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The Hebrew Hammer
When a psychotic Santa tries to destroy Chanukah by hypnotizing Jewish children with bootlegged copies of the Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life," it's up to the Hebrew Hammer to save the day. Together with Mohammed, head of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, the Hammer takes no prisoners in his quest to hunt down the renegade Santa and make the holiday season safe for all.
2003 · Directed by Jonathan Kesselman · 81 min · Action · Comedy · Screenplay in the scene database · 1 frames
Tagline
Part man. Part street. 100% Kosher.
Plot
The film begins with a flashback to a young Mordechai Jefferson Carver. At school, Mordechai is tormented by his fellow students and his teacher for being a Jewish child in a public school predominantly attended by Christians, and for celebrating Hanukkah while everyone else celebrates Christmas. Although his teacher encourages her students to respect Mordechai for who he is, he feels further alienated as he walks through his neighborhood and sees a seemingly endless number of Christmas decorations and window displays celebrating the holiday and announcing that Jews aren't welcome. As he lies down on the sidewalk in front of a store saying "Jews 'OK' (for about 5 minutes)" and spins his dreidel to cheer himself up, Santa Claus walks by and crushes the toy under his foot, then gives Mordechai the finger.
The scene then changes to the present with Mordechai as the Hebrew Hammer, a certified circumcised "dick" who has dedicated his life to defending Jews. His snappy dress (a cross between that of a pimp and a Hasidic Jew) and tough-guy demeanor have made him a local hero within the Jewish community. Jews and African Americans have enjoyed a tenuous peace with the white Christians over the previous few decades because Santa has pursued a policy of inclusion and tolerance. This Santa is murdered and replaced by his cruel son, Damian, who stomped Mordechai's dreidel years earlier. Damian seeks to destroy Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, thus reserving December for Christmas alone. Mordechai is reluctantly recruited to stop Damian, gaining allies along the way, including love interest and daughter of the Chief of the Jewish Justice League Esther Bloomenbergensteinenthal and the Kwanzaa Liberation Front's leader Mohammed Ali Paula Abdul Rahim.
The fight takes them to exotic locales such as Israel, K-Mart, the Jewish Atomic Clock outside Jerusalem and the final battle at the North Pole.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Jonathan Kesselman
- Cinematography: Kurt Brabbee
- Edited by: Dean Holland
- Music: Michael Cohen
- Produced by: Josh Kesselman, Sofia Sondervan, Lisa Fragner
Cast
- Adam Goldberg as Mordechai Jefferson Carver
- Judy Greer as Esther Bloomenbergensteinenthal
- Andy Dick as Damian Claus
- Mario Van Peebles as Mohammed Ali Paula Abdul Rahim
- Peter Coyote as JJL Chief Bloomenbergensteinenthal
- Nora Dunn as Mrs. Carver
- Sean Whalen as Tiny Tim
- Tony Cox as Jamal
- Richard Riehle as Santa
- Melvin Van Peebles as Sweetback
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English, Hebrew, Russian
- Studios: Comedy Central Films, ContentFilm, Paramount Pictures, ContentFilm International
- Budget: $2,000,000
- Box office: $94,615
- Themes: santa claus, satire, hanukkah, christmas, action comedy, jewish
On this film
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