Holy Rollers (film)
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Kevin Asch |
| Produced by |
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| Written by | Antonio Macia |
| Starring |
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| Music by | MJ Mynarski |
| Cinematography | Ben Kutchins |
| Edited by | Suzanne Spangler |
| Distributed by | First Independent Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $302,886 (22 August 2010) |
Holy Rollers is a 2010 independent film written by Antonio Macia, directed by Kevin Asch, and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Bartha, Ari Graynor, Danny Abeckaser, Q-Tip and Jason Fuchs. Holy Rollers is inspired by actual events in the late nineties when Hasidic Jews were recruited as mules to smuggle ecstasy from Europe into the United States.
Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg), is a mild-mannered 20-year-old Orthodox Jewish man who lives with his large family in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn. Sam works in his father's fabric store while studying to be a rabbi. He and his family hope to arrange a marriage for him with Zeldy Lazar. However, Sam's family is much poorer than the Lazars, and he worries he will be unable to provide for them.
Sam and his best friend Leon (Jason Fuchs) accept a mysterious job offer from Leon's brother Yosef (Justin Bartha) and his boss, the Israeli Jackie (Danny Abeckaser). Yosef sends them to Amsterdam, with instructions to wait for him. While there, the pair are given a briefcase, which Yosef says contains medicine, and are instructed to walk it through customs in New York. Back in New York, the pair discover the briefcase contains pure ecstasy. Leon wants nothing more to do with Yosef, but Sam is attracted to the easy money.
Sam becomes a participant in Jackie's operation, making trips to Amsterdam to pick up suitcases. He is paid to recruit other young Orthodox Jews as mules, who implicitly trust him as one of their own. Sam meets the liberal Jewish girl Rachel (Ari Graynor), Jackie's girlfriend, and drinks alcohol and takes ecstasy with the gang. Sam begins to rise in the organization when he brokers a business deal with European drug manufacturer Ephraim (Q-Tip).
Meanwhile, Sam leaves the yeshiva. His new job is well-known around his neighborhood, and his parents kick him out of the house. Sam discovers Yosef has been skimming money from Jackie through side deals. Jackie, however, wants to ship street ecstasy, which contains a higher percentage of other drugs, into America. These drugs, carried by unwitting young Orthodox Jews is picked up by drug-sniffing dogs and the mules are arrested.
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