By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
“Back to Black,” a big-budget biopic about the famous British jazz/rock singer AMY WINEHOUSE (1983-2011) opens in theaters on May 17. British actor MARISA ABELA, 27, whose mother is Jewish, plays Winehouse. There are six real-life Jewish characters in the film, but Abela is the only Jewish actor to play a Jew. This is typical in U.K. productions — there aren’t many English Jewish actors and UK producers will almost never import an American Jew to play any Jew. I suspect Abela mostly got her role because even the Brits could be shamed by making this film “Jew actor free.”
Five of the six Jewish characters are on the top of the credits: Amy, Amy’s parents, Amy’s paternal grandmother, and Amy’s first, important agent (NICK SHYMANSKY). Down the credits, you’ll find Amy’s father’s sister.
“Black” opened in the U.K. last month. The Metacritic site has posted 15 reviews of “Back” by respected British film critics. Only two reviews were raves. Eight critics trashed the film and the rest were “on the fence” — some good things — some bad.
Abela got pretty good reviews from most (she can sing). However, most critics said that the film was way too fictional. They all jumped on too-kind depictions of Amy’s father (who didn’t want Amy to go into drug rehab) and Amy’s low-life husband, who got her on heroin.
My advice is to wait to see “Back to Black” until it begins streaming. Meanwhile, you’ll find a much better biography on HBO/Max. They are now streaming the acclaimed, Oscar-winning documentary “Amy” (2015).
Opening in theaters on May 16 is “Greedy People,” a comedy mystery. It follows residents of a small island town as they cope with unusual events: a sensational murder and the finding of a million dollars.
This small-budget indie film was written and directed by Potsy Ponciroli. He also directed and wrote “Old Henry” (2021) an acclaimed Western film with a clever premise: Billy the Kid, the outlaw, wasn’t killed in New Mexico (age 21). He moved far away, took a new name (Henry), and lived the life of a family man and a small-time rancher. “Old Henry” made 10 times its cost in theaters and is now streaming, for free, on the Roku channel.
TIM BLAKE NELSON, 59 (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs; “O, Brother, Where Art Thou”), starred as Henry/Billy the Kid. It’s not surprising that Nelson took this role and a role in “Greedy People.” He’s also a playwright and he knows how hard it is to get a good cast together for a low-budget film. He’s directed and produced two critically acclaimed films adapted from his plays. One was “The “Grey Zone” (2001), about Auschwitz prisoners. Good actors, including HARVEY KEITEL, DAVID ARQUETTE, and Steve Buscemi agreed to be in this important film. They took a modest salary.
Variety liked “Greedy People,” saying: [It] should please fans of wry crime yarns like the Coen Brothers “Fargo” and the edgy and smart small-screen outings such as “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul.”
No source I’ve found clearly describes the roles played by the cast members. I did ferret out that JOSEPH GORDON LEVITT, 43, co-stars as a police officer and Nelson plays somebody hot on the million dollars. I do know that another Jewish actor, SIMON REX, 49, is also in the film.
“Hacks” is a very good HBO comedy series that got great reviews for its first season (2021). It features Jean Smart as Deborah, an aged popular comedian, and HANNAH EINBINDER, 28, as Ava, a struggling comedian who took a job writing funny stuff for Deborah. Einbinder is the daughter of LARAINE NEWMAN, 72, an original “SNL” cast member. Her father is also Jewish.
The second “Hacks” season (2022) had good moments, but it was clearly not as amusing as the first season. I waited to see the reviews of the third season (began May 3) before writing about “Hacks” again. Well, the critics who had access to this season’s all nine episodes loved the third season.
I’ve watched the first two episodes of this season and “Hacks” has its energy back. The first episode really sets up the very interesting and amusing second episode (each Thursday, this month, two “Hacks” episodes will be shown back to back — except for the one episode finale on May 30).
Hannah and Ava have two things in common. Both are former stand-up comedians and both identify as bisexual (but mostly are into women). Hannah dated popular stand-up comedian ALEC EDELMAN, 35, for about a year. They broke up in 2023
“Oy corner”: DAVID PECKER, 71, the former National Enquirer head, and Donald Trump’s former “shield,” is Jewish. I have no doubt.