Based on real events in the 90s, apparently, Holy Rollers tells the story of Sam Gold, (Jesse Eisenberg) a Brooklyn Hasidic Jew who, feeling hemmed in by the predetermined path mapped out for him, becomes involved in drug smuggling using Hasidic Jews as mules because they don't - or didn't, at that point - get searched by airport Customs.
I had two problems with this film. One, while I understand that much of Sam's background had to be shown for expositional and dramatic purposes, it wasn't something which I felt easy to get to grips with. Sam's fall from grace therefore didn't have anything like the impact for me that it would for someone from his background. The other was that, for a film which was potentially quite dramatic, I didn't find much drama in it. It was all rather mundane, and drab, and "so what?" Even when potentially dramatic moments arrived (like arguments during drug meets), nothing dramatic happened.
Jesse Eisenberg did well in the thankless role of Sam: for me, though, Ari Graynor was the only thing worth watching, perhaps because she played the only character who was attractive, sympathetic, and who I could identify with.
I had two problems with this film. One, while I understand that much of Sam's background had to be shown for expositional and dramatic purposes, it wasn't something which I felt easy to get to grips with. Sam's fall from grace therefore didn't have anything like the impact for me that it would for someone from his background. The other was that, for a film which was potentially quite dramatic, I didn't find much drama in it. It was all rather mundane, and drab, and "so what?" Even when potentially dramatic moments arrived (like arguments during drug meets), nothing dramatic happened.
Jesse Eisenberg did well in the thankless role of Sam: for me, though, Ari Graynor was the only thing worth watching, perhaps because she played the only character who was attractive, sympathetic, and who I could identify with.