84 | APRIL 14 • 2022 AN AMBULANCE AND A HEDGEHOG; MINI-SERIES HERO IS JEWISH; MIRIAM IN A TUB —WHAT? Two big-budget films with a “Jewish connection” opened “wide” last week and are still in theaters: Ambulance, an action-thriller, and Sonic: The Hedgehog 2, a combination animation and live-action film that is appropriate for “children of all ages.” Here’s the capsule plot of Ambulance: William Sharp, an African American war vet, needs $231K for his wife’s surgery. He turns to his adoptive brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal, 41), a career criminal. Their attempt to rob a bank goes wrong — they shoot a police officer and flee in an ambu- lance carrying the wound- ed police officer and an EMT. In a recent Esquire inter- view, Gyllenhaal said it was time for him to do some big action movies again — and that’s the type of films that Ambulance director Michael Bay, 57, makes (Transformers, Pearl Harbor). The first Sonic The Hedgehog film (2020) was based on a popular video game of the same name. It was a huge box-office office hit despite getting mixed reviews (story not so great; cast very good). The title character is a “humanized” blue hedgehog who can travel at supersonic speed. He’s a good guy who wants to help people. Sonic is ani- mated in the original and in the sequel. Ben Schwartz, 40, voiced Sonic in both Sonic flicks. Schwartz has had many film and TV roles, but it hard to cite a role everyone knows. I best remember him in his recurring role as Jean- Ralphio Saperstein (what a name!) on Parks and Rec. Henry Winkler played his father, a doctor, and Jenny Slate played his crazy sister, Mona-Lisa Saperstein. Reprising their original Sonic film roles are Jim Carrey (as Sonic’s arch enemy) and James Marsden (as a sheriff who is a friend of Sonic). Adam Pally, 40, makes his Sonic debut in Sonic 2. He plays a deputy sheriff who serves under Marsden’s character. Pally is a real-life pal of Schwartz. The two have long been in a three- man comedy improv troupe that performs on stage now and again. MINI-SERIES HERO The six-part, NBC true-crime series The Thing About Pam concluded on April 14 (binge it on Peacock or Hulu). Reviews were mixed, but the true story was so weird that the series held my attention. As I previously wrote, the title character (played by Renee Zellweger) murdered a close female friend and attempted to frame her friend’s husband (Russ Farina) for the mur- der. Gideon Adlon, 25, has a supporting role as the Farinas’ daughter. I noticed that Pam and the Farinas lived in a St. Louis suburb and Joel Schwartz, now 60, was the defense attorney who represented Farina at his two murder tri- als. I contacted the St. Louis Jewish Light, a paper that I write for, and asked the edi- tor if he knew Schwartz to be Jewish. The editor then “reached out” to Schwartz, who confirmed he is Jewish. Schwartz (played by Josh Duhamel) is the hero of the series. He is a super-compe- tent, super-ethical defense attorney who did everything humanly possible to uncover the evidence that ultimately proved Farina was com- pletely innocent. In a brief interview with the Light, Schwartz said that he and Duhamel became friends during the series’ filming. They have much in common, he said. Both are musical and enjoy act- ing. Schwartz said he and his band played many bar mitzvahs when he was a teenager, and he has long “dabbled” in amateur acting roles. His first role, he said, was acting with his dad in a play put on at the St. Louis JCC. Every year, around Pesach, ABC airs The Ten Commandments, the 1956 blockbuster about the life of Moses and the Israelites flight from Egypt. This year it will be shown on April 17, starting at 7 p.m. In a March column, I said I was recently contacted by Cantor Riselle Babette Bain, 74, who played “Young Miriam” in the film. I just con- cluded a long interview with Bain and her life story is truly amazing — and “celebrity laden.” Just too much “good stuff” to relate in this week’s column. But do watch The Ten Commandments and look for Bain in the scene in which Young Miriam steps into the Nile River and puts the basket holding the baby Moses into the river. Actually, Bain told me, she wasn’t in a river. She was in a big tub filled with warm water. In the film, it seems like Miriam is looking out on the Nile. But Bain wasn’t really doing that. It was a special effect. She was actually look- ing at director Cecil DeMille, who told her exactly what do (facial expressions, etc.) CELEBRITY NEWS NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST ARTS&LIFE IMDB Adam Pally BY TOGLENN Jake Gyllenhaal Riselle Babette Bain