Goyband

Goyband
Goyband
Directed by	Christopher Grimm
Written by	Christa McNamee; Christopher Grimm
Produced by	Christopher J. Scott; David Schiavone; Red Sky Pictures
Starring	Adam Pascal; Amy Davidson; Natasha Lyonne; Natasha Lyonne; Cris Judd
Edited by	Glen L. Scott
Music by	Dan Bar-Hava
Release dates	December 13, 2008
Running time	99 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Goyband is a 2008 American comedy film from Goyband LLC, starring Adam Pascal. Called a "gefilte fish out of water tale", this independent film is described as Dirty Dancing meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding with a touch of a hip hop Fiddler on the Roof.

Plot

Fading from the spotlight of his late 90's mega-fame, boy-band icon BOBBY STARR (Adam Pascal) is clinging to days gone by and begging his agent MURRAY to land him a decent gig. ("C'mon, Murray I packed Madison Square Garden, for Chrissake!") What Murray does land for Bobby is a full week headlining the grand opening of the world's first Glatt Kosher hotel-casino, MAZEL HOTEL. (“Bobby, baby, you could be to the Catskills what Engelbert Humperdinck was to Las Vegas.”)

As it turns out, the real force behind Bobby Starr's curious invitation to this “Orthodox otherworld” is the hotel owner's persuasive daughter REBEKKA HERSHENFELD (Amy Davidson), who has harbored a huge crush on Bobby since childhood. Rebekka's world is guided by her arranged betrothal to HAIM (Benjamin Bauman), the son of GRAND RABBI SHEINMAN (Joel Leffert), the powerful Kabbalah Rabbi who is supposed to issue the casino's all-important "Kosher certificate."

Rebekka's only release from the pressures of preparing to be a future Rebitsin (Rabbi's wife) comes from singing along to Bobby's songs with her best friends HANI and FANI (Natasha Lyonne) (in secret, since their religion bars them from singing in public.)

From the moment Bobby arrives at the Mazel hotel, non-stop culture-clash hilarity ensues: his TV goes dark at sundown, his beloved cell phone is confiscated during the Sabbath, his Grey Goose Vodka is replaced with Manischewitz… And all of this is set against the backdrop of an alien world where "Kosher enforcers" drag gamblers from their slot machines at prayer time; late-night “treyf smugglers” sneak non-Kosher contraband like cheeseburgers and fried shrimp into the hotel; and where slot machines display Shofars, Menorahs and David Stars instead of lemons, cherries and dollar signs, and chime 'Hava Nagila' for lucky winners.

Arranging for Bobby Star to play at her father's hotel might have started out as an act of rebellion for Rebekka, but when infatuation blossoms into romance, Bobby offers Rebekka a once-in-a-lifetime ticket to freedom from the constrictive life that threatens to hold her back forever.

Filming

Cult Following

References

External links