Review of Holy Rollers (2010) by Archibald T — 22 Mar 2011

Set in Brooklyn in the year 1998, A young Hasidic Jew by the name of Sam Gold is about to embark on a treacherous journey. It's one that will make him wiser.

At 20 years old, Sam has been following a traditional path among his family. He practices to become a rabbi and to be soon set on being arranged into marrying Zeldy Lazar. Their arranged meeting is an awkward one with both of them sitting on the same couch with a clearly visible gap between them. She wants 8 children and Sam thinks that's a lot. However, her family disapproves of Sam and the arranged marriage doesn't go ahead as planned.

This makes Sam befuddled. He's even restless while working for his father in the family business. A friend of Sam's who lives next door, Leon, has a brother named Yosef. Yosef manipulates Sam into thinking that he could score some extra cash by transporting "medicine" to an Israel dealer named Jackie. Sam brings Yosef's brother, Leon, along for they are sent to Amsterdam to collect the stuff. All goes smoothly because who would suspect a couple of Jews to be smuggling drugs?

Leon, however, doesn't like this kind of work and immediately taps out. Sam is intrigued by it and sees Yosef as a capable guy with his head on his shoulders. A charming individual who can be trusted except Sam is unaware of the fact that Yosef is just a typical drug dealer. It blinds him even when he discovers the truth at a nightclub that the medicine is really ecstasy.

Sam sees a golden opportunity with this ecstasy and runs with it. You have to remember, as well, that he's young and is slowly coming into age especially when the bosses girlfriend Rachel starts to come onto him. Rachel and Sam share the same religion. She dropped out of Hebrew school and is now a lost diamond in the rough devoted to her dealer boyfriend. She represents much of the coming of age part to this film. So does Yosef. He contributes to Sam's journey by basically showing him a world that could be perfect if it wasn't so damn tough to get by.

My favorite scene is with Yosef and Sam as they sprint across the Brooklyn Bridge while high on Ecstasy. It's set to some really beautiful ambient music and left a big grin on my face when I saw it. It was really nice.

Like all movies that deal with smuggling drugs you, of course, see the downfall of it. Sam is kicked out of his home for taking part in such a immoral thing. His best friend marries Zeldy. Yosef is slowly revealing himself to be what Sam didn't think he really was and Sam is stuck wondering what he's gotten himself into. All are arrested and put in jail, but all is forgiven between Sam and his father in the end.

What I really liked about this movie was how tucked away it felt. It never got too personal or too close. The crossing of the genres: Coming of Age Tale meets a film about drug smuggling was a really nice touch. Kevin Asch, the director, doesn't overly sensationalize the story. So don't expect this film to be 'Blow'. It's more like 'Maria Full of Grace' with Jews.