Keeping Up with the Steins

Plot synopsis:
Benjamin Fiedler (Daryl Sabara) is the 13-year-old son of Jewish couple 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 kombooks Neil Diamond to sing the National Anthem. However, Benjamin does not want to go through with it, as he does not even understand the words of the haftorah he has to read as part of his bar mitzvah rite. To try to 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 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.

Tags: satire

Review:
Interesting thing about having seen 'Keeping Up with the Steins' on a Sunday at Fallbrook in the Valley - there was a fieldtrip of some school that had seen fit to come see the film as a group, then hold a sort of Q&A in the lobby.
I love being in a full theatre when going to a film, particularly a comedy as you'll get laughs out of people that become infectious and actually make seeing the film that much better of an experience.Another interesting thing about the 'Steins' film: while Jeremy Piven and the young hero of the film are the driving characters, the lasting memories of a film-goer actually belong to Gary Marshall & Doris Roberts.
Marshall delivers the father figure as likable to an audience as the characters he created on network television back in the 70's.One more interesting thing about the 'Steins': you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the humor, you just have to recognize the strengths and failings of every human being represented in these characters..
There is more than one person coming-of-age.In a nutshell, it is the story of an angst-ridden thirteen year old boy whose troubles are doubled by his pending bar mitzvah.His father (Jeremy Piven) is a Hollywood agent intent on turning the bar mitzvah into a recruiting event to keep and grow his client base.
This is complicated when his former partner, played by Larry Miller, throws a mega bar mitzvah for his own son, with the same intention in mind.Piven's angst at creating the perfect bar mitzvah/recruitment event is made worse by the arrival of his hippy-like father (Gary Marshall), who is attached to an early 40-something New Ager (Daryl Hannah) and teaching English to children on the Navajo reservation.
Marshall's and Piven's characters are estranged, the father having walked out on Piven and his mother (Doris Roberts) 26 years earlier.We have an angst-ridden triangle between the three men: grandfather, father, and grandson.
(And I won't venture a guess, because I don't want to spoil the ending for anybody.) Go back and watch how Chaplin created and then unknotted tension in "City Lights", how Sam Woods did it in "A Night at the Opera", how Marshall did it in "The Flamingo Kid" (another coming-of-age story), or even how it's done in the simplest episode of Piven's "Entourage".
We saw this in a small art house movie and I gotta tell you, they should make a heck of a lot more movies like "Keeping Up With the Steins" than the big block-buster movies which everybody sees and are basically wastes of time.
This will not be a big market high grossing film, but if what you want is true entertainment and a feel good movie do not miss this.
Well, if you call attempts at reading Hebrew "Jewish".The Fiedlers are trying to one-up the Steins post-Bar Mitzvah party.
But none the less I am convinced that you will find this movie funny if you are Jewish.
As a coming of age story I would give it a 5 but as a Jewish comedy I would give it a 9, so that brings us to a seven.
Jermey is funny as always and a couple camio roles that I don't wish to reveal really brings the whole movie together and at the same time has you brawling in your seats..
His grandfather left his son and wife for another life where he teaches on the Navajo Indian reservation in New Mexico with his new younger girlfriend played by Daryl Hannah.
Anyway, the story about the coming of age and how unconventional grandfather relates to his conventional son and his family is worth watching.
Garry Marshall clearly must have called in a lot of favors to get this film made for his son, as we see Darryl Hannah, Richard Benjamin, and Neil Diamond being dragged into this eminently forgettable film.The plot was alternately clichéd and incredibly unrealistic.
Keeping Up With the Steins-A Return to Basic Jewish Bar Mitzvahs***.
This comedy hits it right on the head detailing that the idea of the Bar Mitzvah in the Jewish religion has been long-lost.
In addition to the obvious plot, we are subjected to an estranged relationship by a father's abandonment of his family 26 years before and his attempt to reestablish a relationship with his bitter son at the time of his grandson's Bar Mitzvah celebration.Nice seeing Richard Benjamin back in films after many years behind the camera.
The movie is about a boy about to have a bar mitzvah and his internal struggles he goes through.
Keeping Up With the Steins deals touches on that and the kid's father trying to out do his neighbors and prove he's doing better than those who failed him in his life.
There isn't much more you can say about the plot, than that.The performances here are better than adequate, and the direction seems competent enough, but the truth be told, this movie doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be a comedy, a drama, or some uneven measure of both.
Piven and his dad (played by Garry Marshall, dad of director Scott Marshall) have their bitter moments, but for the most part it is played pretty straightforward as a coming of age comedy with more adult roles than usual.Daryl Sabara plays 13 year old Benjamin Fiedler, who is preparing for his bar Mitzi's, the rite to manhood in the Jewish religion.
"Helping" him are Richard Benjamin as his Rabbi and his long lost grandfather played by the charming Garry Marshall, who shows up with his significantly younger hippie girlfriend played by Daryl Hannah (the second "Kill Bill" reference of the film).
Benjamin is a wreck as his parents compete with the Stein's over the size of the party, while he dreads the chants that must be performed in front of the audience.The best scenes are between Marshall and Sabara, but Piven delivers his usual fine work as the bitter dad/grown-up son.
The film opens on a half-million dollar party with a "Titanic" theme on a real cruise ship, complete with the young man of the hour at the bow of a mock cruise ship sailing through icebergs, spreading his wings and screaming to the world, "I am the King of the Torah!" From that tasteful opening, the preparations for the next bar mitzvah celebration become a tad ostentatious.
There are a few moments when we silently scream, "Ouch!" Who wants outsiders seeing us at less than our best?Garry Marshall as the granddad invited back into the family after decades away is the voice of sanity who swims naked and tells truths.
Daryl Sabara as the about-to-be Stein bar mitzvah, is wonderful: capable of a wide range of believable emotions.
This is actually a nice film, and probably a very good family film that you can let teens see and they won't be bored/embarrassed (like "cheaper by the dozen").
Being Jewish myself, this film reminded me a lot of my Bar Mitzvah and how crazy things get!
The Child is The Father of The Man. This endearing movie is a coming of age film in an upper upper middle class family in a Jewish neighborhood in LA.
Of course his friend Zachary Stein (Carter Jenkins)who precedes Ben warns "this doesn't mean you can drink or drive a car.The Stern family threw a lavish affair with a movie theme based upon the Titanic.
Adam Fielder (Jeremy Piven) is not a little sore that his own bar mitzvahs was a subdued affair and that his father Irwin Fiedler (Garry Marshall) deserted the family.Religion and the meaning of the rite has taken a back seat to the planning of an extravagant event.
As Dad bristles with a contempt grandma Rose (Doris Roberts) cannot bring herself to bear, grandpa with his ding-a-ling left-over hippie girlfriend Sacred Feather sets up his rusty RV on the driveway depreciating the property values.Can Ben and Grandpa Irwin set the ceremony back on track?There is an excellent performance of Richard Benjamin as Rabbi Schulberg.While there is a gratuitous nudie scene when grandpa goes skinny dipping in the Fielder's pool with Sacred Feather, the film is excellent family comedy which speaks to a universal theme, the importance of simplicity and the eloquence of understatement.
Adam (Jeremy Piven) and Joanne Fiedler (Jami Gertz) have their son Benjamin (Daryl Sabara)'s bar mitzvah coming up.
They attend Adam's former best friend and Hollywood agent partner Arnie Stein (Larry Miller)'s son Zachary's grand bar mitzvah.
He doesn't like his parents' outlandish plans and invites his wacky estranged grandfather Irwin (Garry Marshall) who is living with Sacred Feather (Daryl Hannah) on an Indian reservation.This dysfunctional family is wacky.
The plot revolves around a young Jewish boy who is about to go through his bar mitzvah.
The performance of Daryl Sabara (playing Benjamin), Jeremy Piven (playing Benjamin's dad) and Garry Marshall (playing Benjamin's grandfather) really carried the movie amazingly well, and they made it worth watching the movie.Story-wise then "Keeping Up With the Steins" is adequate, but I am not overly familiar with Jewish customs and traditions, so how well the movie translates to real life I have no idea of.However, this is the type of movie that you watch once, then am likely to never watch it again.
A film full of great "turns", cleverly cast, performed with brio and written with wry, sly wit and not a little satire--KEEPING UP WITH THE STEINS was a delightful discovery on late-night BBC TV -Channel 1-where it was screened ,mid-week, in its entirety without any commercial breaks and with its closing credits surprisingly intact.This social and family comedy,dating from 2006,was apparently released in the UK in 2009,and has an amazing roster of talents on screen.It casts the traditional US-movie-theme of "I love you,Father" within a sharply-observed showbiz milieu,as well as setting it amusingly in a very specific community.To see it programmed here on nationwide TV made a timely riposte, in view of certain events across the other English Channel.....
It's really a sweet little story about a boy who tries to reconcile his embittered father with his paternal grandfather, who disappeared from his family's life for many years and has only recently reappeared.
Nothing's really new here, and while the material may not have been enough to sustain a theatrical film, it's a nice little time-waster if it shows up on TV.
Keeping up with the Steins is about a young Jewish boy named Fiedler in the days leading up to his bar mitzvah who learns what becoming a Jewish young adult is all about.
An additional plot point is the initial scenes as everyone is taking part in the Steins bar mitzvah on a cruise ship  very expensive and intricate planning.
You'd think a movie about a boy and his bar mitzvah would a) be a coming of age story and b) be a bit opaque to those not of the faith.
This is how the movie opens  and no spoiler here as it is in the trailer  with the Steins' son Zach's (Carter Jenkins) flamboyant bar mitzvah on a cruise ship.
Adam Fiedler (Jeremy Piven) is a successful Hollywood agent and used to work for Arnie Stein (Larry Miller).
Adam wants his son Benjamin's (Daryl Sabara) bar mitzvah to outclass Zach's.
Now Irwin is back in Adam's life because Benjamin invited him to the bar mitzvah and - well- sparks fly.
Oddly, the story about how outlandish Benjamin's bar mitzvah party could be is secondary but is where the laughs are.
You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy this heartwarming, funny movie about a Hollywood agent Adam Fiedler and his nearly-13-year-old son Benjamin.
When their neighbors, the Steins, throw an over-the-top Bar Mitzvah party with the theme the movie Titanic, Adam plans to top the Steins with a baseball blast at Dodger Stadium.
Benjamin, not sure what he really wants but resentful of his father's bluster, secretly invites his grandfather to come to the party--two weeks early.
You see familiar faces such as Doris Roberts, Garry Marshall, Richard Benjamin, Darryl Hannah, and Larry Miller, as well as Jeremy Piven, Jami Gertz, and Daryl Sabara as Adam, Joanne, and Benjamin Fiedler.
The film is actually about a broken family, forced together on the eve of a child's Bar Mitzvah.
Benjamin Fiedler (Daryl Sabara) is turning 13, which in the Jewish religion means that he is about to become a man.
Jeremy Piven stars as the son and believe it or not he's a big time Hollywood agent, living in a life of luxury.
The star of the film is Spy Kids, Daryl Sabara, who I have never liked.
The family reminded me a lot of the movie The Other Sister, funny, sweet, touching, mega moms.
So I saw this movie, not really knowing what it was about, and even then I was disappointed.First off, a lot of what they do relating to the actual bar mitzvah is simply wrong.
They call it "Keeping Up with the Steins", open up with a Stein bar mitzvah, then ignore them for the entire movie until the very end.
How about "get over it, this day is about your son, deal with your issues later." The day of the bar mitzvah is not the time to let that happen.Also, someone rediscovering Judaism, learning his Haftarah, and doing all that other stuff in less than a week?
This *seemed* like such a good idea.While most Jewish parents try to give their kids a nice bar/bat mitzvah--because this is such an important event in an observant Jew's life--there are a few who go to extremes, as exemplified by Zachary Stein's parents at the beginning of the film.
Rather, it seems to end up centering largely on the unfunny Garry Marshall character, Irwin Fiedler (the Bar Mitzvah boy's grandfather).Turns out Grandpa Fiedler ditched his family years ago--it's not clear if he ever paid child support, but it's a safe bet he didn't, seeing as how he couldn't seem to earn money back then, a major bone of contention in his marriage to Grandma Fiedler--and his son (the Bar Mitzvah boy's father, Adam, played by Jeremy Piven) remains resentful about having been abandoned.The movie, IMHO, tries to drum up a bit of sympathy for Grandpa Irwin, portraying him as a good, decent guy in several uninspired scenes where he helps his grandson.
When we first meet the people in this mildly funny movie, they are in the middle of a bar mitzvah with a Titanic theme.
This party cost about half a million dollars to Arnie Stein, a Hollywood type that can well afford it.As Benjamin's own bar mitzvah approaches, his parents, Adam and Joanne Fiedler must make a decision about how big a party they want, and what theme will their son choose.
Little prepares him for the character his grandfather turns out to be.Irwin, who left his family when Adam at a young age, comes to town with his New Age-type girlfriend, who goes by the name of Saved Feather, to stay at his son's mansion.
The old man is a changed man and his love for his newly found family serves to get Adam's forgiveness.Scott Marshall, the director, who is the son of Garry Marshall, follows in his own father's foot steps and finds his way into this ethnic comedy that shows how people must compete with one another to show who is the one giving the best and most elaborate party, something that probably the children feel too overwhelmed, as it's the case with Benjamin.
The film points out to basic problems in our society in which we must outdo our friends, and even our own family, in order to prove we are superior, or just to prove we have more money than they.Garry Marshall steals the show with his Irwin.
Larry Miller and Richard Benjamin are seen in supporting roles.Much has been said about this comedy as far as being targeted to Jews, but in our experience, not being Jewish, we found it speaks a universal language and people of other backgrounds will enjoy it as well..
His bar mitzvah really did become his coming of (religious) age ceremony, not just a preliminary to an over-the-top party.
However, this movie did show the kid "Benjamin" as a dynamic character who did grow and change for the better.
A fairly powerful man in the entertainment (read: movie) business, who has been a poor father to a son that is fairly incompetent at life.
The "films" in this story are bar mitzvah parties, and the one we are competing with is (no fooling) "Titanic." You'll insert yourself as the apologetic grandfather, newly full of wisdom about the meaning of life (because of experience on an Indian reservation).
Mom is played capably by Jami Gertz.The movie was directed by a Marshall, and it was nice seeing Garry Marshall in a featured role as the Fiedler grandpa who, long estranged, shows up with a young girlfriend (Daryl Hannah).Always reliable Doris Roberts is the grandma Rose Fiedler.
And they had just shown X Men 3 (its a 6 hour flight) and up pops the Jewish kid talking about his Bar Mitzvah, MAN!
I started looking around to see if anyone was like gonna freak out because this movie is unmistakably Jewish!
It's no American Pie because the kid is only 13 and its really not for kids, so this movie is really hard to like a whole lot, but I did watch it through because I was on a flight and I chuckled a little.
Most of the first half hour of the film is boring and not very funny, mostly low brow gags, especially Garry Marshall's nude scene.
So it comes across like a long sitcom instead of a movie..
Great Little (Jewish) Film.
It SO reminds me of my own family and what it was like when I had my Bar-Mitzvah, not that mine was as elaborate but the FAMILY dysfunction was told with sensitivity and humor and is very authentic for many Jewish families.