By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
“Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” is a comedy/drama film that will have a limited premiere on Nov. 8 and will open wide on Nov. 15. The film focuses on a Christmas celebration and rarely do I find something about a Christmas film to write about.
But this film is a bit different. Here’s the film’s premise: On Christmas Eve, an Italian-American family gathers for what could be their last holiday at their ancestral home on Long Island. As the night wears on, tensions between the generations arise and two teenage girls rebel and sneak out of the house to meet up with their friends.
Francesca Scorsese, 24, plays Michelle, one of the teen girls. Yes, she is the daughter of famous director Martin Scorsese.
Well, another major cast member has an equally famous director father: SAWYER SPIELBERG 32. He’s the son of STEVEN SPIELBERG, 77, and actress KATE CAPSHAW, 70. Sawyer plays Splint. I gather it’s a fairly big role as a tough guy family member.
“Miller’s Point” was directed by Tyler Taromina, 40, and he co-wrote the script. One critic speculated that these two children of famous directors got their parts because Taromina is a great admirer of the directors. (Sawyer and Francesca are seasoned actors and casting them wasn’t a big risk).
Taromina got good reviews for his first film, “Ham on Rye” (2020) and “Miller’s Point” got good reviews at the Cannes film Festival.
So, here’s the 411 on Sawyer: he is one of the five children of Steven and Kate (three natural and two adopted African-American children). Steven has a son from his prior marriage to actress AMY IRVING and Capshaw has a daughter from a previous marriage.
Sawyer began his acting career as a young teen and, when he was 18, he began studying at a school affiliated to a New York repertory company. In most of his stage roles he acted using his middle name. He was billed Sawyer Avery.
To be frank, it seems to me that Sawyer is at very decisive time in his career. He’s 32 and he’s only starred in one film (“Honeydew,” a 2020 low-budget horror film) and he had a not-large role in “Masters of the Air,” a 2024 Apple+ WWII series. Now, he’s got a middle-size role in a film with a big cast. I think his next film, “Martyr of Gowanus,” will make or break a big career. He stars as a man torn-up by the 9/11 attack.
Sawyer married actress RAYE LEVINE SPIELBERG in 2018 and the couple have two children. Raye has only a few credits and I couldn’t find out, for sure, that she is Jewish — but I think that’s very likely.
As I have noted before, New York area Jews and Italians have a lot in common and its quite common for NY Jews to play NY Italians and vice-versa. Big family holiday celebrations, with tons of pretty good food, is just one thing in common.
So, I’m not surprised that Sawyer isn’t the only Jew in the cast. BEN SHENKMAN, 56, plays Lenny, the Italian father of teen rebel Michelle. Shenkman has tons of TV and movie credits (almost all are supporting roles). Next year, he will celebrate his 20th anniversary with his Jewish wife.
Here’s two foreign catch-up items: “Freedom” is an original Prime Video movie that will began streaming on Nov.1. It is inspired by Bruno Sulak, a real-life outlaw in France, in the 1970s. He masterminded daring heists without firing a single shot. Sulak was pursued by George Moreas, a dogged police commissioner. YVAN ATTAL, 59, a prominent French actor and filmmaker, plays Moreas. Attal was born in Tel Aviv. His parents were Algerian Jews.
French actress and director MELANIE LAURENT, 41, directed “Freedom” and co-wrote it. She’s best known in America as a star of two really good flicks: “Inglourious Basterds” (2009), and “Beginners” (2011).
I just came across a note that HBO/Max was going to stream (Nov. 3) an original, big budget Mexican series entitled “Like Water for Chocolate.” I glanced at the cast credits and one name stood out: Ari Brickman. I lucked out and found a profile in a Mexican Jewish community online paper and translated it. Yes, he’s Jewish and he’s pretty big in Mexico: many good acting roles (stage, TV, films) — and he’s a quite popular musician and composer.
BRICKMAN, 39, has a big supporting role in “Like Water.” Here’s the premise: “Star-crossed lovers Tita and Pedro’s romance is thwarted by her family’s traditions, forcing Tita to navigate magic and flavors in the kitchen as she fights for love and embraces her destined path.”
Salma Hayek produced the series and she was a guest on “Today” on Oct. 29 to promote the series. You can watch the interview on Today.com.