This is John's written review, but listen to Mindy on It's Movie Time's 4/26 show as she highlights the humor and relevance of this worthy comedy.
Shiva Baby
“You look like Gwyneth Paltrow on food stamps--and not in a good way.” Danielle’s Mom, Debbie (Polly Draper)
Shiva Baby is a true farce—see above quote—because its mirth is based on a reality we all have experienced with mirthful twists. Danielle’s (Rachel Sennott) mother, Jewish stereotype and classic overbearing mother, sets the scene for a shiva that Danielle is ill prepared. The buffet is loaded with the kind of parents Mike Nichols mined in the party scene of The Graduate and Woody Allen’s language cadences and ethnicity in most of his work.
The satire of the helicopter family and friends who descend on Danielle with their endless questions about her future seems spot on for Jewish families and then again for any families who try to impose their vision on someone else’s future. Danielle lies about her having job interviews or entrance into law school because family and friends clobber her for not having either, but her abject horror is at seeing her sugar daddy, Max (Danny Deferrari), arrive with a family unbeknownst to her.
Overbearing relatives and friends are just a few of Danielle’s crosses to bear including her split up with her lover, Maya (Molly Gordon), her forgetfulness (witness loss of her cell phone with its unlocked incriminating evidence), and her spilling or breaking at various clumsy moments. Yet, even more harrowing and revealing is her shiva-eating routine, which forces her to eat non-vegetarian food or put it back when no one is noticing.
The beauty of Shiva Baby is in the details, mostly the trenchant dialogue (“Well thank god Sheila's coffee is always lukewarm, or you'd have third-degree burns, you know?” Debbie) reflecting micromanagement and excessive obsession of correct behavior. Ariel Marks’s strings and piano have the right balance of gravity and lightness, contributing to lampooning obnoxious family and unmoored ambition.
Shiva Baby is funny stuff, Jewish or not. Universal it is in every frame.
When Danielle exclaims while looking at a photo album, “Oh, you guys are at the Holocaust museum. You look so... happy!” I knew I was in for an experience of which Jerry Seinfeld would approve. Enjoy an intellectually-satisfying comedy with farcical elements that may have you laughing out loud.
Shiva Baby
Director: Emma Seligman
Screenplay: Seligman
Cast: Rachel Sennott (Call Your Mother), Molly Gordon (Book Smart)
Run Time: 1h 17 m
Rating: NR
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JohnDeSando62@gmail.com
