This riveting comedy stars the family of Adam Sandler – who also serves as producer – his wife Jackie Sandler and daughters Sadie Sandler and Sunny Sandler and Idina Menzel.
Adapted from Fiona Rosenbloom’s young adult novel of the same name, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is a typical – and therefore touching – feature film about leaving childhood and entering adolescence, a time that heralds coming of age.
So we join Stacy (Sunny Sandler, naturally adorable) and Lydia (Samantha Lorraine), her best friend, as they prepare to celebrate their Bat Mitzvah, a Jewish religious ceremony followed by a “party” that marks the transition into adulthood as young girls marked Round 13. Bree (Idina Menzel) and Danny (Adam Sandler), Stacy’s parents, want their daughter to learn the Torah passages she has to read before a meeting while the two friends – and us suspect it – just think of the evening when it will follow.
To add even more spice to the story, Stacy only has her eye on Andy (Dylan Hoffman), a boy in her class who turns out to be a lot less attractive than expected and whose presence – we suspect – raises another serious issue Quarrels will arise between the two teenagers.
Filled with sweet teenage jokes – and for once without the vulgarity Adam Sandler is accustomed to – this Sammi Cohen-directed comedy from the screenplay by Alison Peck also treats the usual teenage themes of peer pressure and the search for one’s identity with quality ease . And running at 103 minutes, this colourful, entertaining You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is sure to put a smile on everyone’s face in the family.
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah will be broadcast on Netflix digital platform starting August 25.
Rating: 3 out of 5