Tuesday, November 02, 2010

The Movie Holy Rollers Is Well Worth Seeing

By Natalie Leon

Holy Rollers is a movie about the classic struggle of a young man to find his own path in life, which is based on true events of the late '90s in America but has totally fictional characters. It was introduced at the Sundance Film Festival at the beginning of 2010 and is now in theaters; it will be released on DVD in October.

The main character is Sam Gold, a young Hasidic Jew who has been raised in Brooklyn in the orthodox tradition. Although his father is in business, Sam is destined to become a rabbi and make his fortune by marrying the daughter of a wealthy family in a match arranged by his father.

Sam is a young man nearing the future orchestrated by his family - becoming a Rabbi and marrying into a wealthy family that agrees to improve his fortunes for the honor of having a rabbi in the family. Sam, however, finds that he is more interested in the family business than in the continual study and devotion to religion that his life entails.

With no encouragement or understanding from his father and no fulfillment in his spiritual life, the young man is ripe to be recruited for an exciting trip to Europe to bring 'medicine' back into the country. The older brother of Sam's best friend entices both innocents to make an initial run. Although his friend pulls out once the true nature of their task is revealed, Sam is caught up in the lure of the life he has glimpsed.

The Israeli dealer who is Sam's new boss recognizes the recruit's instinct for business, and the young man is soon rising up in the trade, eventually causing jealousy in other employees, recruiting others as innocent as he once was, and even trying ecstasy for himself. For a time he is able to lead a double life, but his family and his community finally act on their suspicions and turn against him.

Things are further complicated by Sam's infatuation with the dealer's girl friend, who he would like to save from her own addiction. As he learns that the relationships in his new life are either hopeless or dangerous, he begins to look for God in the middle ground between the unrealistic expectations of his youth and the wasteland of his present.

Sam, struggling to find God on the middle ground between the temptations of the world and the straitjacket of his old life, is soon on the run, trying to decide which way to go in the future. No matter how he acts, he will hurt others in his life if he wants to save his own.

The name of the drug is the key to the title of the film. This was a derisive term coined to describe pentecostal Christians who become ecstatic during worship, which is now sometimes used proudly by the very ones it was meant to mock. Users of the street drug seek to attain a state of euphoria by using an illegal chemical.

Holy Rollers, the movie, has had mixed reviews, but more people like it than don't. - 2361

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