Navigate to News section

Sandler. Stiller. Hoffman. Coming Soon to Netflix.

With so many angry aging Jewish men in one place, the new Noah Baumbach movie may as well be a morning minyan at an Upper West Side shul

by
Gabriela Geselowitz
August 18, 2017
Courtesy Netflix
Courtesy Netflix
Courtesy Netflix
Courtesy Netflix

This summer we’re bringing you daily posts from our sister site, Jewcy.com, edited by Gabriela Geselowitz. You can find more from Jewcy here.

Imagine a bunch of angry Jewish men in the same place, at the same time. Is it a daily morning minyan at a dying Conservative synagogue? Or is it a Noah Baumbach film? Yep, it’s the second one. The trailer is just out for The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected), the writer-director’s latest project, fresh off of Cannes.

From Cannes direct to your smartphone. Its destination this fall? A few select movie theaters, but mainly Netflix. The streaming service is all the rage these days; even the Coen brothers are producing a Western anthology there.

Baumbach’s film is about—and this may sound familiar for those who know his work— the dynamics and dysfunction of a family of New York intellectuals. The movie has Dustin Hoffman, Ben Stiller, and Adam Sandler, three Jewish actors with such different careers they could only possibly intersect in a Baumbach film. The former actor plays father to the two latter and an artist who never quite made it. The cast also stars Emma Thompson, and features Judd Hirsch in a supporting role.

If the casting seems unusual, remember: once a decade or so Adam Sandler makes a film in which he is “forced to act” to distract us from the fact that he also makes movies that cause Native American extras to leave the set in protest.

So for those of you who have mixed feelings of Adam Sandler: In this trailer we see Ben Stiller slap Happy Gilmore in the face. Admittedly, it’s not a great hit. The gang in this movie does not seem like a group that’s good at making punches connect. But they do sing a great little ditty about a man whose name is either Myron or Byron. It’s all very mumblecore.

Plus, Randy Newman composed the score. That guy is having a great year.

The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) hits Netflix (and some theaters) on October 13.

In the meantime, see the angst for yourself:

Gabriela Geselowitz is a writer and the former editor of Jewcy.com.