MovieChat Forums > Keeping Up with the Steins (2006) Discussion > Not Funny to Jews or Gentiles!

Not Funny to Jews or Gentiles!

posted 18 years ago by loveshine1
13 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie on Friday night with my boyfriend, who is Jewish. I'm Catholic. We both thought it would be a hysterical movie because we both love Jeremey Piven. His interpretation of Ari Gold is absolutely magnificent.

To say the least, we were disappointed. The movie was PAINFULLY slow, not a single character was developed fully and it was just plain not funny. About 30 minutes into the movie, we looked at each other and said "Should we leave?". Piven's character was just a clueless dad with a bad attitude. Gertz was trying to play his straight man, but none of that developed fully enough.

I'm not sure why anyone would be offended with this movie. There was nothing REMOTELY offensive about it. I grew up in an area with about a 90% Jewish population and now I live in South Florida, where the large majority is also Jewish. I'm familiar with all the stereotypes and I got all the lame jokes, but because none of the characters were developed fully, they missed a lot of opportunities to poke gentle fun at the stereotypes.

Save your money on this one. If you want a funny movie, see The Break Up, or Wedding Crashers. Keeping up with The Steins is not worth it.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Crshbssist612 18 years ago

No, this film was not a constant source of comedy or laughter, but it was not suppose to be. When I saw the film, the entire theatre was laughing out during the comedic scenes and listening intently during the more dramatic scenes. There are a lot of morals that can be learned from this film. But it was a funny film especially if you are able to relate on any level.

[–] xxguitarmandavexx 18 years ago

i think youre totally messed up this movie was hilarious!

[–] cindiloowho 17 years ago

I agree, I loved this movie. I don't see how this would offend anyone either. I especially liked the positive aspect of the importance of forgiveness (for both parties). Entertaining flick.

[–] deppburtonphan 17 years ago

I adore this movie! I'm Jewish, and I didn't find it offensive at all.

[–] bmorris 17 years ago

on all levels a really boring movie. Not so incredibly bad that it's good. just cardboard blah. no feeling for any characters. not one laugh. I rarely stop movies and this one I ended after 30 minutes.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] quest4748 17 years ago

"Not funny to this one Jew and Catholic boyfriend". I think you can figure out the rest without my having to point out how you are in no position to represent the humor of one religion, never mind two.

[–] pauljcurley 17 years ago

I am a Jewish guy, and watched it with my Catholic girlfriend, and I thought it was painfully dull. All the debating over the "meaning" of the Bar Mitzvah? Perhaps this should be required viewing in Hebrew school, but it completely sucks to watch at home with your significant other, hoping for some laughs.

[–] hamilton-25 17 years ago

I agree. I bought it on DVD because it said "Two thumbs up!" on the back and I usually find that when both Ebert and Roeper like something, I will, too.

But this movie is one of the biggest duds in a long, long time. There just plain isn't anything funny going on in this travesty. For anyone to describe this as funny, I have to ask what possibly could be their frame of reference and what exactly were they laughing at? Was it the scene where Grandpa and Grandson pull up alongside a car at stop where someone's picking their nose and Grandpa uses the PA system built into his camper to announce it? That's about as funny it gets, if you get my drift.

Also, I found the whole conspicuous consumption theme of this movie annoying. Okay, I didn't say offensive, just annoying. The story is about a family with far more money than most any of their audience could ever dream of, talking about renting Dodger stadium for a party and watching, you have to wonder, how do people this dopey get that rich? Was that the point of the movie? It would have been a better one than anything I actually was able to discern.

I watched it with a friend. We made it about halfway before giving up. This is a turkey.

[–] ReinaMissy 17 years ago

If you didn't get the point of the film, which was not only comedy, then you did need to give up.

[–] moderngamenewb 17 years ago

I'm Jewish and thought that this movie was funny. It could have been better, but it was still good. I really loved how they had Neil Diamond at the end.

[–] Naneki1 8 years ago

Yup. I thought it was a sweet little film. If you want a broad comedy, go watch some old Adam Sandler movies.

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