When Do We Eat? (2006)

I thought I had heard some awful comments about this movie, so I skipped seeing it last spring. I just watched the DVD and the film had many plot twists, interesting character analyses, a lot of Judaic references, great music, great acting...it was totally worth seeing. It's a shame there's some "blue" words, because if you can get over it, it's a movie that's totally apt for a confirmation class, and even young adults, if they are into Jewish history and family relationships, will get something of great value from viewing this film. I highly recommend it. Don't get turned off by the somewhat slow start...there is a lot to come. Also some of the alternate menu options are worth exploring.

'When do we eat?' For years Jews have been asking that same question at the Passover Seder (festive meal), a meal which tends to go on for a very long time, with all its prayers and traditions, the food being just about the last thing on the schedule.In the family comedy 'When do we eat?', Ira Stuckman (Michael Lerner) tries to hurry things up as much as possible, when he gathers his unique dysfunctional family together for what he declares will be 'the fastest Seder', but it turns out to be everything but.From lesbians to druggies to sex surrogates, this family has it all. The oldest son, is an ex-yuppie, who has now become a Baal Teshuva (a secular Jew who 'returns' to observant Judaism), a part played perfectly by Max Greenfield.The script is clever and funny from beginning to end, although some of the sit-commish lines will make you roll your eyes. As the Seder moves along, it seems everyone's got dirty laundry to air, and all sorts of bottled up feelings and revelations start surfacing. While some of it is way over the top, the film remains reasonably believable thanks to the actors, who stay within character and play out their parts well. The film manages to be funny without being too outrageous, and meaningful without being too preachy.Some of the jokes may be too 'inside' for non-Jews to get, and too offensive for Jews to appreciate. As one critic put it 'If this film was not made entirely by Jews, it'd be considered anti-semitic'. Perhaps, but as a Jewish person myself I found it to be stereotypical in the same way that 'My big fat Greek wedding' stereotypes Greeks, but not offensive by any means (atleast not for people who have a sense of humor).Bottom Line: The Movie is fun, entertaining and heartwarming and should not be taken too seriously. Definitely worth a rental.

Our family had been waiting since April to see this film and it was definitely worth the wait! We laughed and (some of us) cried - we saw parts of ourselves in the members of this family. The ten plagues have nothing on this family! If you enjoyed Keeping Up With The Steins - put this one on your list as well. Jack Klugeman gives a fabulous performance as the Grandfather - he reminds us that it's helpful to understand where our parents have come from and from that we can better understand why they are the way they are. It might not make it any easier to be around them, but at least we understand. A MUST SEE - and you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy!

In my life, i have seen a lot of bad movies, and out of those, about three handfuls of movies i never managed to finish. And "When Do We Eat?" is one of the movies i never was arsed to finish.To be straight out honest, this movie is crap. I watched as much of this movie as I could (which was about two thirds of the movie), and during that dreadful hour, I laughed once. For a movie that is supposed to have "about a joke every minute, and sometimes too many jokes for one to swallow", that's not a really good thing. The jokes aren't really good, makes very little sense, and is about as funny to me as it would be pulling my toe nails out.The plot, which I must say didn't seem so bad, actually turned in to a big pile of junk without sense after a while. The whole "crazy family holiday gone wrong thing" is, fair enough, overused, but the dinner part is new. Unfortunately, it isn't presented in a way which I enjoyed. It's messy, it's crappy, and it's boring. From the moment the dad in this movie found out he was drugged and until I turned it off, i was bored. I thought that was gonna be the funnier part of the movie, but it wasn't. I really can't come close to explain how bored I was. Go watch it yourself if you do not believe me.