Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Donny's Bar Mitzvah Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf June 23, 2021

Crudeness should have a level of wit to it, helping viewers work through gross-outs and general raunch knowing there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. Writer/director Jonathan Kaufman skipped smartness when he put together “Donny’s Bar Mitzvah,” which is meant to deliver a mockumentary- style faux documentary romp about the titular teen and his special party, which, rather quickly, spins wildly out of control for a collection of characters. Kaufman intentionally aims for the bottom of the barrel with this endeavor, which is relentless in its pursuit of vulgarity. It’s a chore to sit through, with the helmer’s greatest sin being a lack of invention when it comes to jokes, which there aren’t any.

It’s a big night in 1998 for Donny (Steele Stebbins), who’s eager to celebrate his bar mitzvah with family and friends. The theme is a Hollywood awards show, but the guests use the occasion to work out relationship issues, inspiring several subplots where teens and adults give in to the chaos of the evening.

One could quibble “Donny’s Bar Mitzvah” into the ground, including a strange technical choice that has the feature shot on HD, with the image degraded to look like an old VHS tape. Why not just shoot the movie on videotape? The film wouldn’t necessarily improve with such an aesthetic choice, but Kaufman would be able to capture a more convincing reality to the endeavor, going single-camera gonzo instead of the highly rehearsed and digitally polished multi-camera viewing experience he offers here. The production is also pretty sloppy when it comes to sticking with its choice of year, as most of the actors look like their 2019 selves, and one character makes a loud reference to “The Matrix,” which was released in 1999. It’s nitpicking, sure, but there’s nothing else to do when watching this lifeless picture.

Perhaps Kaufman imagines “Donny’s Bar Mitzvah” as a Christopher Guest experience, where actors are given free rein to follow their improvisational instincts, with cameras capturing all the insanity. It’s worked before for other directors, but Kaufman isn’t that sharp, working extremely hard to make his movie as comedically hostile as possible. There’s a subplot featuring an oversexed mother (Noureen DeWulf) who decides to be lusty and exciting by inserting a full 1998 cell phone into her vagina, hoping to charm a potential lover. Another section of the film tracks a manhunt for a “party pooper,” with Danny Trejo playing an agent searching for “Vaal Dh’o,” a villain dressed up as “Where’s Waldo” who frequently defecates on the floor. Danny’s mother (Wendy Braun) also makes a horrible discovery when hats intended to be party favors have purple dildos attached to them for some reason.

A lot of the weirdness in “Donny’s Bar Mitzvah” is unmotivated, only put into play because Kaufman needs some form of shock value every few minutes to keep viewers awake. Bodily fluids flow throughout the endeavor, which also enjoys depicting crazed adults and nervous children, while stories of identity, sexual preference, and hidden desires are explored, occasionally in nauseating detail. Kaufman tries to give “Donny’s Bar Mitzvah” a “Tim and Eric” makeover, with abrupt edits, love of low-fi graphics, and overall absurdity worked into the flow of the film to make it more of a self-aware romp. However, there’s no material here to support welcome oddity, just a series of coarse interactions with unpleasant characters exclusively dealing in juvenile behavior that’s not given a clever spin by the director to make it special.

Donny's Bar Mitzvah Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.32:1 aspect ratio) presentation isn't working with much, as "Donny's Bar Mitzvah" was shot with modern HD equipment, with footage manipulated to look like a videotape experience from 1998. It's a fuzzier viewing event with lots of faux damage and bright lighting. Detail reaches as far as possible, offering a satisfactory sense of skin particulars and costuming highlights. Decorations are appreciable. Colors are satisfactorily defined, with clothing varied and certain elements, including purple sex toys, vivid. Delineation is acceptable.

Donny's Bar Mitzvah Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix presents clear dialogue exchanges, capturing wildly different performances and all forms of yelling. Surrounds offer some atmospherics with the celebratory commotion, but soundtrack cuts are more distinctly circular, offering sonic power and some low-end beats.

Donny's Bar Mitzvah Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features actors Adam Herschman and Tricia O'Kelley, who perform in-character as Gary and Susie.

• Interview (16:38, HD) is a video conference conversation between film programmer Isaac Zablocki and the writer/director of "Donny's Bar Mitzvah," Jonathan Kaufman. The origins of the project are recalled, with Kaufman taking his first crack at the screenplay while in high school, eventually working up interest to turn the premise into a viable film. A fear of becoming politically incorrect is analyzed, with the helmer hoping to take the material too far to help its zany tone, and biographical touches are identified, with Kaufman putting his own experiences with kids and parents at parties into the screenplay. Research is recounted, technical decisions are explained, and realism is examined.

• "Rabbis React" (1:36, HD) collect four ads for the digital release of "Donny's Bar Mitzvah."

• And a Red Band Trailer (2:10, HD), Green Band A (2:00, HD), Green Band B (1:56, HD), and Mini Trailers (:50, HD) are included.

Donny's Bar Mitzvah Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bar mitzvah culture isn't something that's explored in film very often, giving Kaufman a chance to deliver a farce that's loaded with insider references and a general lived-in appearance. Outside of references to men with too much ranch dressing on their hands and some choreography gags, there's nothing in "Donny's Bar Mitzvah" that really makes it unique. Kaufman passes on nuance and satire to make a dispiritingly primitive endeavor, intentionally avoiding any chance to elevate the effort with some form of creative forethought. It's just an offering of dead-eyed raunch (not ranch) that could've been so much better with just the slightest bit of actual writing.