Adam Sandler is a fan of New Jersey Jewish delis. Last year, he visited Millburn’s Goldberg’s while shooting “Happy Gilmore 2” in the Garden State. This summer, his Happy Madison production company is actually shooting a Netflix comedy in one! Nana’s Deli in Livingston has been turned into Birenbaum’s, a fictional Jewish deli established in 1985, that serves, according to the beautiful decalled hand lettering on the windows, chopped liver, Reubens, knishes, herring, latkes, pickles and white fish. I need all these things, please and thank you.
NJ.com has reported that the movie is an “Untitled Roommate Project,” a Netflix project that had open casting calls for college students and law enforcement for this summer. The film will star Sadie Sandler (Sandler’s older daughter, 19) who is currently attending NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Chloe East (“Heretic”) and Chandler Levack, whose debut feature, “I Like Movies,” featured a “legal version” of Sandler’s iconic SNL “Hanukkah Song”. Her sophomore film, “Mile End Kicks” is slated to premiere this fall at TIFF.
And yet, judging by the fictional signage, it appears to this Jewish pop culture writer that the filming is actualy for the future “Don’t Say Good Luck,” starring Sunny Sandler (16, who played movie lead Stacy Friedman in “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah”) as Sophie Birenbaum.
According to Deadline, Sophie is a theater kid preparing for her leading role in her high school musical, when suddenly, family drama overtakes the drama on stage. Drama at a family-owned Jewish deli? As someone who grew up in my own Jewish family’s food establishment (an Israeli ice cream business, if you must know), I have to say: That most definitely checks out.
Jewish dad and children’s book writer Max Greenfield (“New Girl”) is also in the movie, as, I can only assume, Sophie’s dad? That feels right to me; does it feel right to you? It also stars “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”‘s fabulous Stephanie Beatriz and the indomitable Melanie Lynskey (“Yellow Jackets”), who could both play excellent Jewish moms in my opinion. And if that’s not enough, Jewish theater and TV legend Bebe Neuwirth (!!!) and Steve Buscemi (!!!!) are also in the cast. I’m not sure I can handle this cast. If Steve Buscemi plays a Jewish grandfather in this movie, I will plotz.
The film is based on a script by novelist Laura Hankin (“One-Star Romance”), along with Julia Hart, the film’s director and Jordan Horowitz (“La La Land”) who also serves as producer. Hart and Horowitz, who are married, have previously worked together on the critically acclaimed “Miss Stevens,” “Fast Color,” “I’m Your Woman” and “Stargirl.”
Nana’s Deli shared that it will be closed until July 9 for the shoot, according to the eatery and caterer’s Instagram. The deli, owned by the Dworkin family and established in 1981, serves both Italian and Jewish fare (yes, that includes matzah ball soup and chopped liver), and recently opened a new location in Jersey City. It’s famous for its tuna salad; the recipe was passed down from the family’s Grandma Rose and is kept secret.
The movie also shot at a nearby Korean restaurant and at the amphitheater of Montclair High School, where a teen passerby reported that he saw the crew shooting a graduation scene.
I, for one, am thrilled to possibly have an Adam Sandler movie with what appears to be serious Jewish deli rep in our future. In the meantime, you can watch Adam Sandler return to the role of Happy Gilmore on Netflix on July 25, as the golfer comes out of retirement to pay his daughter’s ballet school tuition. That daughter? She’s played by Sunny Sandler, of course.
