Holy Rollers C+

Playing in Film Festivals, Rated R, 89 Minutes

It’s hard to think of a better premise for a dramedy than the true story of Hasidic Jews from New York muling ecstacy into the U.S. from Amsterdam. Throw in the just-getting-hot Jesse Eisenberg (Adventureland, Zombieland) and Justin Bartha (The Hangover) as the leads, and it seems you’d have an indie filmmakers dream. Alas, director Kevin Asch largely squanders these gifts by playing the set-up heavy and straight, a cautionary tale for all (five?) of the Hasidic Jews studying to be rabbis that are tempted to trade in their side curls for bags of X and fake ID’s.

Sam Gold (Eisenberg) is the son of Orthodox Jews in New York studying to enter the ministry and in the process of entering into an arranged marriage. When the bride-to-be bolts, he’s convinced it’s because he doesn’t have the cash to woo her, making him perfect prey when his next door neighbor (Bartha) asks him if he wants to make a little dough importing needed pharmaceuticals from Europe. Although initially lied to, he gets over his qualms pretty quickly once the cash starts flowing and soon is lining up fresh Hasidic mules and hitting on his boss’s girlfriend even as his parents disown him. There’s surprisingly little new here, save for the opportunity to see inside the a little corner of Judaism few will ever know. That part rings true, while the rest of it, from the drug-fueled raves to the inevitably messy negotiations with dealers, seems like a mishmash of other B-movies. The plot is tied up nicely and in a pro-faith sort-of-way, which is somewhat refreshing I suppose. Eisenberg is good in his role, if not quite able to believably pull off the (very) rapid downward spiral of his character from pious Jew to drugged-out partier. In fairness, I’m not sure that’s his fault. Bartha is also fine as the too-confident drug middleman trying to make some money on the side. I can forgive Asch the recycled scenes and even the recycled plot, but the lack of laughs in movie who’s synopsis plays out like a set-up for a joke, that I cannot forgive. C+