42 | NOVEMBER 7 • 2024 J
N
XMAS WITH SAWYER,
OFFERINGS FROM OUR
MEXICAN AND FRENCH
‘LANDSMEN’
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point
is a comedy/drama film that will
have a limited premiere on Nov.
8 and will open wide on Nov. 15.
The film focuses on a Christmas
celebration, and rarely do I find
something about a Christmas-
time film to write about.
But this film is a bit different.
Here’s the film’s premise:
On Christmas Eve, an Italian
American family gathers for
what could be their last holiday
at their ancestral home on
Long Island. As the night
wears on, tensions between
the generations arise, and two
teenage girls rebel and sneak
out of the house to meet up
with their friends.
Francesca Scorsese, 24,
plays Michelle, one of the teen
girls. Yes, she is the daughter
of famous director Martin
Scorsese.
Another major cast member
has an equally famous director
father: Sawyer Spielberg,
32. He’s the son of Steven
Spielberg, 77, and actress Kate
Capshaw, 70. Sawyer plays
“Splint.” I gather it’s a fairly big
role as a “tough guy” family
member.
Miller’s Point was directed
by Tyler Taromina, and he
co-wrote the script. One critic
speculated that these two
children of famous directors got
their parts because Taromina is
a great admirer of the directors.
(Sawyer and Francesca are
seasoned actors and casting
them wasn’t a big risk).
Taromina got good reviews
for his first film, Ham on Rye
(2020) and Miller’s Point got
good reviews at the Cannes film
Festival.
So, here’s the 411 on Sawyer:
He is one of the five children of
Steven and Kate (three natural
and two adopted children).
Steven has a son from his prior
marriage to actress Amy Irving,
and Capshaw has a daughter
from a previous marriage.
Sawyer began his acting
career as a young teen and,
when he was 18, he began
studying at a school affiliated
with a New York repertory
company. In most of his stage
roles, he acted using his middle
name. He was billed “Sawyer
Avery.”
To be frank, it seems to me
that Sawyer is at a very decisive
time in his career. He’s 32 and
he’s only starred in one film
(Honeydew, a 2020 low-budget
horror film) and he had a not-
large role in Masters of the Air,
a 2024 Apple TV+ WWII series.
Now, he’s got a “middle-size”
role in a film with a big cast.
I think his next film, Martyr of
Gowanus, will make or break a
big career. He stars as a man
torn-up by the 9/11 attack.
Sawyer married actress Raye
Levine Spielberg in 2018, and
the couple have two children.
Raye has only a few credits and
I couldn’t find out, for sure, that
she is Jewish — but I think that’s
very likely.
As I have noted before, New
York area Jews and Italians
have a lot in common, and it’s
quite common for NY Jews to
play NY Italians and vice-versa.
Big family holiday celebrations,
with tons of pretty good food,
are just one thing in common.
So, I’m not surprised that
Sawyer isn’t the only Jew in the
cast. Ben Shenkman, 56, plays
Lenny, the Italian father of teen
rebel Michelle. Shenkman has
tons of TV and movie credits
(almost all are supporting roles).
Next year, he will celebrate his
20th anniversary with his Jewish
wife.
Here’s two foreign catch-
up items: Freedom is an
original Prime Video movie
that began streaming on Nov.
1. It is inspired by Bruno Sulak,
a real-life outlaw in France in
the 1970s. He masterminded
daring heists without firing a
single shot. Sulak was pursued
by George Moreas, a dogged
police commissioner. Yvan Attal,
59, a prominent French actor
and filmmaker, plays Moreas.
Attal was born in Tel Aviv. His
parents were Algerian Jews.
French actress and director
Melanie Laurent, 41, directed
Freedom and co-wrote it. She’s
best known in America as a
star of two really good flicks:
Inglourious Basterds (2009) and
Beginners (2011).
I just came across a note
that HBO/Max was going to
stream (Nov. 3) an original, big-
budget, eight-episode Mexican
series entitled Like Water for
Chocolate. I glanced at the cast
credits and one name stood
out: Ari Brickman. I lucked out
and found a 2015 profile on
a Mexican Jewish community
site and translated it. Yes, he’s
Jewish, and he’s pretty big in
Mexico: many good acting roles
(stage, TV, films) — and he’s
a quite popular musician and
composer.
Brickman, 39, has a big
supporting role in Like
Chocolate. Here’s the series
premise: Star-crossed lovers
Tita and Pedro’s romance
is thwarted by her family’s
traditions, forcing Tita to
navigate magic and flavors in
the kitchen as she fights for
love and embraces her destined
path.
Salma Hayek produced the
series, and she was a guest on
Today on Oct. 29 to promote
the series. You can watch the
interview on today.com.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
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Sawyer
Spielberg
Ben Shenkman
Ari Brickman
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