The Hebrew Hammer (2003) Reviews

• Oye vei!!

  =G=2004-11-27

  "The Hebrew Hammer", is all about Goldberg as the certified circumcised private dick title character, a Jewish combination of Shaft, Superfly, and Mike Hammer, who sets about to defeat an evil Santa Claus who has sworn to put an end to Hanukkah. A campy, silly, an occasionally outrageous slam fest, this flick takes potshots at Jews, Afro-Ams, and white gentiles as our not-so-super-hero goes after Santa armed only with a babe, big guns, and guilt trips. What the film lacks in class and production value it almost makes up for with nonstop kosher comedy of the same ilk at Scary Movie, Naked Gun, Airplane, etc. Only for those into wacky slampoons who aren't concerned with political correctness. (B-)

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• Well Executed comedy.

  shumiluvr2005-02-26

  This movie reminded me of "UnderCover Brother". Sure, this movie was rather tasteless and obviously a low budget film. It was very funny. I myself am Jewish and was able to laugh and relate to this movie. I do not know if you would enjoy it if you were of another religion, but I still recommend this movie. There were many hidden references and of course some basic Yiddish humor packaged in. It easily could have been a modern Mel Brooks movie, and if you enjoy his humor i recommend this film. Although some jokes became repetitive, and were overdone, there are many MANY funny jokes that I could laugh about. This is one of those movies you should see multiple times. I guarantee you will catch more jokes and references making each viewing funny. So overall it was a cheap lo budget comedy. But a Funny cheap low budget comedy. A rare find indeed.

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• Not Terrible, But Not Great

  kensmark2003-12-08

  The concept is good, the performances are good, but this film is too uneven to be great. Writer/director Jonathan Kesselman should've watched the much better blaxploitation parody "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!" a few times and thought harder about *why* it's a good parody. Even then, that film, too, could have been improved. When you do satire, you get the best results when you stick pretty closely to your target. The funniest moments in "The Hebrew Hammer" are those in which it really mirrors blaxploitation films. When it degenerates into really broad parody, lame social commentary, and random jokes about Jewish stereotypes, it goes downhill quickly. That's too bad, because the principle cast really does do an excellent job. The villains are weaker than the heroes -- conceptually and by performance -- but I can't really blame the actors (much as I might be tempted to blame Andy Dick) because the villains are *too* over-the-top just as they're written. Satire works as comedy because it keeps moving back and forth over the line of plausibility -- or, at least, the line of genre convention. "The Hebrew Hammer" has many good moments but, in the end, it strays too far, too often. There's about thirty minutes of really good material in there.

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• Hilarious Stuff

  jts04052009-05-29

  I am Jewish, so when I heard of this concept I felt that I had to see it. The movie was just flat out filled with laughs. The Hebrew Hammer is displayed as a cool styled Jewish private investigator. He joins with the Jewish Justice League as Damien Claus (Andy Dick) is on the verge of destroying Channukah and possibly Kwanzaa. With a pretty memorable performance from Adam Goldberg as the Hammer himself. Most of the lines become pretty memorable and even if you are Jewish and find the content too risky for your liking, you still have no choice but to laugh at the guys Star of David hood ornament as well as other things, like the Star of David spurs on his boots. The movie is definitely not for everyone. The content may offend those who celebrate Channukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and are Jewish. But even for me being a Jew, I can't help but just sit back and laugh at humor like this.

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• Jewsploitation at its best (and only)!

  kill_claudio2004-09-07

  Though it's been compared to Mel Brooks' films, the humour in the Hebrew Hammer is much broader and exploits far more stereotypes than Mel Brooks ever managed to. Some people doubtless consider this a bad thing, but in the grand tradition of politically incorrect comedy, the movie is funny regardless. Intentionally reminiscent of the Blaxploitation films of the seventies, the Hebrew Hammer is full of modern references as well as classic Jewish humour. The script is fast-paced and clever, and has some brilliant one-liners. Watch out for the bagels. Although certainly not a film for the easily-offended, those capable of looking at Jewish stereotypes and laughing at them will enjoy this movie very much. The sheer camp, though not something I usually like, works very well with this particular script and format. Don't pass it up just because it looks bad--it's supposed to look bad. That's half the point.

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