During the festive Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, few media seems to even be out there in the first place. That being said, one notable piece of entertainment is the comedic take on blaxploitation films of the 70s albeit with a Jewish twist, The Hebrew Hammer. Released in 2003 to Comedy Central, the film has fallen somewhat into cult obscurity as an odd parody of a specific genre in retro modern filmmaking, only the lead is a Hebrew man's take on Shaft and the work of Melvin Van Peebles. Nowadays, while it definitely has its strengths in the humor department, perhaps that might also be its ultimate weakness.
The plot follows Mordechai Jefferson Carver (Adam Goldberg), a Jewish blaxploitation crime fighter known professionally as the Hebrew Hammer. His mission in the film is to save Hanukkah from Santa Claus's evil son Damien (Andy Dick), who plans to destroy Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and make everyone celebrate Christmas. Just like the general tone of the feature, the premise is quite silly albeit controversial to anyone assuming that Christmas is celebrated by antisemites. That being said, the humor in the film is reliant on exaggerating Jewish people and pretty much anyone else celebrating Christmas, especially when Mordechai's persona is derived from being hated for his religion. When the film is funny, it can be relatable to the Jewish people and hysterical to those who are still fans of the genre it's spoofing. When it's not funny, it gets obvious how tired a lot of its steam can get and much of the comedy feels offensive for offensive sake. It doesn't help when the comedic slams on Shaft feel overplayed by the same Jewish comedic banter anyone has heard over and over again.
As for the whole Christmas subtext, the film seems to blend a genuine social commentary on the Jewish and Christian people coming together and seeing the brainwashing of the aforementioned Damien. As menacing as this character sounds on paper and as much as Dick hams up his performance to rev up the stakes, we're not spent as much time to truly feel his wrath other than him wanting to take over the holidays out of ignorant prejudice. Considering how nearly everyone in the feature is already somewhat of a stereotype, including Hammer's mother and black crime fighting partner Mohammed Ali Paula Abdul Rahim, Damien blends in a bit too well albeit in the generic bad guy take over the world persona. It's totally fine for a comedy film to at least attempt serious drama and action, but when nearly every scene is played for laughs, it becomes a bit hard to take anything seriously, something that the best spoof cinema filmmakers knew about to blend the comedy and pathos. Then again, perhaps too much can be expected from the one and only savior of Hanukkah.
For all of its hit or miss comedy and overwhelming abundance of silliness, The Hebrew Hammer is a well-intentioned parody of exploitation crime fighting cinema that we don't see much of anymore, let alone from a Kosher perspective. I would say check this film out if you're curious enough to see what it has to offer as a whole, especially when there are so few features out there that tackle anything related to Hanukkah in general. As this is the season for peace on Earth, perhaps a little levity through stupid comedy and Hebrew antics can spice things up for the holidays prior to the new year.
The plot follows Mordechai Jefferson Carver (Adam Goldberg), a Jewish blaxploitation crime fighter known professionally as the Hebrew Hammer. His mission in the film is to save Hanukkah from Santa Claus's evil son Damien (Andy Dick), who plans to destroy Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and make everyone celebrate Christmas. Just like the general tone of the feature, the premise is quite silly albeit controversial to anyone assuming that Christmas is celebrated by antisemites. That being said, the humor in the film is reliant on exaggerating Jewish people and pretty much anyone else celebrating Christmas, especially when Mordechai's persona is derived from being hated for his religion. When the film is funny, it can be relatable to the Jewish people and hysterical to those who are still fans of the genre it's spoofing. When it's not funny, it gets obvious how tired a lot of its steam can get and much of the comedy feels offensive for offensive sake. It doesn't help when the comedic slams on Shaft feel overplayed by the same Jewish comedic banter anyone has heard over and over again.
As for the whole Christmas subtext, the film seems to blend a genuine social commentary on the Jewish and Christian people coming together and seeing the brainwashing of the aforementioned Damien. As menacing as this character sounds on paper and as much as Dick hams up his performance to rev up the stakes, we're not spent as much time to truly feel his wrath other than him wanting to take over the holidays out of ignorant prejudice. Considering how nearly everyone in the feature is already somewhat of a stereotype, including Hammer's mother and black crime fighting partner Mohammed Ali Paula Abdul Rahim, Damien blends in a bit too well albeit in the generic bad guy take over the world persona. It's totally fine for a comedy film to at least attempt serious drama and action, but when nearly every scene is played for laughs, it becomes a bit hard to take anything seriously, something that the best spoof cinema filmmakers knew about to blend the comedy and pathos. Then again, perhaps too much can be expected from the one and only savior of Hanukkah.
For all of its hit or miss comedy and overwhelming abundance of silliness, The Hebrew Hammer is a well-intentioned parody of exploitation crime fighting cinema that we don't see much of anymore, let alone from a Kosher perspective. I would say check this film out if you're curious enough to see what it has to offer as a whole, especially when there are so few features out there that tackle anything related to Hanukkah in general. As this is the season for peace on Earth, perhaps a little levity through stupid comedy and Hebrew antics can spice things up for the holidays prior to the new year.