Cinefile

The drug world can be a grimy, seedy and ultimately fatal type of terrain to call home. Usually, the movies present drug trafficking as a woven global network comprised of small vendors and big fish (which are sometimes tied to state governing entities). Other times, we get more intimate plots that focus on a handful of players who are associated to the drug trade by need or convenience. In Joshua Marston's Maria Full Of Grace, we followed a pregnant Colombian teenager who travels through U.S. customs with balloon pellets of cocaine in her stomach (she later "drops" them out when she uses the bathroom). That was a film built on total, incalculable circumstance. The star, Catalina Sandino Moreno, earned an Oscar nomination for her performance. And now, we have another drug courier tale (this one based on true events) in Kevin Asch's Holy Rollers. The film follows a young Hasidic Jew named Sam Gold (The Social Network's Jesse Eisenberg) who falls into being a drug mule because of his quiet determination to make more money. Sam, as we see early in the film, plays by the rules of his Orthodox community (school, approved marriage prospects, taking up his father's business) up until he (unknowingly) helps transport a shipment of ecstasy pills from Amsterdam to Brooklyn. Although such a feat sounds incredible, Asch's direction in the first third of Holy Rollers makes this transaction believable. It's not that Sam is stupid. It's just that his perspective of the world is whittled down to practical concerns--in his case, earning more money--so he misses out on the big picture.

The catalyst between the ecstasy business and Sam's involvement comes in Yosef Zimmerman (Justin Bartha). Yosef understands that Sam's particular look (that of the Hasidic Jew, with the hat, side curls and all) makes him less of a suspicious target at airport security checkpoints. And since Yosef has turned his back on his predetermined path down family tradition, he recognizes the quiet enthusiasm that Sam brings to the table. Sam is sharp, observant and a good worker. The marriage for business is ideal. As long as Sam doesn't ask too many questions and agrees to fly back and forth from Amsterdam and Brooklyn, the ecstasy business remains intact, if not more fertile.

All of this, of course, could have set up an involving--if not thrilling--movie. But Ash and screenwriter Antonio Macia stick a little too close to the transcript of events; they're more concerned in the mechanisms of what went down and not the melodrama. There are no big scenes at airport security and the danger level never reaches a highpoint. The film's "drug lord" is played by musician Q-Tip but he never really comes off as a viable threat. The nightclub scenes are full of colorful lights, some drugged out babes and the occasional "Don't kiss the big boss' lady" moments.

Whatever effectiveness the film gives off is its perfunctory viewpoint on drug smuggling operating as just another moneymaking model. The film doesn't deal with any of the real repercussions drug addiction--and it doesn't have to. But it would have been a little more satisfying to see Sam in a more potent state of psychological stress. Instead, Eisenberg plays him as a guy merely going through the motions. And since the family dynamic is more muted than hysterical, when things begin to unravel near the end, the scenes lack the thunder of character defeat. Still, for an independent production trying to tell a unique story, the story has all the elements in place (appropriate cinematography, an ear for dialogue and an insight into its Jewish cultural hierarchy) but unfortunately none of the palpable danger that comes with its subject of interest.

DVD Special Features:

An alternate opening sequence headlines the Deleted Scenes on this disc (and all the scenes come with a visible timecode in the letterbox). Outside of a filmmaker commentary, the other special feature is An Interview With Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha. From this short clip we learn that Eisenberg brought the script to Bartha's attention, since their dynamic offscreen somewhat mirrored their characters' relationship onscreen.