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Jeremy Piven, Jami Gertz, Garry Marshall, Daryl Hannah, Daryl Sabara ... see more see more... , Doris Roberts , Larry Miller , Cheryl Hines , Richard Benjamin

The competition heats up as a young man on the cusp of adulthood in Brentwood, CA, prepares for his upcoming bar mitzvah, and his father strives to outdo the gargantuan coming-of-age bash recently thr... read more read more...own by his number-one nemesis, in a madcap tale of Hebrew rivalry from actor-turned-director Scott Marshall. Benjamin Fiedler (Daryl Sabara) is about to become a man, though the prospect of reciting a language he doesn't even really know in front of a temple full of strangers is so daunting that it makes him wish he could just stay a boy and write the whole thing off. As if his personal peccadilloes weren't enough to rack Benjamin's nerves, his father, Adam (Jeremy Piven), and mother, Joanne (Jami Gertz), are determined to send Benjamin into the adult world in true style. Recently, Adam's rival agent, Arnie Stein (Larry Miller), threw down the gauntlet for his own son's bar mitzvah by hosting a no-holds-barred bash that made New Year's Eve in Times Square look like cake-and-coffee day at the retirement community, and ultra-competitive Adam is determined to prove that he can top that now-legendary party. When Adam's aging, hippy-dippy father, Irwin (Garry Marshall), rolls into town in a broken-down RV with his dizzy young girlfriend, Sandy (Daryl Hannah), however, it appears as if all of his plans to out-class Arnie Stein may have been for naught. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

33% liked it

89,834 ratings

Critics

37% liked it

82 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Scott Marshall

Release Date: May 12, 2006

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DVD Release Date: October 31, 2006

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Stats: 1,306 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (1,306)

  • erika250
    July 14, 2011
    erika250
    Keeping Up with the Steins is about trip to his bar mitzvah party with his dysfunctional family in one house.
    Good plot and good acting most of the time
    Its kind of a cult, spoof and comedy mix into to one. This film is making fun of how too many Jewish families see a bar mitzva... read moreh or bat mitzvah not as a coming of age for their son or daughter, but rather as an excuse to throw outrageously lavish parties. It had one good song at the very end.
    Cons
    Lacking acting sometimes
    Lacking good music some times.
    Weird
  • jjnxn
    April 3, 2007
    jjnxn
    much better then expected
  • wbgoose13
    November 7, 2006
    wbgoose13
    Resoundingly artificial and rarely amusing.
  • fb25827189
    March 22, 2012
    fb25827189
    Not bad. Pretty forgettable movie though.
  • SunilJawahir
    March 18, 2009
    SunilJawahir
    Maybe a bit repetitive but it's funny and pretty interesting.
  • StaisilD
    April 17, 2008
    StaisilD
    The idea of young boy arriving at the age where he is considered a man is celebrated traditionally by Jews. In this age of consumerism, most 13 year old boys are given lavish feasts in which expense seems to be no object by parents that have the means to do so. The feasts evident... read morely must have a theme. When we first meet the people in this mildly funny movie, they are in the middle of a bar mitzvah with a Titanic theme. We watch as the young boy arrives in a replica of a ship posing as Leonardo DeCaprio and even colliding with an iceberg. This party cost about half a million dollars to Arnie Stein, a Hollywood type that can well afford it. As Benjamin's own bar mitzvah approaches, his parents, Adam and Joanne Fiedler must make a decision about how big a party they want, and what theme will their son choose. Benjamin, who appears more grounded than his Hollywood agent's father, only wants to have his paternal grandfather, a person he has never met, at the party. Benjamin plays a trick by sending Irwin Fidler an invitation with a date of two weeks before the actual event. Little prepares him for the character his grandfather turns out to be. Irwin, who left his family when Adam at a young age, comes to town with his New Age-type girlfriend, who goes by the name of Saved Feather, to stay at his son's mansion. This brings back bad emotions Adam has kept bottled inside him. He can't forgive his father for what he, and his mother Rose, had to endure. The old man is a changed man and his love for his newly found family serves to get Adam's forgiveness. Garry Marshall steals the show with his Irwin. Mr. Marshall knows comedy well and knows what buttons to press to put the audience in his pockets. Doris Roberts is tremendously appealing as Rose, the wife that has had to endure a lot after Irwin left her. Jeremy Piven and Jamie Gertz are perfect as the parents facing a dilemma about to go broke in order to keep up with the Steins. Daryl Sabara is an excellent actor who shows he knows what he is doing. Daryl Hannah has some good moments as the evolved New Ager. Larry Miller and Richard Benjamin are seen in supporting roles. Basically, there was no cussing, sex, or violence to mar this nice piece of family entertainment.
  • kaijawitch
    October 3, 2007
    kaijawitch
    Cute, but that's it.. at least from my perspective as a very NOT Jewish Pagan.. The acting was mostly great.. (not my favorite Daryl Hannah role, although I did think the character was interesting) Garry Marshall was.. well.. come on.. he's Garry Marshall..

    This one is wor... read moreth a watch.. but I wouldn't run out and buy it right away..
  • smileyea
    August 20, 2007
    smileyea
    Some funny parts but for the most part poorly put together. It just seemed like some one turned the camera one and said action. Total cinematic chaos.
  • thecrow8
    July 19, 2007
    thecrow8
    This was an ok family movie. It had it's funny moments, but it also has it's slow moments. It's basically about a kid who wants to get his dad off his back, so he invites his grandfather to come and stay with them and tries to make them get along. I can't say this is a must watch... read more movie, but if you like family dramas, you might like this.
  • jeffriguez
    June 27, 2007
    jeffriguez
    Depending on your point of view, this is either a simple, safe, sitcom-stereotypical family comedy or a passive-aggressive, inadvertantly anti-Semitic come-laugh-at-the-Jews cartoon. Either way, it ain't kosher. (Oy!) Don't let the box art fool you; the prominently featured (and ... read morealways reliable) Larry Miller doesn't play a very large role in the story, and Jeremy Piven, an actor of considerable charisma with the right material, carries the burden of making the mawkish plot palatable. Unfortunately, he can't, as the movie employs every cultural stereotype since Shylock demanded his pound of flesh. The difference is -- get ready for it! -- that these cliches are used in the service of comedy! Well, sonuvabitch, what a concept. That's not to say "Keeping Up" is totally devoid of charm; there are a few chuckles to be found amid the pandering. But the movie's saving grace is a career-best performance by Garry Marshall (granted, that isn't saying much) as the erstwhile patriarch-turned-hippie. Marshall manages to take a one-dimensional character and transform him into something that transcends the movie's cardboard ideas; he exudes real warmth, instead of pinning that obligatory heart to his sleeve.

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Critic Reviews

Roger Moore
June 9, 2006
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

It's not meant to be uproarious. But even as comfort food, Steins can't keep up. Full Review

Michael Booth
June 9, 2006
Michael Booth, Denver Post

By the time the Fiedlers are getting serious about their arguments and their hugs, we've grown to like them. Full Review

Amy Biancolli
June 2, 2006
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

A winningly sincere and warmly humorous film about an ancient Jewish milestone in the time of Martha Stewart. Full Review

Colin Covert
June 1, 2006
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's not the kind of comedy that makes you laugh till your face hurts, but it'll give your smile muscles a good workout. Full Review

Peter Howell
May 26, 2006
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

Had Scott Marshall and screenwriter Mark Zakarin honed their knives sharper, they could have made genuine mirth out of this. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
May 26, 2006
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

The tribute to an aging parent is moving and gives this routine comedy an extra something. Full Review

Rick Groen
May 26, 2006
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

Shooting a comedy, like telling a joke, demands a sense of rhythm, and Scott is no dancer -- he keeps tripping against the grain of the humour. Full Review

Tom Long
May 26, 2006
Tom Long, Detroit News

The specificity of the indulged lives in this film is delivered so ineptly that it seems as if rich kids have been shooting home movies in their own back yards. Which may be the case. Full Review

Terry Lawson
May 26, 2006
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

We get the distinct feeling this film has been made by people who don't really want to offend their friends, who would rather spend a million dollars impressing others as opposed to throwing it away o... Full Review

Ty Burr
May 26, 2006
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Warm, witty, and sitcom-obvious -- a genuine audience pleaser that's built to wring laughs of pained recognition from anyone who has survived a bar mitzvah as either a participant or an observer. Full Review

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