When “Bad Shabbos” began its American run in Delray Beach last year, the reception was enthusiastic and heimish.
So where else could the comedy film possibly finish its tour? Back at the Movies of Delray, of course.
“It’s the theater that launched this film so it’s only right to finish there,” said Daniel Robbins, director.
The fast-paced farce tells the story of a Sabbath dinner with a neurotic Jewish family and their non-Jewish future in-laws, and just about everything goes awry.
The movie played its U.S. theatrical premiere at Movies of Delray in December, was shown there for 17 weeks and began traveling around the country on May 23. At several venues, including Delray Beach, theatergoers were able to ask questions during audience discussions with Robbins and producer Adam Mitchell.
“Bad Shabbos” is a play on the Yiddish expression “Gut Shabbes,” meaning “Good Sabbath,” a greeting that wishes fellow Jews well on their day of prayer and rest. Many contemporary Jews greet each other with the equivalent Hebrew expression, “Shabbat Shalom.”
The Shabbos in the movie is bad for many reasons. One of the family’s sons discovers the dead body of a fellow guest in the bathroom of their parents’ New York apartment. As each family member finds out what happened, the brood grows increasingly unhinged, trying to figure out what to do before their son’s future (and Catholic) in-laws arrive.
The cast includes veteran actors Kyra Sedgwick and David Paymer as the Jewish parents. The film received the Audience Award at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival.
Robbins, a New York University film school grad, said in an interview with the Sun Sentinel in December that his family dinners growing up in New York were less dramatic.
“There was not as much fighting in my family,” he said.
Robbins and his co-writers brainstormed the script after Mitchell heard about a Jewish family who pranked guests who came to their weekly dinners, with jokes such as placing the soup course in teacups.
The director said it was important to him to show the deep love of the Jewish family for each other despite their frequent tussles.
“A number of Jewish films I’ve seen don’t show Judaism in the most positive light,” Robbins said. “These dinners bring meaning and beauty to people’s lives. I wanted a truer perspective on religion for what it is and what it can bring.”
Robbins said his goal was to show this religious complexity while making a laugh-out-loud film. He said he knew moviegoers in Delray Beach would be able to make this connection, as will local newcomers who see the movie for the first time during its final run.
“They will understand every single joke,” he said.
If you go
WHAT: Last American theater showings of “Bad Shabbos”
WHEN: Oct. 10 to 17
WHERE: Movies of Delray, 7421 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach.
COST: $8 at moviesofdelray.com
INFORMATION: menemshafilms.com/bad-shabbos
