Keeping Up with the Steins – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Director

Scott Marshall

Cast

Jami Gertz”¦”¦”¦Joanne Fiedler
Daryl Hannah”¦”¦”¦.Sacred Feather/Sandy
Garry Marshall”¦”¦”¦Irwin Fiedler
Jeremy Piven”¦”¦”¦Adam Fiedler
Doris Roberts”¦”¦”¦Rose Fiedler
Daryl Sabara”¦”¦”¦Benjamin Fiedler
Larry Miller”¦”¦”¦Arnie Stein

The Movie

Father-son relationships are generally one of the most explored relationships in cinema, as plenty of good to great films about men dealing with their primary male influence since birth have come out over the years. It’s a subject rife with material, as proving oneself to the man who brought them into this world is never an easy task. The father-son dynamic is something easily relatable and plenty of films have explored this to varying levels of success.

Keeping Up with the Steins follows in this tradition by following Benjamin Fiedler (Daryl Sabara) as he prepares for his Bar Mitzvah. With his Hollywood agent father Adam (Jeremy Piven) preparing for a costly celebration intended to top the Bar Mitzvah of the son of his chief professional rival Arnie Stein (Larry Miller). Things get complicated when Benjamin invites his grandfather Irwin (Garry Marshall), long estranged from the family after walking out on Adam and his mother Rose (Doris Roberts) many years ago to explore an alternate life. When Irwin shows up with his new wife (Daryl Hannah) in tow, it becomes an interesting exercise in familial relations as all parties try to adjust to this new presence.

And it’s interesting to see Jeremy Piven in a different take on his role in Entourage. He’s the same type of character Ari Gold is, as Piven doesn’t do or say anything that wouldn’t seem out of place on the HBO series, but it’s a differently nuanced role for him. There are plenty of issues and interactions at work for him, as he has issues with his father that he’s trying to deal with as well as trying to deal with similar ones with his own son.

It’s an enjoyable film but its ability to be enjoyed is limited by its appeal. This is a film meant to appeal to Jews in the same manner that The Thing About My Folks and Everything is Illuminated were marketed in 2005. This is a film for the Jewish sect and everyone else’s enjoyment will be limited by the fact that the film’s focus is on a subject that’s more familiar to the minority than the majority.

The Audio

Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 format, Keeping Up with the Steins has a relatively good audio transfer. It’s a dialogue driven film with key instances of music, so it isn’t going to push a stereo system too hard but everything that needs to come through loud and clear does.

The Video

Presented in a widescreen format with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the film has a terrific transfer. There aren’t too many instances where anything colorful is on the screen, so the rather monotone color scheme isn’t too hard to render, but when color is needed it looks quite good.

The Extras

The DVD release of Keeping Up with the Steins doesn’t have much in terms of extras. There is a feature, Keeping Up with the Steins: Behind the Scenes, is an eight minute look behind the scenes of the film. Nothing of note is said, outside of the fact that it had a low budget and as such they needed to make do with less while trying to portray the posh lifestyle of its subjects. There’s also an Audio Commentary with Director Scott Marshall and his father Garry Marshall as well as Marshall with writer/producer Mark Zakarin. Also included are several Deleted Scenes, including an alternate ending.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Keeping Up with the Steins
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

7.5
THE VIDEO

9.0
THE AUDIO

9.0
THE EXTRAS

5.0
REPLAY VALUE

7.5
OVERALL
7.0
(NOT AN AVERAGE)