''Jewtopia'' is a 2012 independent comedy film, an adaptation of a long-running

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

. The film is directed by

Bryan Fogel Bryan Fogel is an American film director, producer, author, playwright, speaker and human rights activist, best known for the 2017 documentary ''Icarus,'' which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 90th Academy Awards in 2018 ...

and written by Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson. It stars

Jennifer Love Hewitt Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel series ''Kids I ...

Ivan Sergei Ivan Sergei Gaudio (; born May 7, 1971) is an American actor known for his work in television. His best known roles are Dr. Peter Winslow in ''Crossing Jordan'' and Henry Mitchell in ''Charmed''. Life Ivan Sergei Gaudio was born in Hawthorne, N ...

Joel David Moore Joel David Moore (born September 25, 1977) is an American character actor and director. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Moore studied acting in college before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. His first major role was as Owen ...

, and

Nicollette Sheridan Nicollette Sheridan (born 21 November 1963) is an English-born American actress. She began her career as a fashion model before landing a role in the short-lived ABC primetime soap opera ''Paper Dolls'' in 1984, as well as starring in the roman ...

Plot

Christian O’Connell has met the girl of his dreams in Allison Marx. Unfortunately, Christian told Allison (who happens to be a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

’s daughter) that his name was Avi Rosenberg, and that he was

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

—neither of which is true. Desperate to keep up the illusion, he turns to his childhood best friend, Adam Lipschitz, to teach him how to "act Jewish", but Adam has problems of his own, with a fiancée pushing him closer to a mental breakdown as their wedding approaches. With the best intentions, Adam and Christian attempt to help each other out, but things quickly get out of hand.

Cast

as Allison Marks *

as Christian O'Connell *

as Adam Lipschitz *

Wendie Malick Wendie Malick (born December 13, 1950) is an American actress and former fashion model, known for her roles in various television comedies. She starred as Judith Tupper Stone in the HBO sitcom '' Dream On'', and as Nina Van Horn in the NBC sitc ...

as Marci Marks *

Crystal Reed Crystal Marie Reed (born February 6, 1985) is an American actress. She came to prominence for playing Allison Argent in the series ''Teen Wolf'' (2011–2014). She departed the series after the third season but made a guest appearance in the fif ...

as Rebecca Ogin *

Peter Stormare Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm (born August 27, 1953), better known as Peter Stormare (), is a Swedish actor who holds both Swedish and American citizenship. He played Gaear Grimsrud in the film '' Fargo'' (1996) and John Abruzzi in the television ser ...

as Buck O'Connell *

as Betsy O'Connell *

Lin Shaye Linda Shaye (born October 12, 1943) is an American film, television, and theater actress. In a career spanning over forty years, she has appeared in more than a hundred feature films. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Elise Rain ...

as Dr. Sutton *

Rita Wilson Rita Wilson (born Margarita Ibrahimoff; October 26, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include ''Volunteers'' (1985), ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993), '' Now and Then'' (1995), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ...

as Arlene Lipschitz *

Sharon Wilkins Sharon Wilkins is an American actress. Wilkins is from Newburgh, New York, and makes her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York. She has had a number of roles on Broadway and in film and does some commercial wor ...

as Nurse Boo *

Jamie-Lynn Sigler Jamie-Lynn Sigler (born May 15, 1981) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the HBO series ''The Sopranos''. Early life Jamie-Lynn Sigler was born in Jericho, New York, on May 15, 1981, the daughter of Ste ...

as Hannah Daniels *

Camryn Manheim Debra Frances "Camryn" Manheim (born March 8, 1961) is an American actress known for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's ''The Practice'', Delia Banks on CBS's '' Ghost Whisperer'', Gladys Presley in the 2005 miniseries ''Elvis'', and ...

as Eileen Daniels *

Tom Arnold Tom Arnold may refer to: * Tom Arnold (actor) (born 1959), American actor * Tom Arnold (economist) (born 1948), Irish CEO of Concern Worldwide * Tom Arnold (footballer) (1878–?), English footballer * Tom Arnold (literary scholar) (1823–1900), ...

as Bruce Daniels *

Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz (; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Lovitz starred as Jay Sherman in ''The Critic'' and played a baseball scout in ''A League of The ...

as Dennis Lipschitz * Rachel Fox as Jill Lipschitz * Wilmer Calderon as Juan * Dominique Grund as Young Allison Marks *

Elaine Tan Elaine may refer to: * Elaine (legend), name shared by several different female characters in Arthurian legend, especially: ** Elaine of Astolat ** Elaine of Corbenic * "Elaine" (short story), 1945 short story by J. D. Salinger * Elaine (singer), ...

as Sala Khan *

Hayes MacArthur Hayes MacArthur (born April 16, 1977) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He starred in the TBS comedy series ''Angie Tribeca''. Early life MacArthur was born in Chicago to Bruce and Shelley MacArthur. His stepfather is businessman ...

as Chuck O'Connell

Production

Casting

The film was announced on July 15, 2011, with initial cast listings for the film being released concurrently. Sergei and Hewitt led the announcement, with the full cast list, including Moore,

, and Hewitt's former ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon ( Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate with ...

'' co-star

, being released on August 8, 2012.

Filming

''Jewtopia'' began filming in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, on July 18, 2011, and wrapped on August 10, 2011.

Premiere

The film premiered in April 2012 at the

Newport Beach Film Festival The Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) is an annual film festival in Newport Beach, California, typically held in late April. In 2022, it was announced that the festival have permanently changed its date to be held in October, as the festival beg ...

Reception

On ''

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

'', the film has a rating of 18% based on reviews from 11 critics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jewtopia 2012 films 2012 independent films 2012 romantic comedy films American independent films American romantic comedy films Films about Jews and Judaism Films produced by Andy Fickman Films scored by Nathan Wang 2012 directorial debut films American films based on plays 2010s English-language films 2010s American films