dr. Ruth Westheimer in the tiny New York apartment where the nearly 90-year-old still lives, despite her financial success, before the documentary delves into her backstory. Dr. Ruth is an unlikely success story: a Holocaust survivor with a thick German accent, a prim-and-proper-looking tiny woman with a PhD in psychology who spoke on-air with bracing frankness about sex, just as America was entering the sexual revolution of the ’60s. The combination of her disarming appearance, her impeccable credentials and her plain speaking about sex made her a media celebrity and a popular favorite.

Turns out, Dr. Ruth has an unlikely personal story as well. Born in Germany near Frankfort, Karola Ruth Siegel was the beloved only child of Orthodox Jewish parents who doted on her. After the Nazis came to power, they sent her at age 10 to Switzerland by train, as part of a “kindertransport” with other Jewish children. Landing in a Swiss orphanage, the Jewish children were not welcomed and hardly had a comfortable life. The older Jewish children, including the ten-year-old, were required to work, which she did until the war ended when she was 17. With her parents vanished, she emigrated to Israel (then Palestine) where she switched her middle and first names to become Ruth K. Siegel.

The German-born, 4-foot-7 dynamo has lived in Switzerland, on a kibbutz in Israel, in Paris and in New York. After WWII interrupted her education, she went on to attend the Sorbonne and later earn a PhD from Columbia University, married three times, raised two children, and worked at Planned Parenthood. She started her career as on-air sex therapist on a late-night community radio show, Sexually Speaking. She met her last husband, the love of her life, engineer Fred Westheimer, on the ski slopes. And those are only a few of the sometimes surprising details uncovered in ASK DR. RUTH.

Director Ryan White illustrates the early phase of Dr. Ruth’s life with animated drawings based on photos of her as a girl, a cute pixie with bright eyes and a sweet smile. The animated sequences are appealing and narrated in part by excerpts from her diaries. Later phases of her life and career are illustrated with archival photos and video. Segments on her past are interspersed with footage of the present-day nonagenarian, surprisingly fit, in New York and on returns to Switzerland and Israel. The documentary also includes interviews with her children and grandchildren, old friends and colleagues, as well as a host of videos of Dr. Ruth at various events.

The documentary impresses us with Dr. Ruth’s personal story, and Dr. Ruth herself wins our affection with her energetic persona, but the film also notes that not every therapist is a fan of her on-air advice. Several note that advice based on shallow knowledge of a person gained from a call-in show can be dangerous for someone with real problems, a criticism that can be applied to all talk show therapists. However, Dr. Ruth did paved the way for the phenomenon, as she was followed by Dr. Phil and other therapists offering advice on talk shows, and she also set the trend of Dr. First Name, when early callers to her radio show struggled with pronouncing her last name.

While we learn a great deal we did not know about her, Dr. Ruth herself cautions us that she still keeps parts of her life private, and there are sides her we will never learn about, a refreshing kind of honesty in itself. Apart from a few moments of impatience, she is unfailingly good-humored, even when the documentary covers more difficult moments of her life. She keeps darker feelings under wraps, even when she visits the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel, to read in their archives about the fate of her parents.

ASK DR. RUTH is an illuminating experience, a charmer of a film as lively and entertaining as its subject, and just as surprising. ASK DR. RUTH opens Friday, May 3, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 5 out of 5 stars