| Keeping Up With the Steins |
|
| Directed by |
Scott Marshall |
| Written by |
Mark Zakarin |
| Starring |
Garry Marshall
Daryl Sabara
Jeremy Piven
Jami Gertz
Daryl Hannah. |
| Distributed by |
Miramax Films |
| Release date(s) |
May 12, 2006 |
| Running time |
99 min |
| Language |
English |
| IMDb profile |
Keeping Up With the Steins is a 2006 comedy film directed by Scott Marshall, and starring Garry Marshall, Jeremy Piven, Jami Gertz and Daryl Hannah. The film is also a commentary on how too many Jewish families see a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah not as a coming of age for their son or daughter, but rather as an excuse to throw outrageously lavish parties.
Tagline: Something's not quite kosher.
Plot details
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Benjamin Fiedler (Daryl Sabara) is the 12 year old son of Adam and Joanne Fiedler (Jeremy Piven and Jami Gertz). After attending the elaborate bar-mitzvah 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 idea - rent out Dodger Stadium for the bar-mitzvah. However, Benjamin doesn't want to go through with it, as he doesn't even understand the words of the haftorah he has to read as part of his bar-mitzvah rite. To try and 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'.
Eventually, Benjamin gets up the courage to tell his parents to call off the over-the-top bash they had planned. After Benjamin does very well at his bar mitzvah, the party is just what it should have been in the first place - a casual backyard affair with lunch, a klezmer band, and lots of family and friends.
Cast and roles include
- Jami Gertz .... Joanne Fiedler
- Daryl Hannah .... Sacred Feather/Sandy
- Garry Marshall .... Irwin Fiedler
- Jeremy Piven .... Adam Fiedler
- Doris Roberts .... Rose Fiedler
- Daryl Sabara .... Benjamin Fiedler
- Larry Miller .... Arnie Stein
- Miranda Cosgrove .... Karen Sussman
