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The Movie: "He's a complicated Jew...and no one understands him but his mother." The premise of this Comedy Central movie is certainly amusing, and the picture itself is fairly successful as well. "Hebrew Hammer" is sort of a Jewish remake of "Shaft", with Adam Goldberg ("Saving Private Ryan") starring as Mordechai, a street-wise guy who manages to keep the neighborhood kosher. When the evil son of Santa (Andy Dick) destroys his father in Shakespearian fashion, the Jewish Justice League (the Jewish Athletes section is empty) calls on Mordechai - previously booted from the organization - for the job. Santa's son, Damien (Dick) sets his sights on destroying Hanukkah once and for all by sending out addictive bootleg videos of "It's a Wonderful Life". Aided by his assistant, Esther Bloomenbergansteinthal (Judy Greer) and Mohammed (Mario Van Peeples) from the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, the Hammer tries to save Hanukkah and make peace between religions. The film's humor is in the style of the Zuker Brothers ("Naked Gun") - it throws pretty much everything it can at the screen in the hopes that some of it sticks. It also doesn't spare any targets, playfully sending up stereotypes in a way that's mostly effective. The film's only real problem is that, at feature length, it does sort of run out of steam after a while. The jokes are often quite funny, but the performances also go a long way towards making the film work. Andy Dick, who's usually pretty annoying (aside from "Newsradio"), is funny here as Santa's Evil Son. Goldberg is hilarious in an amusing homage to "Shaft", while Greer, Peeples and (as the Hammer's stereotypical mother) Nora Dunn are solid in supporting efforts. Overall, the plot doesn't sustain the film completely for the entire running time, but I found some of the better bits in the film pretty hilarious. The performances are first-rate, as well. Note: The film is rated "R" for this DVD, and definitely includes language that was edited for the film's run on Comedy Central. The DVD VIDEO: "Hebrew Hammer" is presented by Paramount in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture quality is fine - while not great, it's certainly not bad, either. Sharpness and detail were satisfactory - the picture appeared moderately crisp and clear throughout, with some scenes appearing more well-defined than others. The picture didn't show any instances of flaws on the print, but there was a trace or two of pixelation in some parts and slight edge enhancement in a few scenes. Colors appeared natural and, at times, rather subdued and low-key. SOUND: "Hebrew Hammer" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's soundtrack doesn't provide much in the way of surround use - not surprising, considering the comedy genre - but there's a couple of moments of considerable bass. Dialogue remains crisp and clear throughout, and the few moments of music have a nice spread across the front speakers. EXTRAS: The main extra is a commentary from star Adam Goldberg, who chats along with director Jonathan Kesselman, producer Josh Kesselman and their mother, Sandra Kesselman. There's also deleted scenes, outtakes, bios and more. Final Thoughts: "Hebrew Hammer" does get uneven at times, but considering the plot sounded like it would have been better as a skit, the picture comes up with a surprising amount of amusing bits. Paramount's DVD offers a solid amount of supplements, along with satisfactory audio/video quality. Worth a rental. 
Film Grade The Film *** DVD Grades Video 87/B Audio: 87/B Extras: 81/B |