''Holy Matrimony'' is a 1994 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...

and starring

Patricia Arquette Patricia Tiffany Arquette (born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987). Her other notable films include '' True Romance'' (1993), ''Ed W ...

and

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...

. The film tells the story of a beautiful thief, hiding in a small, isolated

Hutterite Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century ...

community, who marries a young boy in order to retrieve a hidden fortune following the death of her boyfriend, who was also the older brother of her current husband. It was the final feature film directed by Nimoy.

Plot

A young couple, Havana and Peter, robs a county fair of its daily receipts and escapes to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to hide out in the

community where Peter was raised. While there, they marry to satisfy the conservative elders in the community. Peter hides their loot but then is killed in a car wreck. His much younger brother Zeke is called upon to replace his brother and marry Havana in a levirate marriage. Zeke already hates Havana because he believes that she influences his elder brother's behavior. She begins looking through everything that was Peter's, and Zeke rightly deduces that Peter hid something from her. He finds the money, along with a newspaper article that mentions Peter as the prime suspect in the robbery. Zeke initially uses the cash to trick his bride into doing housework. Later he shows it to the elders, who deem that it should be returned to its rightful owners. Zeke and Havana (who claims innocence of the source of the money) are sent on a quest back to the US to return the money. During this quest, the two eventually forget their initial animosity and grow protective of each other. When Havana kisses him goodbye, Zeke promises to return and give her a real kiss when he is older.

Cast

as Betsy "Havana" Iggins *

as Ezekiel "Zeke" Jacobson *

Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role i ...

as Wilhelm Jacobson *

Tate Donovan Tate Buckley Donovan (born September 25, 1963) is an American actor, comedian and television director. He is known for portraying Tom Shayes in ''Damages'', Jimmy Cooper in '' The O.C.'', and the voice of the title character in the 1997 Disney ...

as Peter Jacobson *

John Schuck Conrad John Schuck Jr. (born February 4, 1940) is an American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for his role as Sgt. Charles Enright in the 1970s crime drama ''McMillan & Wife''. He also played Herman Munster in the late-1980s ...

as Markowski *

Lois Smith Lois Arlene Smith (née Humbert; born November 3, 1930) is an American character actress whose career spans eight decades. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film ''East of Eden (film), East of Eden'', and later played supporting roles i ...

as Orna Jacobson * Courtney B. Vance as Cooper *

Jeffrey Nordling Jeffrey Richard Nordling (born March 11, 1962) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jake Manning in ''Once and Again'', Larry Moss in '' 24'', Nick Bolen in ''Desperate Housewives'', and Gordon Klein in '' Big Little Lies'', as wel ...

as Link *

Richard Riehle Richard Riehle (born May 12, 1948) is an American character actor. He portrayed Walt Finnerty on ''Grounded for Life'' (2001–2005) and The Warden on ''The Young and the Restless'' (2007). He also appeared in over 200 films, including '' Glory' ...

as Greeson *

Mary Pat Gleason Mary Pat Gleason (February 23, 1950 – June 2, 2020) was an American film and television actress and an Emmy Award-winning writer. From 1983 to 1985, she appeared as "Jane Hogan" on the daytime soap opera '' Guiding Light'', for which she was a ...

as Female Officer *Alaine Byrne as Bar Woman *Dan Cossolini as Bartender *

Lori Alan Lori Alan (born July 18, 1966) is an American actress and voice actress. She has played a long-running role as Pearl Krabs on the animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. She also voiced Diane Simmons on ''Family Guy'', the Invisible ...

as Cleopatra *Jess Schwidde as Samuel *

Franz Novak Franz Novak (10 January 1913 – 21 October 1983Berndt Rieger: ''Der Fahrdienstleiter des Todes. Franz Novak, der transportexperte Eichmanns. Eine Biographie'', Norderstedt 2001, S.127f) was an Austrian SS-''Hauptsturmführer'' (captain). He w ...

as Teacher

Reception

''Holy Matrimony'' received negative reviews from critics and was a box office failure, grossing just a little over $715,000 in its limited release. The authors Rod Janzen and Max Stanton stated in their book ''The Hutterites in North America'': "The film ..provides a very inaccurate portrait of Hutterites". For example, levirate marriage does not exist among Hutterites. People have to dress in a moderate way, when they are at a Hutterite colony. It's only possible for baptized members of the Hutterite community to marry at a colony.

Year-end lists

*7th worst – Sean P. Means, '' The Salt Lake Tribune'' * Worst films (not ranked) – Jeff Simon, ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

References

External links

* * * {{Leonard Nimoy 1994 films 1990s buddy comedy films 1990s comedy road movies American buddy comedy films American comedy road movies Anabaptism in popular culture 1990s chase films Films about dysfunctional families Films about human rights Films about religion Films about weddings Films directed by Leonard Nimoy Hollywood Pictures films Hutterites in Canada Interscope Communications films PolyGram Filmed Entertainment films Films with screenplays by Douglas S. Cook Films with screenplays by David Weisberg Films scored by Bruce Broughton 1994 comedy films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films