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Friday, September 25, 2009
Baby (Jennifer Grey) learns to soar with the help of Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze)

While it would be one of many of my nominees, this affectionate appreciation from Julie Klausner might persuade others to vote for Dirty Dancing as what the author calls "most Jewishest movie."

 In honor of the High Holidays, let Jewish and Gentile cinephiles offer their thoughts on the subject.

In the animation category): Prince of Egypt  (1998, with the voice of Ralph Fiennes as Moses) and The Rugrats Passover. In the classics category:  Counsellor at Law (1933, with John Barrymore as the attorney who suspects his wife of anti-Semitism). In the the comedy category: Annie Hall (1977, with Woody Allen and Diane Keaton) and In Her Shoes (2005, despite the fact that Shirley MacLaine is cast as a Jewish nana). In the drama category: Enemies: A Love Story (1989, with Ron Silver as the Holocaust survivor leading a triple life) or Munich (2005, with Eric Bana and Daniel Craig as an agent sof Israel's Mossad) or Defiance (2008, with Daniel Craif and Liev Schreiber as Jewish Nazi-fighters during World War II). In the musical category it's Dirty Dancing  (1987, with Jennifer Grey as the Jewess attracted to Gentile dancer Patrick Swayze) and Marjorie Morningstar (1958, Natalie Wood as the Jewess attracted to Gentile dancer Gene Kelly). Upcoming is the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man, a serious candidate for the honor.

Spike Lee once told me that he just "didn't get" Enemies and shrugged, "Maybe you just have to be Jewish." I don't know that that's true. But I was reminded of his perplexed reaction to the movie as I was walking out of (the very fine)  A Serious Man and buttonholed Gentile colleague Lou Gaul  and asked, "Is this understandable to a non-Jew?" Lou nodded, answering, "Oh, it's so Catholic." Yom tov to members of the tribe, a good weekend to everyone else ... and your nominee?

Posted by Carrie Rickey @ 4:08 PM  Permalink | 26 comments
Comments   
Posted 04:35 PM, 09/25/2009
carrierickey
Holy Babs, how could I forget "Yentl"?
Posted 04:38 PM, 09/25/2009
garyk
My favorite is probably CROSSING DELANCY.
Posted 04:52 PM, 09/25/2009
Philly Ray
I think you need to add "Avalon" to the list too. And as a (very) dark horse, "Pi".
Posted 04:52 PM, 09/25/2009
Philly Ray
I think you need to add "Avalon" to the list too. And as a (very) dark horse, "Pi".
Posted 04:55 PM, 09/25/2009
Philly Ray
Wait...what about Schindler's List and Fiddler on the Roof???
Posted 05:15 PM, 09/25/2009
ccjroberts
Pretty much anything by Woody Allen and Mel Brooks and Little Murders and Carnal Knowledge (Jules Feiffer).
Posted 05:15 PM, 09/25/2009
eaglesfillthesky
how about richard dreyfus in "the apprenticeship of duddy kravitz?" and l'shana tova to you and yours.
Posted 05:35 PM, 09/25/2009
A
Pi.
Posted 05:53 PM, 09/25/2009
rickm
A Serious Man is the most Jewish movie EVER
Posted 05:55 PM, 09/25/2009
Jame
A Stranger Among Us, Fiddler on the Roof, Portnoy's Complaint, Yentl, Gentleman's Agreement?
Posted 06:00 PM, 09/25/2009
Amy Heller
My favorite Yidflicks are Michael Roemer's THE PLOT AGAINST HARRY and Sidney Lumet's BYE BYE BRAVERMAN, but I would hate to leave out GOODBYE COLUMBUS along with Woody Allen's BANANAS and ANNIE HALL and (of course!) Mel Brooks' THE PRODUCERS.
Posted 06:05 PM, 09/25/2009
edwardcopeland
I haven't seen any of the series of Yiddish language films of the 1930s, so the answer might lie there. However, of more recent vintage I would go with "A Price Above Rubies," David Mamet's "Homicide" or, most especially, "Hester Street" with Carol Kane.
Posted 06:05 PM, 09/25/2009
edwardcopeland
I haven't seen any of the series of Yiddish language films of the 1930s, so the answer might lie there. However, of more recent vintage I would go with "A Price Above Rubies," David Mamet's "Homicide" or, most especially, "Hester Street" with Carol Kane.
Posted 06:58 PM, 09/25/2009
MikeKlein
Yentl, yes. Actually ANYTHING with Barbra.
Posted 07:18 PM, 09/25/2009
carrierickey
I've received a lot of e-mails from people who have tried to post unsuccessfully. There's a lot of love out there for "I Love You Alice B. Toklas" (1968), "Bye, Bye Braverman" (1968) and "School Ties." I can't believe I forgot "Homicide" and "Funny Girl."
About Carrie Rickey

Carrie Rickey has been The Philadelphia Inquirer’s film critic for 21 years. She has reviewed films as diverse as Water and The Waterboy, profiled celebrities from Lillian Gish to Will Smith, and reported on technological breakthroughs from the video revolution to the rise of movies on demand. Her reviews are syndicated nationwide and she is a regular contributor to Entertainment Weekly. Rickey’s essays appear in numerous anthologies, including The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll, The American Century, and the Library of America’s American Movie Critics.

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All blog items posted before May 23, 2008, can be accessed at http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/flickgrrl/.