Holy Rollers (2010)
Average Rating: 5.4/10
Reviews Counted: 85
Fresh: 43 | Rotten: 42
Despite a promising premise and a solid central performance from Jesse Eisenberg, Holy Rollers lacks the depth necessary to overcome its cliched script.
Average Rating: 5.1/10
Critic Reviews: 25
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 14
Despite a promising premise and a solid central performance from Jesse Eisenberg, Holy Rollers lacks the depth necessary to overcome its cliched script.
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Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 2,994
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Movie Info
"Holy Rollers" is inspired by actual events in the late 1990s when Hasidic Jews were recruited as mules to smuggle ecstasy from Europe into the United States. It is the story of a young Hasid from an Orthodox Brooklyn community whose neighbor propositions him to transport "medicine" for an Israeli dealer and his girlfriend. He is exposed to the exciting and gritty worlds of Manhattan and Amsterdam nightlife, and as the business grows, his double life begins to rip his family apart and the
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Cast
-
Jesse Eisenberg
Sam Gold -
Justin Bartha
Yosef -
Ari Graynor
Rachel -
Danny A. Abeckaser
Jackie -
Q-Tip
Ephraim -
Mark Ivanir
Mendel Gold -
Elizabeth Marvel
Elka Gold -
Jason Fuchs
Leon -
Hallie Kate Eisenberg
Ruth Gold -
Bern Cohen
Rebbe -
Stella Keitel
Zeldny -
David Vadim
Mr. Maxim -
Charlie Hewson
Andrew -
Penny Bittone
Ivan -
Ori Pfeffer
Israeli Gangster -
Andrew Levitas
Great Necker #1 -
Marc Rose
Great Necker #2 -
Omer Barnea
Dutch Hasidic Man -
Karina Arroyave
Fabric Customer -
Eli Gelb Young
Hasidic Mule -
Evan Matthew Weinstein
Young Hasid Father -
Court Young
Customs Officer -
Caroline Stefanie Clay
Customs Agent
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Holy Rollers Trailer & Photos
All Critics (89) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (42)
This is moviemaking on autopilot.
Top CriticIt's not a terrible movie, but all the way through you feel as if you've already seen it.
It's sadder and scarier than its predecessors, but it also may be the most important chapter in the tale.
The scenes of family conflict are sketchily dramatized. We never get to the place where the two parts of Sam's personality meet -- the devoted son and sharp-dealing criminal.
The film is slight, but Eisenberg is a deadpan delight.
The tense dynamic between these two fine actors, not to mention Asch's confident feel for New York City circa the late-1990s, keeps this slightly undercooked but wholly engrossing melodrama on course.
Offering the viewer hardly any reason to feel this story is credible.
Despite a suitably nervy turn from Eisenberg, there's no energy to the film-making or much insight into the story.
It's a surprisingly cool little film, not funny at all but rather seriously torn between the secular and the sacred, a conflict Eisenberg expresses with a neurotic intensity.
It's a familiar premise and Holy Rollers sprinkles precisely nothing new into the roll-up.
We expect more than we eventually get, even if what we get is watchable throughout.
Dramatically uneven though well-performed and competently directed, Holy Rollers features an intriguing premise yet treads thin ice when battling an inconsistent script.
Holy Rollers is based on true events but it lacks any spark of originality.
[A] breathless, enjoyable comedy-thriller based on the true story of how Hassidic Jews were recruited as mules in the late 1990s to smuggle ecstasy pills from Amsterdam into New York.
It just feels content to glide along ... and if it wasn't for Eisenberg being his usual quirky and mildly entertaining self, would feel uneven ... and rather erratic.
Jesse Eisenberg, in the main role, enhances the film again and again with his comic timing and ability to nail the part of a sheltered ingénu with an incipient rebel streak. It might be dodgy merchandise, but he sells it all the same.
This is more accurately a film about a revolution against innocence and the vacuum it leaves behind.
The film is slow, sometimes confusing and not very involving.
The problem is that it's not terribly dramatic, despite good central performances from Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha.
Kevin Asch's morality drama restages the Fall of Man as a modern, real-life crime story. It is understated, but compelling, with yet another standout performance from Jesse Eisenberg.
If ecstasy was as boring as this film about it then the war on drugs would've been over 25 years ago.
Audience Reviews for Holy Rollers
Super Reviewer
Sure, maybe the limitations are the result of this being a low budget indie, but I think it would have been worse as a big budget major studio affair. The real issue is that the idea is inspired, but the script, direction, and acting are all lacking.
I liked the idea of a young guy torn between religious studies and making tons of money in the drug trade, but they really dropped the ball with the concept here. It all felt rehashed, unoriginal, and jut kinda blah. It doesn't help that the lead is done by Jesse Eisenberg. I like him, but he just doesn't really appear to be trying here. Justin Bartha however is awesome. He gives the best performance, is the most interesting character, and the focus clearly should have been on him.
I wasn't totally bored, but I didn't really care a whole lot either. Also, the washed out look really didn't fit for me and seemed unnecessary. You could see it, but I would ONLY recommend it for hardcore completists.
Super Reviewer
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Foreign Titles
- Jewish Connection (FR)
