The Hebrew Hammer (2003)

Director:

Jonathan Kesselman

Writer:

Jonathan Kesselman (writer)

Release Date:

25 March 2004 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Part man. Part street. 100% kosher.

Plot:

An orthodox Jewish blaxploitation hero saves Hanukkah from the clutches of Santa Claus's evil son.

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Hanukkah | Kwanzaa | Blaxploitation | Spit In The Face

Cast

Adam Goldberg	...	Mordechai Jefferson Carver
Judy Greer	...	Esther Bloomenbergensteinenthal
Andy Dick	...	Damian Claus
Mario Van Peebles	...	Mohammed Ali Paula Abdul Rahim
Peter Coyote	...	JJL Chief Bloomenbergensteinenthal
Nora Dunn	...	Mrs. Carver
Sean Whalen	...	Tiny Tim
Tony Cox	...	Jamal
Richard Riehle	...	Santa
Melvin Van Peebles	...	Sweetback
Rachel Dratch	...	Tikva
Harrison Chad	...	Schlomo
Jim Petersmith	...	Skinhead Bartender
Annie McEnroe	...	Mrs. Highsmith
Grant Rosenmeyer	...	Young Mordechai
Elaine Hendrix	...	Blonde Bombshell
Ayelet Ben-Hur	...	Israeli Rental Agent
Alex Corrado	...	Tony
Brad Duck	...	Jimmy
Jason Fuchs	...	Adolescent Hasidic Boy
Ed Koch	...	Himself
Gary Pratt	...	Head Elf
Woodrow W. Asai	...	Mun Chi (as Woodrow Asai)
Daryl Wein	...	Teenage Gentile
Michael Mylett	...	Gentile Boy No. 1 (as Michael J. Mylett)
T.J. Sullivan	...	Gentile Boy No. 2
Audrey Twitchell	...	Gentile Girl No. 1
Alexa Eisenstein	...	Gentile Girl No. 2
Evelyn Page	...	Old Woman
George Hosmer	...	Chairman of the Jewish Worldwide Media Conspiracy
Ronald Schultz	...	ADL Chairman
Leslie Shenkel	...	JDL Member No. 1
Alan Nebelthau	...	JDL Member No. 2
Jerome F. Richards	...	Council Elder (as Jerome Richards)
C.P. Lacey	...	Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. / MC Hammer
Ephraim Benton	...	Black Teen
David Lee	...	White Accountant
Adam Rose	...	Addict Jewish Child
Devin Rene Burns	...	Blonde Gentile Girl
Jimmy Walsh	...	Freckle-Faced Gentile
Chris McGinn	...	Samples Woman
Kathryn Gordon	...	Bambi
Anna Berger	...	Harriet Tubbleman
Ivan Sandro	...	Carnival Worker
Jeff Marlow	...	Joshua (as Jeff Marlowe)
Ronald Shore	...	Bandleader
Tom Chalmers	...	Chaim Feygele
David Steinberg	...	Elf Flunky (as David Joseph Steinberg)
Mylika Davis	...	Sassy Black Prostitute
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Liana Reda Leahy	...	Jewish American Princess
John Jay Buol	...	Skinhead (uncredited)
Scott Corr	...	Skinhead (uncredited)
Michael Adrienne O'Hagan	...	Miriam (uncredited)
Isen Robbins	...	Dance Partner 1 (uncredited)
David C. Roehm Sr.	...	Skinhead Barfly (uncredited)
Lorin Shapiro	...	Jewish American Princess (uncredited)
Dariusz M. Uczkowski	...	Hasidic boy / Kmart Shopper (uncredited)
Jan Uczkowski	...	Kmart Shopper (uncredited)
Sarah Wagner-Roehm	...	Kid Visiting Santa (uncredited)

Directed by
Jonathan Kesselman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jonathan Kesselman		writer

Produced by
Lisa Fragner	....	producer
Josh Kesselman	....	producer
Edward R. Pressman	....	executive producer
Isen Robbins	....	associate producer
John Schmidt	....	executive producer
Aimee Schoof	....	associate producer
Sofia Sondervan	....	producer

Original Music by
Michael Cohen

Cinematography by
Kurt Brabbee

Film Editing by
Dean Holland

Casting by
Valerie McCaffrey

Production Design by
Cabot McMullen

Art Direction by
David Ellis

Set Decoration by
Shane Klein

Costume Design by
Alysia Raycraft

Makeup Department
Loretta Alston	....	key hair stylist
Persefone Karakosta	....	key makeup artist
Theodora Katsoulogiannakis	....	additional hair stylist
T'rah Veal	....	assistant hair stylist

Production Management
Douglas Salkin	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel Elefante	....	second second assistant director
Bruce Wayne Gillies	....	second unit director
Urs Hirschbiegel	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Leni Calas	....	property master
William Depaolo	....	propmaker
Jacob Gitzis	....	product placement
Gavin A. Holmes	....	construction coordinator
Cosmo Inserra	....	art production assistant
Zairi Malcolm	....	assistant property master
Ramsey Mellette	....	storyboard artist
Stacey Mellus	....	graphic designer
Jim Mickle	....	storyboard artist
Adam Mock	....	art production assistant
James Pesce	....	leadman
Nyna Sargent	....	set dresser
Erik Steiner	....	art department coordinator
Joanna M. Wright	....	property master

Sound Department
Doug Andham	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Doug Andorka)
Brian Arbuckle	....	sound mixer
Patrick Giraudi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Seth Granger	....	boom operator
Lisa Hannan	....	sound effects editor
Lou Kleinman	....	supervising sound editor
Theresa Radka	....	production sound mixer
Reuben Simon	....	sound effects editor
Jussi Tegelman	....	sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Drew Jiritano	....	special effects supervisor
Neil Ruddy	....	special effects
Nick Schiavo	....	special effects assistant

Visual Effects by
Jim Aupperle	....	digital lighting
Everett Burrell	....	digital artist
Kevin Struckman	....	compositing supervisor
Mark Tamny	....	compositor
William L. Arance	....	digital artist (uncredited)

Stunts
Joseph Barry	....	stunt elf
Sammy Brullo	....	stunts
Cort Hessler	....	stunt double

Camera and Electrical Department
Dan Keane	....	key grip
April Lanci-Leseur	....	assistant camera (as April Lanci)
Marcus Lehmann	....	electrician
Paul McCluskey	....	third grip
Alan McIntyre Smith	....	gaffer (as Alan Smith)
Jessica Miglio	....	still photographer
Andrew Parke	....	director of photography: second unit
Michael P. Prisco Jr.	....	gaffer: rigging crew
Ian Woolston-Smith	....	Steadicam operator
Hiroo Takaoka	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Kristen Paladino	....	additional casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kairo Courts	....	wardrobe intern (as Kairo Carter)
Eden Miller	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Randy L. Anderson	....	color timer
Dave Boyd	....	first assistant editor
Justin Downing	....	second assistant editor
David Kuther	....	promo editor

Music Department
Andy Hill	....	music supervisor
Wayne Scott Joness	....	music editor
Bashir Salahuddin	....	title song vocalist

Other crew
Calvin Alden	....	production assistant
Maxwell Barrett	....	location scout
Massoumeh Emami	....	script supervisor
Rebecca Ewing	....	office/set production assistant
Ben Feldman	....	production legal services
Peter Goldberg	....	key set production assistant
John Kalning	....	researcher
Brendan MacDevette	....	production assistant
Susan T. Parsons	....	script supervisor
Michelle Phillips	....	collaborating designer
Michele Proyect	....	production coordinator
Patrick Russell	....	assistant: Sofia Sondervan

Thanks
Steven C. Beer	....	special thanks
Brian Bell	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Intrinsic Value Films (in association)
• Comedy Central Films
• ContentFilm
• Jericho Entertainment

Distributors

• Comedy Central Films
• Comedy Central (USA) (TV)
• ContentFilm International (2003) (worldwide) (all media) (sales agency)
• ContentFilm
• Imagine Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Strand Releasing (USA)

Other Companies

• Jeremy Walker + Associates  publicity

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexual references and drug use

Runtime:

85 min | Argentina:87 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew | Yiddish

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:Unrated | USA:R | Australia:M | Argentina:13

Company:

Intrinsic Value Films

Trivia:

The movie was shown at the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente on April 16th, 2005 (among other dates). The director was present at the show and answered questions after the presentation. He mentioned that he had sort of an actor's top-five in mind when he was about to make the movie, and besides Adam Goldberg, his other options were Adam Sandler, David Schwimmer, and Ben Stiller.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the Jewish children are heard singing "Silent Night", their mouths are not in sync at all with the music

Quotes:

Mordechai Jefferson Carver:Wait, wait hold on a sec. I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice. I'm now going to resort to the most dangerous, deadly weapon in the Jewish arsenal.
[briefly meditates, then continues in a nasal voice]
Mordechai Jefferson Carver:What, I shlep all the way up here for this? I come all the way to the North Pole to fight you; you don't put out anything to nosh on?
Damian Claus:You're hungry?
Mordechai Jefferson Carver:I mean, seriously, what kind of arch-nemesis are you?
Damian Claus:Sorry, I wasn't thinking I guess. Oh! Oh, no, you don't! You're not going to pull Jewish-guilt crap on me, I'm a lot stronger than that, Mordechai.
Mordechai Jefferson Carver:Okay, forget it. Never mind.
Damian Claus:What?
Mordechai Jefferson Carver:No, nothing.
Mordechai Jefferson Carver:Tell me, what?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Seven Year Itch (1955)

Well Executed comedy.

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.