Bernie, overwhelmed with the world and his family situation, resembles the 10-year-old stand-in for Woody Allen in Annie Hall. But everyone around him defies expectation. In additon to Manny, mother Esther (the surprisingly well-cast Helena Bonham Carter) doesn’t come close to the Jewish stereotype, and slick businessman Uncle Jimmy (Peter Serafinowicz) is a far cry from Seinfeld’s Uncle Leo. Notably, none of the major actors in the family are Jewish in real life. But is the lack of a sense of familiarity a product of the actors’ lack of understanding of Jewish identity, or is it a product of the cultural differences between English and American Jews?
That’s not to say the performances are disappointing, or that Sixty Six is a bad movie. Marsan, for one, is particularly noteworthy as the heartbreaking, sympathetic father who just wants to do the right thing despite all the misfortune and bad luck sent his way (though he’s far from perfect, even in his intentions). Carter, who’s acquired a reputation for playing weird, spaced-out roles, here plays the grounded, down to earth mother who can sense the strengths and weaknesses of everyone in her life, and is not afraid of pointing them out. Other than a commanding love of her son, Esther is nowhere near Sophie Portnoy. While he doesn’t quite have the range needed for the role, Sulkin, who ironically has a background in professional soccer, has mastered the facial expression of the desperation for attention that you can see on just about any socially ostracized kid who’s ever lived.
The movie is certainly flawed, but by no means painfully so. It’s quite a schmaltzy movie, and the cheese only increases as it goes along. The script has its fair share of stereotypical characters, is not above jokes that make fun of the blind or neighbors with freakishly large breasts. But the inevitable growing up that is demanded of Bernie still manages to be inspiring despite itself, and even the most hardened will struggle not to tear up a little. Although the film promises to be a story about growing up from traumatic childhood experiences, it ends up as more of a father-son bonding story than a coming of age. It’s a most unexpected final note after Manny virtually ignores Bernie for the first two-thirds of the film. If the film’s prime taste is cheese, it’s well-aged, fine cheese.
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