Keeping Up With the Steins

Keeping Up With the Steins
Studio: Mirimax
Rated: PG-13
Cast: Daryl Sabara, Jeremy Piven, Garry Marshall, Jami Gertz, Doris Roberts
Director: Scott Marshall
WorkNameSort: Keeping Up With the Steins
Our Rating: 3.00
A cute and worthy idea that could’ve used better execution, Steins is a knowing comedy that depicts a well-to-do L.A. family attempting to outdo a rival clan by throwing the most extravagant bar mitzvah ever. The parody of suburban-Jewish ostentation ‘ beginning with a Titanic-themed reception and the attendant declaration, ‘I’m the king of the Torah!â?� ‘ is spot-on; less interesting is a parallel plot that depicts an appearances-obsessed dad (Jeremy Piven) slowly reconciling with his own pop (Garry Marshall, father of director Scott A.), who abandoned their family decades earlier to start a new life as an ersatz Native American. In general, the acting and cinematography struggle to keep up with the script’s considerable comedic finesse. Meanwhile, the casting of former Lost Boy consort Jami Gertz as a Jewish mother will make you feel mighty old, but not as old as the snippet of dialogue that writer Mark Zakarin cribs word-for-word from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, obviously betting that nobody can remember that far back. Sigh. (PG-13; opens Friday, June 9, at Regal Winter Park Village Stadium 20, 407-628-0035)

This article appears in Jun 7-13, 2006.