Matzo & Mistletoe

Cartoonist and humorist Jules Feiffer and his wife are two of the people interviewed by their daughter Kate—herself a television producer and author—in Matzo & Mistletoe, a documentary about not just growing up Jewish, but growing up secular Jewish. It's a distinctly personal story for the filmmaker, which she presents as a search into the question of how much Jewish assimilation to American secularism it takes to threaten both Jewish heritage and identity. But even though the subject is a serious one, Feiffer's treatment—as the title indicates—remains essentially lighthearted (i.e., should Jews celebrate Christmas?). Combining home movie footage, feature film and TV clips, and drawings, together with interviews of her parents and friends, as well as famous personalities such as Mike Wallace and Alan Dershowitz (and even a rabbi who advertises a course for secular Jews that will introduce them to Jewish religious traditions), Feiffer's Matzo & Mistletoe exhibits a bemused tolerance for the varied ways in which a Jewish minority has either tried to adapt to American social practices or remained steadfastly resistant to them. Unfortunately, Feiffer's approach is sometimes too cute, resulting in a film that—while often engaging—offers a fairly superficial treatment of its subject. An optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)