52 | AUGUST 24 • 2023 

CAN SANDLER PUT ON A 
GREAT BAT MITZVAH? 
A POLITICAL NOTE

Last week, Netflix “popped” 
the news that on Aug. 25 
they would premiere the 
original feature film You Are 
So Not Invited to My Bat 
Mitzvah.
Here is the basic plot of 
this mostly comedic coming-
of-age story: Best friends 
Stacy (played by Sunny 
Sandler, 14, Adam Sandler’s 
daughter) and Lydia 
(Samantha Lorraine) are 
planning “epic” bat mitzvah 
parties.
However, their plans and 
their friendship are shaken 
when they both “crush on” 
the very cute Andy Goldfarb 
(Dylan Hoffman), a Hebrew 
school classmate.
Hoffman and Lorraine have 
just a few credits and like 
many “newbie” actors, I just 
couldn’t run down if they are 
Jewish.
Stacy catches Lydia kiss-
ing Andy and declares their 
friendship is over. But she 
goes further: She anony-
mously spreads nasty rumors 
about Lydia.
Stacy’s sister (Sadie 
Sandler, 17, Adam’s other 
daughter) and her mother 
(Idina Menzel, 52) step in 
and encourage Stacy to 
make peace with Lydia. Her 
mother and her father (Adam 

Sandler, 56) warn Stacy that 
her behavior could result in 
her bat mitzvah being can-
celed. (Sadie and Sunny’s 
real-life mother, Jackie 
Sandler, 48, has a small role).
This film is based on a 
2005 young adult novel of 
the same name. The novel 
got pretty good reviews. The 
author is Amanda Stern, 
50ish. Under the pen name 
Fiona Rosenbloom, she has 
written three young adult 
novels. All of them are heav-
ily “Jewish-themed” stories, 
featuring young Jewish char-
acters.
Stern has the background 
to write diverse Jewish char-
acters. She wrote about her 
own youth in Little Panic, a 
2018 memoir. Her parents 
divorced when she was 
young, and she grew up liv-
ing mostly with her mother, 
a very flaky and unreliable 
Greenwich Village “bohe-
mian.” Her father was a 
very conventional guy who 
lived in a wealthy, uptown 
Manhattan neighborhood.
The film was directed by 
Sammi Cohen, a young 
woman with some TV epi-
sode directing credits. It’s 
reasonable to assume she’s 
Jewish. 
Cohen was recently inter-
viewed by Tudum, a Netflix-
affiliated website. Here are 
excerpts: [The movie] gives 
us insight to this very Jewish 
coming-of-age experience 
but speaks to broader 

themes about what it means 
to be a kid today … I was 
excited to tell a Jewish com-
ing-of-age story that explores 
formative female friendships 
and self-discovery in a real, 
messy, authentic way. Stacy 
and Lydia’s chemistry is 
undeniable. They’re little 
platonic soulmates. The kind 
of friends who make you feel 
nostalgic for your own.
The only other big-budget 
bar or bat mitzvah movie I’m 
aware of is Keeping Up with 
the Steins (2004). It was a 
comedy that wasn’t funny 
because its central theme 
was very sad — too many 
Jewish families see a bar or 
bat mitzvah as just an excuse 
to throw a very expensive 
party.
It was a downer that wast-
ed a good cast. It lost a lot of 
money. After this debacle, it 
took the presence of Adam 
Sandler as the film’s co-star 
and main producer to get 
another expensive “bat” 
movie made. Sandler has a 
big loyal fan base who will 
watch him in anything.
You are So Not may be 
good. The Wonder Years, the 
ABC comedy TV series, ran 
two well-written bar mitzvah 
episodes. One aired during 
the series’ original run (1988-
1993) and another aired on 
the “reboot” series, which 
began running in 2021. Both 
episodes were “tasteful” and 
provided a bar mitzvah “prim-
er” for their mostly non-Jew-
ish audiences. These epi-
sodes also managed to work 
in some “appropriate” humor.
A cascade of political news 
has followed in the wake of 
the former president’s four 
criminal indictments. Most 
of the attention has been on 
the effect (if any) on the race 
for the Republican presiden-
tial nomination. However, 
“quietly,” two Jews are sort 
of running for the Democratic 

presidential nomination.
“New Age spiritual” 
guru Marianne Williamson, 
71, isn’t a serious candidate. 
Her 2020 presidential prima-
ry candidacy was perceived 
by some as a publicity stunt, 
as is her current candidacy.
Minnesota congress-
man Dean Phillips, 54, 
is another story. He was 
elected in 2018 and has 
easily won reelection 
since. He has voted with 
President Biden 100% of 
the time. However, last 
month Politico reported 
that he is considering 
running for the nomina-
tion, saying it’s time for a 
younger generation to take 
power.
Phillips’ Jewish father 
was killed in Vietnam when 
Dean was a baby. His Jewish 
mother married Eddie 
Phillips, the owner of a big 
liquor company, and he 
adopted Dean. Eddie was 
the son of Esther Phillips. 
Her pen name was “Dear 
Abby.” Dean ran the liquor 
company after Eddie’s death 
and then struck out in own, 
successful businesses. This 
included co-founding Talenti 
Gelato.
It’s hard to figure 
out Phillips’ strategy in 
challenging President Biden. 
I guess if things go south 
for Biden, Phillips might be 
a kingmaker-of-sorts for a 
more prominent Democrat 
than himself. 

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Adam Sandler 

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Marianne Williamson

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J. MCNEELEY

Idina Menzel