There are movies aimed at a specific audience. This is definitely one of those movies. Unless you have a very large background in the Jewish faith prepare to get lost, very lost. This entire movie is embedded with inside jokes that someone from the outside, of the faith that is, is more than likely not going to get. This does not make it a bad film but it limits it dramatically for the casual viewer. It does hold promise with the family dynamics and can be entertaining at times, but these times do not come often enough. As it follows the main character, Larry Gopnik, while his life unfolds you are amazed at how many bad things can happen to one man in a short amount of time. Everything falls apart, and then falls apart again. There is a small piece of humor in that, even if you are laughing at him and not with him.

The only thing this movie allows you to laugh at is what you can infer is funny from a scene. Not what actually is - unless you are in on the joke unlike the rest of us.