Review: When Do We Eat? (C)

When Do We Eat? (2005)
Directed by Salvador Litvak
Starring Michael Lerner, Ben Feldman, Jack Klugman, Lesley Ann Warren & Shiri Appleby
MPAA: R
Grade: C

Review by Scott Standish

I'm an agnostic (with Taoist leanings) so I'm probably not the best person to review a religious comedy. Or maybe I'm the perfect person. Not exactly sure. But regardless of the religious affiliation, I think a comedy has to bring the laughs. That's for sure.

When Do We Eat, a comedy about a family's wacky Passover, is a well intentioned little comedy that dares to be original. Religious comedies are tough to pull off. This one tells the story of a fairly dysfunctional family (aren't they all, these days?) that comes together for what the father (played by acting vet Michael Lerner) likes to call the word's fastest Seder. The mother (played by Lesley Ann Warren) has gone all out to make this the perfect Seder, but everything goes horribly wrong. The children don't get along, and one of the kids thought it wise to dose the father with ecstasy laced with acid. Interesting premise, but in the end, When Do We Eat didn't bring a ton of laughs to the table.

When Do We Eat is similar to My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Jodie Foster's highly underrated Home For The Holidays in tone and spirit. The big laughs are supposed to come because what is intentioned as the "fastest Seder of all time" turns into a long dragged out evening. I felt as though this carried into the experience of watching the film. It seemed to just spin it's gears and while some of the jokes were on target, not enough of the punches landed for this to be a knockout.