Genre: Coming Of Age Gurrrrl Power Comedies
Release Date: 2023
Where I Watched: Netflix
Gist: upper-middle class tweens Stacy and Lydia are BFFs. They’re also prepping for their Bat Mitzvah, and crushing on boys. Stacy has a misunderstanding that only an overly sensitive almost-teen girl can create – citation: my own tween life, when I was an emotional train WRECK – and her friendship with Lydia is in jeopardy. But so is Stacy’s Bat Mitzvah, as she puts way too much effort in what she thinks she wants, rather than what she knows matters to her. Y’know, middle school y’all.
Gotta say: Based on the YA book of the same name by Fiona Rosenbloom, and turned inhto a Netflix film by Adam Sandler, Mitzvah is an adorable tale of tweens becoming teens, and all the craziness that can go along with that. Plus? It’s a family affair, with Sandler’s wife Jackie as neighbor Gabi Rodriguez Katz, and daughters Summer and Sadie as Stacy and Ronnie Friedman. Yeah, you thought those girls looked a little like Adam. Boom. The story and overall feel of this story is very on brand for girls of a certain age – how many times have I and/or my sisters been on the receiving end of a strawman or ad hominem clapback from an ultra savvy teen? Yeah, we’re so totally not cool, you guys. *sighs sadly*
Alison Peck, a relative newcomer to official-type IMDB-level screenwriting, does an excellent job interpreting Rosenbloom’s novel, focusing on Stacy’s mishegoss, and keeping that sense of off-kilter catastrophe that is a friendship going bloink, front and center to the story. The same can be said for second-film-under-her-belt director Sammi Cohen. The girl-power in the writer’s and director’s chair shines through; Mitzvah could have relied on caricatures, but these two creators drew out the humanity in the story and characters. Stacy’s interactions with her family, her Rabbi, her friends and Hebrew School compatriots? All get painted with her emotional brush. And damn if Summer isn’t amazing in this role. Yeah, yeah; nepo baby. But who cares, when a performer delivers such a wonderfully rounded performance?
Sandler The Elder did a great job with casting Idina Menzel as his movie wife/Stacy and Ronnie’s mom. Both “parents” know that the story is about the kids, but infuse enough characterization to make mom and dad feel like people I’d like to hang with. Plus, there’s Luis Guzmán as Lydia’s dad Eli Rodriguez, a soon-to-be divorced dad. The back-and-forth between Guzmán and Jackie Sandler’s Gabi is peak “we’re so freaking sick of each other it’s almost hit apathy” levels of snark. Special shout out to SNL’s Sarah Sherman as Rabbi Rebecca. She’s the cool Rabbi that’s just cool enough to be tough when it’s required…and Sherman has a great blend of teacher-who-cares and adult-who’s-working-her-tuchas-off. Plus, Rabbi Rebecca has the best granny square vest I’ve ever seen.
There’s lots in Mitzvah that’ll have adults rolling their eyes in remembrance of their own particular brands of middle school idiocy. And tweens will enjoy getting a peek at the moment the shift into teen years. I’m not sure that teens will dig this; perhaps those who read the book will get a kick out of it, but Mitzvah definitely skews to the “kids will laugh, but adults will dig it too” demo. That’s okay though; they can watch it when they’re older and less cool.
Overall, Mitzvah feels like a Gen-Z “Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret”, down to Stacy’s nightly chats with the Big G. Somewhere, Margaret is nodding in approval.
Come for: The adorable kids-growing-up story
Stay for: See above
