to all y'all non-Jews - The Hebrew Hammer (2004) Discussion

[–] EnDouble 20 years ago

I got the jist.

Great movie.

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Speaking on behalf of my goy brothers, this movie is fun for everyone

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[–] BbaySMH 20 years ago

Plus, Adam Goldberg is the man too and it's cool to see him as the star of the film while most of his roles was supporting stuff in Dazed & Confused, Waking Life, Saving Private Ryan, etc.

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[–] konstantinexxxx 20 years ago

actually, (im jewish by the way) actually, my 2 friends that are goyish both told me to watch it and they thought it was HILAROUS! and my friend andrew keeps saying all these hebrew and yiddish words and im like " do you KNOW what your saying?" and then i called him a putz..and he didnt know what that meant.

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[–] strwbereSH0RTcke 20 years ago

yea im jewish, so i knew what all the hebrew parts meant. did all you non-jews get the hebrew or no?

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[–] FittyBone 20 years ago

Goy here. i understood them simply based on what i've heard before and the context of the situation. this movie was f*cking hilarious.

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[–] TheSausageKingOfChicago 20 years ago

i think you have to be jewish to get the whole yiddish/hebrew parts of it. and i think the exaggerated stereotype parts can be understood by all but over all i think you have to be jewish to really fully find it funny.

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[–] dragoonwarrio9 20 years ago

Well, since there are jewish people here, I'll ask one thing. What was the food that Andy Dick distracted the Hammer with, in his workshop? And is it any good?

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[–] lmelnick 20 years ago

Do you mean the Matzah Ball Soup? Mmmm...yummy. It's like chicken soup with dumplings kind of, and it is really good.

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[–] kwest1mc 20 years ago

That was pretty ignorant to say, thats like saying only black people can truly find Friday funny, while others may get jokes and cultural references only a black man can truly understand them. Funny is funny. Laughter is universal most people will be able to understand the yiddish in this movie because of the content leading up to it. The movie wasn't a deep cultural study into judism it handled those parts like it did everything else over the top and as stereotypical as possible. Which is what made it so damn funny....

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[–] ghczn6 20 years ago

I thought it was seriously one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time, even though I'm a... ah, gentile. My current girlfriend (whom I love dearly) is very Jewish, and I had a brief relationship with another Jewish girl, so maybe I have a bit more insight into the jokes than most.

Really, the funniest scene in my opinion was when Mordechai leaves to use the restroom and his mother asks the woman to give him a good lay or two... it's almost sad how many memories that brought back. (I'm glad I had just finished swallowing my Sprite before she said it, too, or I would have completely decimated my nose and television. ;)

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] Tryptamon 20 years ago

I'm jewish and I dont get cranky around christmas time. Nobody that I know that's jewish gets cranky either. They invented Hannukah for the effect, I think. Hannukah is a REALLY MINOR holiday, and the only reason there's a big deal around it is 'cuz of christmas.

The major jewish holidays are like pesach, and rosh hashanah and stuff.

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[–] dalldorfw 14 years ago

So that's why "Hammer's" mother kept saying, "It's not even one of the high holidays." when referring to Hannukah. I was a little confused by that, thinking that maybe she was just saying that to continue the arguement with her son. Thanks, you helped me learn something.

Anyway, most of the humor evolves around very basic stereotypes that I don't think anyone would have trouble understanding, and while people who have never seen classic blaxploitation movies like 'Sweet Sweetback's Badassss Song' or 'Superfly' will be in the dark during some scenes, but even they will get the majority of it.

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[–] SpigL917 18 years ago

First of all, I'm Jewish. I guess you could say I get cranky around Christmas time, but it really only happens during all of the "Christmas time" between September and Thanksgiving. I hate that department stores have Christmas displays up while I'm doing my back-to-school shopping. Beyond companies using the holiday as a selling point, however, I kinda like it. Beautiful lights and displays make winter more magical and everyone is in a loving mood. So really, I don't mind people saying "Merry Christmas" to me... except when "Happy Halloween" is more appropriate.

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[–] mrhysterium 20 years ago

I'm not Jewish. I live in Sydney, Australia & actually only really know one person who is Jewish! It's bizarre! I have Christian and muslim friends, and friends of various denominations, but honestly have never really met any Jewish people. Sorry if I sound closet-minded, I'm not at all, I just honestly haven't met any - which is odd as I am quite fascinated with the faith and practices - I studied Jewish rites of passage through high school and wrote a major report on it for college. I got to interview people for it, but that was over the phone - so I really don't know anyone who follows the faith. There aren't as many Jewish people out here in the 'burbs as there are other religions - they're mostly out east and north (i think). Actually I don't know!

I was fascinated by the Hebrew Hammer. I understood the terminology, recognised a lot of the hebrew sayings, and I laughed along to most of the jokes. I've got a good understanding of Judaism, through study (mostly) but sadly haven't really met any Jewish people so I haven't seen the families, or even lifestyle surrounding rituals (bar mitzvah, hannukah). I wish I had though. I saw the similarly themed, but majorly inferior, 'Eight Crazy Nights' by Adam Sandler - and hated that as a movie. I didn't find the semitic jokes in that particularly funny - but it had a shocking screenplay.

I thought HH was a wicked film and so did my mum. One of the best movies I've seen this year. We laughed our butts off. I think everyone should see it.

Loved the 'Shaft' parody opening track.

-Brando-

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[–] Dave_44 20 years ago

As a fellow tribesman I would think that the stuff they missed they wouldn't know they missed. Kinda like when you watch something as an adult and see stuff you missed as a kid.

Kinda like the fact he has tatoos which are forbidden, if you didn't know that you wouldn't find it funny. Or the using of tefillin (can't spell) to climb into Santa's hideout.

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[–] kobijenjo 20 years ago

Well, I'm not Jewish, and I have to admit that if I had watched Hebrew Hammer alone, I wouldn't have understood quite all the jokes...but I watched it with two of my best friends, both Jewish, and anything that I didn't understand they could explain to me. Then I watched it with one of my non-Jewish friends, and she and I enjoyed it quite a bit. We probably didn't understand a few of the jokes, but all-in-all it was still very funny...I am probably going to buy it when it comes out on DVD (the only way we can watch it is from the one time we taped it off Comedy Central), because it is one of my new favorite holiday movies. I think that, for us gentiles, it really depends on how much we know about Jewish culture as to how funny with think the movie is.

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[–] MeliKoritsi 19 years ago

I'm not Jewish, but I didn't have any trouble understanding the movie. I know enough yiddish, and enough about the Hebrew culture that I had no trouble enjoying the film. As far as satirical films go, I rank it right below "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka". I think when I have some spare dollars, I'll buy "The Hebrew Hammer" on dvd... I shoulda asked for it for christmas, but that would've been a little odd.

"No matter where you go, there you are"

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[–] sinatrachairman 14 years ago

That is why I loved the audio commentary so much. First off, I think all directors should have to answer to thier mother's on audio tracks, and secondly, Adam Goldberg explained the tattoos by saying that he (the actor) is only half jewish and he (the character) is so bad ass that he can have tattoos and no one says anything.

The world belongs to the meat eaters, Miss Clara, and if you have to take it raw, take it raw.

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[–] THMorris 19 years ago

Watched it on Comedy Central and didn't understand it all (they bleeped half the dialog in some places so who knows what they said). The visual stuff is hilarious, but you do need to know something of jewish culture. Growing up near New York City certainly helped.

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[–] bijin_chick 19 years ago

Seems like if you enjoy Jewish stand-up comics (at least, comics whose schtick revolves around Hebrewosity), you're halfway there. Admittedly, I say this as a non-Jew.

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[–] bpilling 19 years ago

I'm not jewish, I thought it was funny. Being non-jewish though, I very well might have missed something, but I didn't notice.

To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of lifes problems.

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