Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger (2008)

A coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old girl trying to fit into both a posh private school and an ordinary public school.

Director:

Cathy Randall

Writer:

Cathy Randall

Stars:

Danielle Catanzariti, Cassandra Jinman, Talia Monaghan

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Danielle Catanzariti	...	Esther Blueburger
Cassandra Jinman	...	The Slug
Talia Monaghan	...	Ribbon 1 / Missy
Yen Yen Stender	...	Ribbon 2 / Lissy
Laura Kettle	...	Ribbon 3 / Demi
Lucy Carey	...	Ribbon 4 / Sienna
Tisha Adey	...	Ribbon 5 / Prudence
Leticia Monaghan	...	Prefect / Cynthia
Christian Byers	...	Jacob Blueburger
Keisha Castle-Hughes	...	Sunni
Essie Davis	...	Grace Blueburger
Edwin Hodgeman	...	Rabbi
Russell Dykstra	...	Osmond Blueburger
Vanessa Downing	...	Music Teacher
Poh Ling Yeow	...	Sales Assistant

Storyline

This film is a smart, rueful and dead-on portrait of life's unending quest to fit in; and the girl who solves it by completely breaking out - introduces a feisty outsider hero unlike any other seen on screen. Esther Blueburger's quest begins when she escapes from her Bat Mitzvah party and is befriended by Sunni.., the effortlessly cool girl who is everything Esther thinks she wants to be. With the help of Sunni, Esther goes away from her ordinary life and leaves behind her malfunctioning Jewish family to hang out with Sunni's far breezier and super-hip single mom Mary and attend Sunni's forbidden public school as a Swedish exchange student.

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Plot Keywords:

deception | schoolteacher | pretend | rite of passage | storytelling | 

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Taglines:

A hilarious coming of age comedy

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language, some sexual content and brief teen smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the set, actress Danielle Catanzariti was nicknamed "Audrey" after Audrey Hepburn for her irrepressible spirit and professionalism. This combo of qualities especially impressed Danielle's Academy Award-nominated co-star Toni Collette, who said: "While we were shooting, she broke my heart with her honesty and she also made me laugh. I think she is a really incredible and strong individual. For someone so young, she is very clear about who she is, but not in a contrived way. I really liked her a lot."

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Goofs

When Jacob and Esther are pretending to be their parents at the dining table and Jacob slides the salt and pepper towards Esther, in the next shot the salt and pepper are seen passing each other going in different directions.

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Quotes

Rabbi: [Practice chanting in Hebrew for the Bat Mitvah]
Esther Blueburger, Jacob Blueburger: [Mimicking Hebrew] Bumfuck, vagina schmuck.
[Continue mimicking]
Rabbi: [Chanting in Hebrew]
Esther Blueburger, Jacob Blueburger: [Mimicking Hebrew] Asshole...
Rabbi: [Corrects the Hebrew word]
Esther Blueburger, Jacob Blueburger: [Continue mimicking Hebrew] ... Sodomy.
Rabbi: [Shocked reaction]

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Connections

Featured in Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger: Behind the Scenes Featurette (2008)

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Soundtracks

The Clapping Song
Written by I. Chase
Performed by Operator Please

User Reviews

amazing

This movie was brilliant! I think what deterred some of the other reviewers here was that they thought it was a children's movie. While it does have 13 year-old girls as the centre characters, trying to fit in and grow up in and out of their school lives, it is definitely not for children.

Believe it or not, I found peculiar things like social-economics to be key parts, as the difference between Sunni and Esther is never looked at directly, but determines Sunni's character and her upset with Esther. It also looks at different types of friendships, family religion and the way we lash out at people for trivial things like *we* having hurt *them*.

I didn't realise it was one of those movies that you either love or hate, but perhaps it is. A must-see, though if you're expecting a light-hearted comedy simply about fitting in, you'll be surprised - it goes into so much more depth than that

Details

Official Sites:

Lightning Entertainment [United States] Monterey Media Inc

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 March 2008 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger

Filming Locations:

Memorial Hall, St Peter's College, Hackney, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD6,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$780,730

Company Credits

Production Co:

120dB Films, EB Productions, Tama Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1