The protagonist in this film is young, Hasidic Jew Sam Gold (Jessie Eisenberg) growing into adulthood in Brooklyn, New York in 1998, who is devout in his upbringing and even has aspirations of possibly becoming a Rabbi. But as most of these “goody two-shoe” tales go, his good friend Yosef Zimmerman (Justin Bartha) lives on the wrong side of their faith, and does not get the same level of regard as Sam, or his brother Leon Zimmerman (Jason Fuchs) in the community. But Sam struggles with the customs of adulthood in the Hasidic way of life, especially when it comes to the ladies, and does not want to become stuck working in his fathers clothing shop. So in an effort to make some extra cash flow, he starts working alongside Yosef bringing “Medicine” (or so he’s told) from Europe to wealthy people in the city. But he is suspicious about the operation itself and soon finds out what it is he’s really doing. But when he is handed his first payment, he decides to stick around and see where this “business venture” can take him. Yosef brings him to his boss, Jackie Solomon (Danny A. Abeckaser), and his curiously engaging girlfriend Rachel (Ari Graynor). Soon, Sam gains his trust and becomes an important associate. What follows is the journey of Sam in this late ’90s Ecstasy scene and how he deals with the profit of dealing drugs, while trying to keep his religious and family obligations in focus.
In the way that independent films go, I applaud this one for not over exerting itself and trying to “make art” just for the sake of it. It stays well within the confines of the story, and does not try to do much else besides tell the turbulent rise of this young upstart in the Ex game. However, this seems to be the inherent weak spot of the movie. Because the events happened over about a six month span, they didn’t have much material to build a movie with. Again, I commend the dedication to the true story, but the film doesn’t quite get a chance to grip you like other movies with this theme do. This is, in part, because it’s not put together in a way that makes you either hate Sam, or feel compassion for him. Hes not portrayed as a vile individual and it’s clear that dealing drugs is not his only option in life. He has a great family and a fine upbringing, this is just someone who wants the extra jack. Because of the narrative anemia, it doesn’t feel edgy and violently satisfying like American Gangster or desperate and depressing like Requiem for a Dream. Having said that, there are some really good points to this movie. The performances are all rock solid, especially the work done by Eisenberg. To see that he’s willing to put in the work on a “limited project” like this one speaks volumes about his dedication to his craft. Justin Bartha also came up big in Rollers, and displayed his character with surprisingly believable appeal. He’s definitely not the “nice guy” from The Hangover in this one, and I’d personally like him to see him in more roles like this.
The Special Features are really lacking in this DVD and is its weakest point. It features five deleted scenes, commentary by Eisenberg and Bartha, and and interview with the two of them that talks about the plot of the film, characters, ect.