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The set-up of HOLY ROLLERS gives us the impression that we're in for a very interesting, extreme case of the "fish out of water" storyline that we've seen a bunch of times before. Unfortunately, as the plot unravels, the "interesting" fades for the most part, and all we're left with is, well, a lot of stuff that we've seen before. What confuses me the most is the fact that the makers of HOLY ROLLERS don't seem to be worried at all about how commonplace their story about an innocent person who gets pulled into the world of drug smuggling actually is. The fact that it's supposed to be based on a true story is irrelevant. The film should have more spice to it. You know you're in trouble when a film switches locations from Brooklyn to Amsterdam back and forth, yet there are moments at which you're unaware of which location we're in because the editing doesn't help in the least bit.
Sam (Jesse Eisenberg) is a member of a family of Hasidic Jews. All they want for their eldest son is for him to study to become a rabbi and to arrange for him to marry a girl from a good family. Sam's next-door neighbors are the Zimmermans, another Hasidic Jew family. Although Sam is friends with the two Zimmerman siblings, these two brothers couldn't be more different. Leon (Jason Fuchs) is their parents' pride: he's well behaved and has no problem correctly answering questions about the Torah. Yosef (Justin Bartha) is another story, as he's not popular for anything other than his misdeeds. Though the 3 guys hang out, the difference between the Zimmerman siblings is exactly what makes Yosef approach Sam about a job that involves transporting "medicine" from Amsterdam to the U.S., yet he asks Sam not to tell Leon anything about it. Of course, we know what's going on, but Sam is too naive for that, at least so far. The instructions on how to behave while carrying the bags with the "medicine" at the airport are to simply behave normally: "Just act Jewish." It all gets very complicated once Sam discovers (of course) that he's actually smuggling illegal drugs. The money he's making from it is too tempting, which makes him decide to continue doing it, but as he soon discovers, it's at the expense of his reputation in the community and of the love of his family members.
What's initially interesting about HOLY ROLLERS is the quirkiness that comes from Sam's ignorance of the transactions that are taking place. There's a hilarious moment in which Sam, Leon and Yosef are all arguing on the street, all of course in their Hasidic garb, and a few thugs walk by and laugh at their arguing. In addition to that, the scenes in which Sam is unsure of how to behave at clubs and parties are very effective, and they'll be relatable to anyone (Hasidic Jew or not) who's been the odd person out in an awkward situation.
It all becomes much more bland and procedural once Sam "gets into the swing" of things. It's a little bit jarring that he does this so easily, and the movie attempts to justify this by portraying Sam as a keen businessman during the first few scenes, but that isn't enough justification, because for Sam, getting into this situation isn't just about being in a business. It's about being in a new world that is COMPLETELY different from anything he's experienced within his tight-knit community. It's supposed to be a culture shock. I have no idea why the film hardly milked the Amsterdam trips to portray the clash between Sam's conservative background and the ultra-liberal atmosphere of the European city. Instead, as I said, the tragedy here is that sometimes we don't even know if we're in Amsterdam or in New York. It appears to have no relevance.
No one should have doubts about this after THE SOCIAL NETWORK, but Jesse Eisenberg continues validating the fact that he's a wonderful actor. He has an uncanny ability at playing uncomfortable, awkward characters. While I'm not a big fan of HOLY ROLLERS, I have to admit that the last scene is handled very well, with the screen fading to black precisely at the right moment (without showing anything more than what is necessary), and in this last shot, Eisenberg displays an incredible range of emotions in just a matter of seconds. I would've changed several things about this film, but the selection of him to play the protagonist would definitely not have been one of them.
I wouldn't call this a crime, but it's definitely not very NICE to get a viewers' hopes up about a movie during its plot exposition, and then immediately descend into over-familiar territory. The story about a Hasidic Jew who gets unwittingly pushed into the drug smuggling business is just way too brilliant an idea, too filled with potential for hilarious situations and for dramatic intensity. Sam's bewilderment at this entirely new world should've been much more palpable and it should've served as the main course of entertainment offered by HOLY ROLLERS. In fact, there comes a point at which it seems that Sam's moral/religious upbringing loses all importance in the plot. Once our main character eases into the situation, we're forced to just go through the motions for the rest of the film, and while I wouldn't call this a boring movie, it's certainly not something to get super excited about either.
5/10
