Starring: Adam Goldberg, Judy Greer, Andy Dick, Mario Van Peebles, Peter Coyote Directed By: Jonathan Kesselman Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: DVD Format: Color, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC Label: Comedy Central Number of Items: 1 Region Code: 1 Release Date: November 16, 2004 Running Time: 85 minutes Theatrical Release Date: 2002
Description: THE HEBREW HAMMER stars Adam Goldberg in the title role of this holiday farce as a handsome Orthodox stud and man of action who is called upon to save Hanukkah. When Santa Claus’ evil son Damian (Dick) is pushed over the edge by his father’s liberal policies, he murders the Christian patriarch and, stepping into the vacated role, launches a nefarious worldwide campaign to eradicate the Jewish Holiday. The Hammer joins forces with Esther (Greer), the gorgeous daughter of the chief of the Jewish Justice League to topple Damian and save Hanukkah for future generations.
Amazon.com: A cross between a Kosher Shaft and Airplane!'s shameless gag machine, The Hebrew Hammer is an unabashed burlesque about a streetwise Jewish private detective (a "circumcised dick" in his own parlance) named Mordechai Jefferson Carver (Adam Goldberg). Once ostracized by Gentile children, Mordechai has become a much-feared defender of Jews, so extreme that even the militant Jewish Justice League tosses him out. Until, that is, JJL leader Chief Bloomenbergansteinhal (Peter Coyote) and his lovely daughter Esther (Judy Greer) recruit him to take on the wicked Damien (Andy Dick), a snippy anti-Semite who murders Santa Claus in order to turn Christmas into a Jew-hating holiday. Written and directed by Jonathan Kesselman, this sporadically funny feature is based on a funkier short (included on this DVD) of the same name. The cast is better than the generally obvious material, and Nora Dunn (as Mordechai's mother) and Mario Van Peebles are very good in supporting roles. --Tom Keogh
Just plain zany! This movie was just fun. If you are looking for straight, typical comedy, this is not for you. But if you can enjoy a zany, tough-in-cheek story line that is just good for some great laughs, you will enjoy this. Also, if you come from a Jewish background, some of the references will be especially appreciated. I think that Shaft would have really liked this lead character.
Jewish Humor I did not watch this myself but purchased it for a relative who loved it and watches it repeatedly. Good cultural humor - fun and a bit obscure.
Hammer Review I thought this was a funny adult movie. It might be a little over the top for some people and definitely not for children. If you have a weird sense of humor and can laugh at the Santa Claus myth, check it out. This is not a Miracle on 34th Street movie.
It's the Fiendish Jewish Joke Torture! You know, the fiendish Chinese water torture where someone is strapped down and water is drip...drip...dripped slowly onto his forehead until he goes mad and screams out whatever his confession is? Well, this movie was sort of like that, only with very predictable Jewish jokes.
A Jewish detective who's a "circumcized private dick"....drip.... ...orders Manischewitz on the rocks in a nazi skinhead bar....drip... ...and has a gold Star of David hood ornament on his Cadillac...drip... and his mother and girfriend collude to manipulate him...drip... and on and on until you scream for mercy.
I would have only given it one star, but I really liked our hero's mother. She was genuinely funny, and I liked the way she got her boychik to do what she wanted him to do. By comparing him to Mrs. Rosenberg's son Arnie in a shrieking tone, or something like that. Drip...yeah, OK, but she at least made me smile, while the rest of the picture made me snooze.
It was probably funny on paper - maybe it should have just been a comedy sketch and it got stretched out too long for feature length release...drip...drip...drip...
Whatever...
Pretty darn cute If you like Mel Brooks, Monty Python, Leslie Nielson and all those guys, pick this one up. It's a like a Jewish Blazing Saddles as it messes with Hannukah, Kwanzah and CHristmas, trashing them all into the silliest holiday movie ever.
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