Writer(s): Christa McNamee, Dan Bar Hava, and Grimm
Starring: Adam Pascal, Amy Davidson, Natasha Lyonne, and Zoe Lister-Jones
Boy, oh boy, oh boy. Fresh off a
screening of the surprisingly solid (but poorly titled) Friend
Request (the 2020 version, not the 2016 slice of mega-cheese), we
figured we had nowhere to go but down with whatever we chose to be
our next movie. And we wouldn’t have even settled on this one were
it not for the overly ridiculous plot (even for MarVista standards),
in which a former boy band member—who is not Jewish—gets invited
to play at the grand opening of a Kosher Casino (?), and falls for a
Jewish girl—who is the daughter of the hotel’s owner, and
arranged to be married to someone else (??).
“How did a movie like this even get
made,” you may be thinking to yourself. I know I was, especially
given its very low budget, which is immediately evident from the
first frame (while subpar picture quality remains as a constant
reminder throughout). By the time ten minutes rolled around, after
the plot started unfolding and it quickly became evident that this
movie is in on its own joke, those thoughts suddenly switched to,
“Wait, how can this movie be any good?!”
I've asked for it many times before,
and now I've gotten it: Behind the intriguingly over-the-top story is
that rare movie that actually challenges MarVista's formula.
Were they going through an identity crisis when they purchased the
rights to distribute this film (changing the title from Goyband,
to Falling Star in the process), or did they just purchase the
rights based on a plot synopsis, without ever having seen the film? I
ask because this plays out like an anti-MarVista production, rather
than the “real” thing: those expecting the typical “underdog
love tale” between a former star and a lifelong fan will be
shockingly disappointed—and not in the way you might expect.
Adam Pascal (of “Rent” fame, both
movie and play) is Bobby Starr, that disgraced former boy-bander,
whose attempts at a solo career are...bad. Think “playing at a
bowling alley to uncaring children” bad. Then, his manager books
him for a potentially lucrative show: the grand opening of a kosher
casino in the Catskills. How in the world did a non-Jew land such a
gig? At the insistence of Rebekka, the daughter of the hotel's owner,
who has followed his career from day one, along with her best friends
Hani and Fani (Natasha Lyonne!). And while Bobby isn't at all
enthused about the gig—especially when he learns he must tone down
the sexuality in order to appeal to the conservative crowd—he isn't
really in any position to refuse.
All that changes when he hears Rebekka
singing one of his songs while passing by her room. His interest is
immediately piqued when he sees her for the first time, and the two
eventually start a hidden friendship that threatens to quickly
blossom into true love. But if it gets out, it could spell trouble
for everyone involved: Rebekka's hand in marriage has already been
promised to Haim, who's the son of the Grand Rabbi, who happens to be
the only person that can grant Rebekka's father's casino the kosher
certification needed to operate...
While this is already enough plot for
one movie, it still hasn't touched upon the janitor that Bobby
befriends, who moonlights as a music producer (?) and who offers to
give Bobby's music the “soul” that it's missing. Or the two gay
hotel workers who help choreograph a “kosher” version of his
routine. But unlike most MarVista flops, where more characters just
mean more annoyances, would you believe it if I told you that every single one serve a purpose, and that all of them are likable?! (Except for the ones that aren't supposed to be,
of course.)
There is a surprising amount of depth
to each of them that caught me completely off guard: these aren't
just your typical half-assed characters, but fully-fleshed out humans
who are all trying their best to live their lives by the religious
virtues that they believe in. And even though it's a “religious”
movie at heart, there is no preachiness, or forced revelations, or
sudden acts of God: in fact, every single character questions their
own religious viewpoints at some point, wondering if they are doing
what's best for themselves, and God, and even trying to find a happy medium between the two.
I sadly know
nothing about Judaism (I wasn’t even entirely sure what “kosher”
meant, despite having heard the term thousands of times before), but
that’s one of the movie’s strengths: despite using a lot of
Jewish terms, they’re utilized in such a way that it’s pretty
obvious what the terms are in reference to, even for the unfamiliar.
Credit must be given to the filmmakers, who present a realistic look
into the religion without sugarcoating any of it, and who balance an
interesting love story with natural, good-hearted
characters.
The cast is great, especially Adam
Pascal as the disgraced former star, who has the perfect look to
match a character desperately clinging to the success of his
past. Rebekka (Amy Davidson, known for her role in “8 Simple Rules
for Dating My Teenage Daughter”) is good as his obsessed fan, and
while their chemistry together is wildly uneven (she goes from being
in awe of his presence to acting like a casual fan almost instantly),
it's cute and innocent enough to work.
As for the ending, well...I won't give
away specifics, but let's just say it will no doubt serve as a gut
punch for those expecting the typical lovey-dovey finish. But even
that is done very well: once the initial shock dies down, that's when
you realize that everyone gets what he or she wanted, and everything
works out for the best. And that is something that I wouldn't have
expected to ever learn from watching a MarVista movie: that sometimes
what's best for us in life, isn't always the thing that we think we
want.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- Were they aware his character shares the name, and is just one changed letter away, from a porn star's?
- The world “goy” is Yiddish for “non-Jewish male”. Hence, the original title is a play on words.
- It's refreshing to me that the “villain” in the movie—the man to whom Rebekka is arranged to be married—is still acting within the parameters of his religion. Sure, his comments about “wanting her” and his constant attempts to consummate a future marriage come off as cringey, especially to Western audiences (and because Rebekka clearly doesn't want it), but it does feel as though he really likes her, and since she is to be his future wife, he is only trying to show her that. In the creepiest way possible, but hey, that's the way things are in more old-fashioned, male-dominated cultures.
- The re-titling of the movie to Falling Star, rather than Starr (which is the main character's last name), is rather curious. It could be referring to the “Star of David”, but considering the front cover art has no Jewish references, it seems like a rather odd omission.
- Despite the tone of this review, it's not a perfect movie, but I'm just going to bask in the afterglow of perhaps the only movie in MarVista's catalogue that attempts to have both a brain and a heart. Who knew they had it in them?
RATING: 9/10
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