The Hebrew Hammer (2003)

November 17, 2022 7:45 AM

An orthodox Jewish blaxploitation hero (Adam Goldberg) saves Hanukkah from the clutches of Santa Claus' evil son (Andy Dick).

Our Jewish friends should be included, too!

This film is wildly and cheekily offensive, in every way it can manage.

Also starring Judy Greer, Mario Van Peebles, Peter Coyote, Nora Dunn, Tony Cox, Melvin Van Peebles, Rachel Dratch.

Written and directed by Jonathan Kesselman.

Currently streaming in the US on Tubi, Pluto, redbox, FreeVee, and others. JustWatch listing.

Currently streaming in the US on Tubi, The Roku Channel, and Fandor. JustWatch listing.

dorothyisunderwood was kind enough to support MeFi with a donation. Their request was for six of the weirdest Christmas films I could find. I'll be posting them under the hashtag #illbeweirdforchristmas.

Donate $20 or more to MeFi and you can MeMail me a request for a themed day of your own. I'll fill up the sidebar on FF with six movies that fit your theme.

posted by DirtyOldTown (5 comments total)

I thought I had seen this over 20 years ago--which would have been before it was released. After extensive digging I found that what I had actually only-sorta remembered was another exploitation film called (I am not making this up) Kung Fu Jew.

I'll have to add this one to my list.
posted by johnofjack at 9:27 AM on November 20, 2022

I also thought I saw this around 20 years ago, but I think what I actually saw was Yentl, Fiddler on the Roof, and Chaim Potok’s The Chosen.
posted by rodlymight at 5:27 PM on November 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

I take it your point is that Jewish exploitation films aren't so uncommon that simply mentioning another one contributes meaningfully to the conversation? If so, then yes, you're right; I should have provided additional commentary and/or context. It's a small pool of films and I was excited to see another one, but I should have held off until I had something more substantial to say. I'm sorry.
posted by johnofjack at 1:59 PM on November 21, 2022

I was not clear on what the point of that was. A person could reasonably mix up two niche Jewish -ploitation parody films without necessarily hitting the point of "meh, all Jewish films are indistinguishable."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:12 PM on November 21, 2022

Yentl, Fiddler on the Roof, and Chaim Potok’s The Chosen are the three tapes the Hebrew Hammer has in his trunk, and also the three tapes the JJL use to counteract Santa Clause's brainwashing with It's a Wonderful Life.

After they went with an Isaac Hayes spoof near the start, I was surprised they had the budget for both Marvin Gaye ("Let's Get It On") and Curtis Mayfield ("Pusherman").

This wasn't really the film for me, but I laughed a few times and I'm glad it exists. Apparently there is/was a sequel in development, but it's not clear to me where that stands with [gestures broadly]. Maybe it got derailed by Covid?
posted by johnofjack at 2:25 PM on November 29, 2022 [1 favorite]