The early 1960s: In preparation for his Bar Mitzvah, a Jewish boy, Max Glick (Noam Zylberman) from a small Manitoba community with an overbearing family tries to navigate his coming-of-age with his family's condescension and bigotry using his sarcastic, Jewish humour. The town's rabbi dies, and a sub-plot develops in which Max's father (Aaron Schwartz) and grandfather (Jan Rubes)-both synagogue leaders-are saddled with a traditional Hassidic rabbi who sticks out like a sore thumb among the otherwise assimilated Jewish community. To make matters more difficult, Max likes a Catholic girl (14 year old Fairuza Baulk in just her third film), whom he later competes with in a piano competition. The quirky, fun-loving rabbi tries to help him with his problems, yet harbours a secret ambition of his own.
Filmed in Winnipeg and rural Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada.
Noam Zylberman
as Maximilian Glick
Fairuza Balk
as Celia Brzjinski
Jan Rubeš
as Augustus Glick
Susan Douglas
as Bryna Glick
Saul Rubinek
as Rabbi Teitelman
Aaron Schwartz
as Henry Glick
William Marantz
as Rabbi Kaminsky
Sharon Corder
as Sarah Glick
Ken Zelig
as Morris Moskover
Howard Jerome
as Zelig Peikes
Alec McClure
as Sandy Lubchuk
