DVD Review: When Do We Eat?

' } else { echo 'You know it's going to be a bad day when you need two boxes of matzah on the night of the first seder. Sure enough, a family's biggest problems come to light as they try to get through the "world's fastest Passover seder," which turns out anything but. Instead of rock 'n roll, prepare for sex, drugs, and zany antics of the Jewish kind.

'; }

Ira and Peggy Stuckman (Michael Lerner and Lesley Ann Warren) head the diverse blended family consisting of a son addicted to drugs and whose Dad thinks he cured him; a yuppie-turned-Hassidic son who won't work with Dad in his Christmas ornament business; a daughter who is a sex therapist and Dad knows it; a daughter who is a lesbian from Ira's first marriage; and an autistic son. Bring together a family like that, and you know it's not going to be an ordinary or speedy seder.

Ira and his father Artur (Jack Klugman) lost most of their family during the Holocaust. Grandpa is still angry with Ira for not going into the family haberdasher business and makes him feel like the least favorite despite being the only surviving child. Still, Ira urges his Hassidic son to go into the Christmas ornament business.

Out of respect for her recently turned Hassidic son, Peggy hires Rafi, a tough-looking Israeli with an eye patch, to build the tent so the family can hold a seder like the old days, complete with pillows and lamb roasting on a spit. Before the seder begins, the drug addict fetches antacid for Dad and adds Ecstasy to give him a different perspective. That's only the beginning of the family's journey as Dad starts seeing things, including Moses, and starts believing he, like Moses, must lead the family out of darkness into the promised land of acceptance and forgiveness.

Article Author: Meryl

Meryl K. Evans is the content maven (AKA writer, editor, researcher, word gal, CEO, and UFO) behind meryl.net. She's the author of Brilliant Outlook Pocketbook and co-author of Adapting Web Standards. Meryl has been blogging since June 2000. …

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