“Bad Shabbos” is an indie movie, but you might not know it if you looked at the cast, which has enough star power to fuel a bigger film.
Kyra Sedgwick, Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man (aka Cliff Smith), David Paymer (nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in “Mr. Saturday Night”) and John Bass (“Super Pumped”) all appear.
The cast includes Milana Vayntrub (Lily in the AT&T advertisements), Ashley Zukerman (“Succession”) and more.
The 84-minute movie, playing in Manhattan at The Quad Cinema at 34 W 13th St. and New Plaza Cinema at Macaulay Honors College, 35 W. 67th St., follows very real characters and farcical events when a Jewish family invites Catholic guests. It won the Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award for best narrative, giving it a buzz.
But a key question remained for the comedy, directed by Daniel Robbins and written by him and Zack Weiner, about a Jewish family on the Upper West Side: How would it play in, say, Peoria, beyond New York City?
Festival screenings of the movie in Reno, NV, and Palm Springs, CA, tested audience response beyond the narrow borders of New York.
“The reaction was as uproarious,” Robbins said recently during a question-and-answer session at the Quad Cinema, where the movie is playing.
The movie, now also playing at 25 cinemas, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and many others, is expanding distribution, adding Key Largo, Fl.; Boston, Bellmore and Patchogue on June 20 with many other locations coming onboard in upcoming weeks, including the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan on June 30.
Robbins, who said one of his favorite movies is “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” put it simply. “Specificity is universal,” he said of the movie that Rotten Tomatoes’ critics gave a 90% while the audience gave it a 91%.
The film, released May 23 and distributed by Menemsha Films, who Robbins said believed in and supported a release in cinema, got its share of good reviews. Variety called it an “entertaining, fast-paced comedy” with a “strong ensemble cast.”
The film follows David (Jon Bass) and his fiancée Meg (Meghan Leathers) whose parents are scheduled to meet for a Shabbat dinner in the family’s New York’s Upper West Side apartment. Suffice it to say, the best laid plans of mice and men sometimes lead to mishaps.
By the time Meg’s Catholic parents arrive, things have gone so far off the tracks that burning the food would be a bright spot as we watch the family deal with a disaster – and each other – on the Upper West Side, where it was shot largely in an actual apartment.
“They redecorated almost everything,” Robbins said. “Every actor was taking ownership of their role.”
He said the idea for the movie came from Zach, co-screenwriter, whose mother sometimes plays pranks. They ask what would happen if somebody dies during a prank, which fuels a funny farce about how to handle the consequences.
“It seems like people aren’t making comedies like they used to,” Robbins said, noting a nostalgia for New York City romanticized in some Woody Allen movies, as well as Mike Nichols and Neil Simon. The goal was to take from the greats.”
While Vayntrub, who plays Abby, may have cut her teeth on (or at least be known for) an AT&T commercial, she’s endearing and funny in this film. “She’s an improv genius,” Robbins continued.
The movie, a comedy with primarily Jewish characters, prompted some to point to famous Jewish comedians as predecessors. “I think just being Jewish, it’s part of the culture,” Robbins said.
He said that his grandfather used to want him to tell a new joke each time they got together, as humor became part of the family’s relationship with each other.
Bass, who plays David and has appeared in numerous TV series and movies, remembers school playing a role in introducing him to cinema. His middle school drama teacher, he said, gave him a list of movies to watch.
Bass said he loved working with the cast, director and script. “It felt so original,” he said, although there was one issue.
There was only one elevator in the Upper West Side building where they shot most of the movie, which meant waiting to get back to the set.
Josh Mostel, Zero Mostel’s son, appears briefly at the start. Although it seems to fly past, this moment fits well with the comic narrative once we know how the movie ends.
