The 25 Greatest Jewish Characters in Movies

In a lawsuit against John Travolta, it's alleged that the actor once screamed at a masseuse, "Hollywood is controlled by homosexual Jewish men who expect favors in return for sexual activity.” Crazy, yes, but it does tap into a well-worn cultural trope: Jews run Hollywood. You'd think, though, that if that were the case, there'd be tons of incredible Jewish movie characters. Not entirely the case. There are just as many terrible ones as there are good ones, and they're all usually remembered in equal measure.

Yet, the Jewish movie characters that we can recall and love are distinctly memorable, either for having a very explicit Jewish identity, or, in some cases, a very sly and implied one (just as, if not more important than the former). Their greatness comes directly from Judaism and the values that come with it. In other cases, they're just incredible characters who happen to be Jewish.

So let's forget about the politics of characters playing up Jewish cliches, or political correctness as soap-boxers will no doubt try to force on moviegoers' tastes. Complex's Jewish movie character discernment team might have a Jew leading it, but we'll be damned (or rather, guilted) if that's going to stop us from being lost in the desert of shitty Jewish movie characters for 40 years, let alone thinking Charlton Heston's Moses wasn't really that great.

You want chosen people? We've got chosen people right here. Complex is pleased to introduce: The 25 Greatest Jewish Characters in Movies. L'chayim.

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Notable Jewish Moment: The Egyptians find out Moses is a Jewish prince, after he's spoken to by a burning bush/God. Also, he really guilts the shit out of everyone before breaking the stone tablets. Chill, B.
Classic Quote: "Let my people go!"

No list of Jewish movie characters would be complete without Charlton Heston's take on Moses (and also, controversally, the voice of God). He wasn't the only or the last one to play the protagonist of Exodus on the silver screen, but director Cecil B. DeMille's final and most famous film was as much a career-defining moment for Heston as it was for Moses, as the guy who liberated the Jews from Egypt finally received the epic hero treatment the Old Testament asked for.

But does it age well? If you're watching The Ten Commandments for the camp factor, sure: It's off the charts. Otherwise, talk about traif: Heston's ham-fisted performance as a larger than life biblical figure—who may, in fact, be one of the more manly-men Jews in movie history—in a weirdly white-washed movie makes Moses less of a commanding leader of the people, and more a self-righteous prick who won't let up after he finally gets what he wants.

Notable Jewish Moment: He's a traveling Moyle. And a Rabbi.
Classic Quote: [Regarding circumcision] "It's the latest craze. The ladies love it."

Picking a single Mel Brooks role over all the others isn't easy: Plenty of his most ostensibly Jewish characters aren't technically Jewish, but more Jew-ish, and all of his movies have at least a few references to his religion laced throughout.

Rabbi Tuckman—a play on Friar Tuck, from the actual Robin Hood tale—stands out for being the most explicitly Jewish of these characters and one of the most important saving graces to Robin Hood: Men In Tights, a movie that's brilliant in some parts, and in others, not so much.

Notable Jewish Moment: He heals the ear of the guy who's arresting him. Doctors, right?
Classic Quote: "Forgive them, Father. They know not what they do."

Is Mel Gibson an anti-Semite? That infamous DUI report aside, if you count making a movie in which a nice Jewish boy gets the shit beaten out of him for two hours straight, then, yeah, probably. Did you forget that the main character of this movie was, in fact, Jewish? He definitely is. And he gets his ass kicked for it, a lot. Like: a lot.

In fact, Jesus gets his ass kicked for being Jewish more and longer and more brutally than any other Jew in the history of cinema. For that alone, he merits inclusion on this list. Caviezel also got struck by lightning while filming, and hasn't been in anything all that big, since, but that's another thing entirely. The fact is, there are a lot of Jewish characters that are easy to forget. Jim Caviezel's Jesus, for better or worse, most definitely isn't one of them.

Notable Jewish Moment: His name is "Ballstein," possibly the funniest fake Jewish name ever. But also, he spends the entire movie with exposed chest-hair, on top of which is a Star of David peeking out.
Classic Quote: "I got a prostate the size of a honeydew and a headful of bad memories. It's time to set the record straight.'"

Yes, that's Ben Stiller's father, playing the father of Derek Zoolander, who's played by Ben Stiller. The two on screen together make for wonderful moments of comic brilliance, but compared with his son's one-note character, it's Maury Ballstein—the ass-grabbing, sandwich-chomping owner of Balls Models—who steals the show as the heart of the film, the mentor to Zoolander who eventually helps save the day.

Without Ballstein as the most human, relatable, and likely of characters, Zoolander might not have had enough gravity to become the cult-classic comedy and perfect send-up of high fashion that we know it as today.

Notable Jewish Moment: David's dad tells him, over the phone, that he has to find time to visit the nearest temple for Rosh Hashanah.
Classic Quote: [Standing in the rain outside the dorm building, ready to fuck up his anti-Semetic buddies] "Cowards!"

David Greene has it all: looks, athletic ability, smarts, and a really hot blonde swimmer (Amy Locane) lusting after him. So what could possibly be making dude's life a living hell? Oh, that's right: He's devoutly Jewish but can't let any of the close-minded students at his new prep school know about it. Having earned the position of the school's football squad's starting quarterback, he's already a source of envy for the insecure and douchey Charlie Dillon (Matt Damon)—once Charlie finds out that David prays while wearing a yamaka, it's over for Mr. Greene.

Well, not exactly. See, David is one tough son of a bitch, able to withstand petty insults, prejudiced teammates, and other religion-inspired problems on his way to watching that weasel Charlie get expelled for cheating on a history exam. The only way David could be any cooler is if he'd capped off Charlie's exit with, "Matzah luck to you, asshole!"

Notable Jewish Moment: Any scene in which Ace handles the casino's finances with extreme care. What, that's not prejudice—that's really what he does!
Classic Quote: "In the casino, the cardinal rule is to keep them playing and to keep them coming back. The longer they play, the more they lose, and in the end, we get it all."

Martin Scorsese's movies don't have a shortage of excellent characters—many of whom, of course, were played by Robert De Niro. Sam "Ace" Rothstein, played by Mr. De Niro in the 1995 gangster classic Casino, is arguably one of the most fully realized and impressive in Scorsese's entire filmography, which says a lot. Based on the real Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, Ace uses his sports handicapping expertise and Mafia ties to single-handedly take over Las Vegas. He starts with the Tangiers, a reasonably successful casino that doubles in profits and becomes a hot spot for bookies, celebrities, and big spenders under Rothstein's sharp, take-no-prisoners eye.

Not that Ace's reign comes without any major headaches, though. At home, he has to deal with a gold-digging, druggie wife (Sharon Stone) who continually cheats on him and violently spazzes out in front of their young daughter. And in the workplace, there's his volatile business partner Nicholas "Nicky" Santoro (Joe Pesci), a Napoleon-like enforcer who lacks Ace's ability to calm down, reason, and handle matters maturely. That's why Nicky ultimately gets his head bashed in with a baseball bat while Ace walks away from a failed car bombing with hardly a scratch.

Notable Jewish Moment: After being kidnapped by a bunch of Chasidim who rap him in a prayer shawl, Max meets their leader, a rabbi, who tells him they share the same last name. For most young Jews, this is basically what the first day of Sunday School is like.
Classic Quote: "It's fair to say I'm stepping out on a limb, but I am on the edge and that's where it happens."

Max Cohen's just another nice, reclusive Jewish guy who's pretty good at math. So good, in fact, that he begins to suspect he's being followed. And he is. By a bunch of Wall Street suits and a group of Chasidic Jews, both of whom want what's inside Max's head: a 216-digit number that's either the beginning of the coming of the messiah, or a really great way to make stock picks, depending on who you ask.

Max's genius is complex: It's awe-inspiring and frightening, dead-on and skittish, a result of spiritualism or simple brainpower. Whatever Max really is, the protagonist of Darren Aronofsky's first feature—played by an actor who hasn't done much since—is enough to make anyone paranoid, let alone anyone who's Jewish and halfway good at math. He's a complex, driving force that the movie couldn't operate without.

Notable Jewish Moment: If it's not the fact that his name is "Les Grossman," it's that he's powerful, works in Hollywood, is balding, fat, has a hairy chest covered with a gold chain, and can usually be found screaming at subordinates, in a send-up of every cliche about Hollywood Jews. Still not convinced? His painfully rhythm-deficient victory dance to Ludacris' "Get Back" at the end of the film seals it up.
Classic Quote: "Look, fuckstick, I'm incredibly busy so why don't you get the hell out of here before I snap your dick off and jam it into your ass?"

A megalomaniacal, sociopathic 21st century Jewish man in Hollywood? Never, except, always. Tom Cruise's "cameo" in director/star Ben Stiller's epic jungle war comedy tops off an already incredible cast, but even more remarkable is the fact that Stiller managed to produce one of the rare instances where Cruise ever has or will ever play against self-seriousness and appearance.

In Tropic Thunder, he donned a fat suit and a bald headcap to play relentless studio mogul Les Grossman, who—assistant abuse, obesity, demanding psychosis and all—was supposedly inspired by Stiller's producing partner Stuart Cornfeld (with sprinkles of uber-producer Scott Rudin, too). While the role of Hollywood Jew is a tired-and-true one, in this case, there's never been (or likely will be) a more unlikely portrayal.

Notable Jewish Moment: The entire plot revolves around a Jewish guy's self-loathing. Also, he was going to be a rabbi. Whoops.
Classic Quote: "Just take a look at the last three most well-known Jews: Marx, Freud, and Einstein. What have they given us? Communism, infantile sexuality, and the atom bomb."

Jewish kids have been disappointing and/or rebelling against their parents for generations by not aspiring to be a rabbi, doctor, lawyer, or something relatively respectable, reliable, and/or marginally profitable. But is it every Jewish parent's worst nightmare? No. Going from being a rabbinical student to a neo-Nazi, as Ryan Gosling does playing a young Jewish man in The Believer? That would, in fact, be every Jewish parent's worst nightmare, and Gosling delivers a crackling, powerhouse performance as Danny Balint, the young man who does just that and promptly begins to unravel after a journalist begins to expose him as Jewish.

Notable Jewish Moment: David's father constantly reminds him of his Judasim through quips, a non-denominational prayer, and an over-bearing protectiveness about head colds, which eventually leads David to the answer to killing the aliens.
Classic Quote: "[In the alien spacecraft] Take a look at the earthlings!"

There really aren't too many movies where Jewish guys fight aliens, let alone alongside Will Smith. In this 1996 summer blockbuster, Jeff Goldblum as David Levenson did just that, and—spoiler alert—helped save the world. Levenson—a hyper-liberal environmentalist whose ex-wife works for the White House—is always the smartest guy in the room, but a reluctant hero.

David merits inclusion here simply for being able to match wits and charisma with Captain Steven Hiller (the aforementioned Will Smith, playing a character that's basically the Fresh Prince in a jet fighter). He also has a bigger save-the-day moment than any other Jewish character in contemporary American cinema.

Honorable Mention: Judd Hirsch as David's father, Julius, always nagging at him to do better, and leading a non-denominational prayer before the alien attack.

Notable Jewish Moment: He bodies a bunch of Nazis with his superpowers.
Classic Quote: "Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand. Well, don't fear God, Senator, and certainly don't fear me. Not any more."

There are villains, and then there are super-villains, and then there's Magneto: A bad guy who fears the persecution of mutants because he lived through the Holocaust. Is he up to no good? Yes. But is he charming, brilliant, and full of good points that make you question who's really the good guy in this story? Absolutely. And making a villain out of a Jewish Holocaust survivor can't be easy. Especially one everyone really, really feels for.

Notable Jewish Moment: In a dream-sequence, Vinz breakdances. To klezmer music.
Classic Quote: [Regarding the cartoon.] "Tom fucks Jerry's shit up."

The French black-and-white drama La Haine, about inner-city Paris hoodlums, was brilliant for everything its characters shouldn't have been: Vinz, a poor, French Jew who's into hip hop, obsessed with Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver, wants more than anything to be tough. His best friends are an Arab kid and a French-African. And he's out for revenge after one of their friends is put into a coma by the cops.

Instead of being the non-confrontational pacifist, Vinz is the firebrand of the group who's filled with rage. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jewish skinhead, Cassel's breakout character is everything the stereotype of who he could be isn't.

Notable Jewish Moment: When assembling his criminal crew, Noodles kept things strictly Yiddish, teaming with guys named Patrick Goldberg, Philip Stein, and Max Bercovicz.
Classic Quote: "I like the stink of the streets. It makes me feel good. And I like the smell of it, it opens up my lungs. And it gives me a hard-on."

At a robust 256 minutes long, Sergio Leone's sprawling, generations-spanning mobster epic Once Upon a Time in America follows the quick-witted, resilient David "Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro, an Italian who's great at playing Jewish ruffians) from his youthful 1920s days through 1968, who watches numerous friends and lovers die as a result of the Lower East Side native's forays into bootlegging, murder, robbery, and treachery.

How great of a character is Noodles, a protagonist taken from author Harry Grey's original novel The Hoods? He actually rapes two women throughout the course of the film, and yet we still can't help but feel for the guy. Which must have something to do with how he first won us over by stabbing his pushy neighborhood crime boss to death as a youngster. You might not like Noodles as a human being, but you've got to respect his gangster.

Besides, Wu-Tang Clan's own Masta Killa wouldn't use the character's name as his Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... alias if Noodles wasn't legitimately badass.

Notable Jewish Moment: It's never mentioned explicitly, but a family that goes "summering" in the Catskills in the '60s to a place where meat and dairy are never served in the same scene? Short of being a Rabbi, about as Jewish as you could get at the time.
Classic Quote: "Me? I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you."

A young girl, dragged by her rich parents to the Catskills for the summer, falls in love with a badass non-Jew named Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) with all the right dance moves. Jennifer Grey (as Baby Houseman) is on some classic Young Liberal Jewess Rebellion-type life, shrugging off what's expected of her and her father's eventual order to stay away from Johnny.

What does she get done over the course of the movie? Not much. She pouts and learns how to dance, funds a botched abortion, and comes forward about sleeping with her blue-collar dance instructor, and he gets fired. But the movie and Grey's performance are classic for a reason, despite both being panned on release: It all somehow just works, and even though Baby Houseman probably doesn't deserve it, we cheer for her whitewashed, upper-class life, anyway.

Sometimes, we want the girl who already has it all to win more. Seriously, nobody puts Baby in the corner.

Notable Jewish Moment: Correct use of Yiddish. Picky about food. Gets heartburn easily. Works with the diamond trade in New York City. Take your pick.
Classic Quote: "First the stone, Rosie. First the stone and then I'm gonna get you to a doctor, and not just any doctor, boychik, I'm gonna find you a nice Jewish doctor."

Guy Ritchie's gonzo British diamond-heist flick involves sleazy criminals from all backgrounds, of all stripes. The sole American in the group? A Jewish diamond dealer by way of New York named Cousin Avi, who backs a heist in which the thieves are dressed as Chasidic Jews.

Dennis Farina takes great lines and runs with them at full-speed. In a movie full of Guy Ritchie's machine gun-paced, razor-sharp British witticisms, Avi's scathing sense of humor and ruthlessness holds its own against an entire European menagerie of thugs, goons, and other assorted criminal elements, making him a smart-ass for the ages. Also: a reservoir of people looking for lines about how much they hate London.

Notable Jewish Moment: He's a voodoo doctor who sings in Yiddush.
Classic Quote: [Picks up the dead Wesley's arm, and drops it with a thud on the table.] "I've seen worse."

Billy Crystal's Jewish, he's played plenty of Jews, and he's one of the modern masters of contemporary Jewish humor. And yet, Miracle Max—one of his most Jew-ish characters ever—isn't explicitly Jewish. Then again, does Judaism even exist in the kind of magical, but mostly witty kingdom in which The Princess Bridetakes place? Not really, but if you must know, author-screenwriter William Goldman said Miracle Max is Jewish.

Max is basically a troll-doctor who had his royal medical license revoked by an evil king, and when brought the "almost-dead" hero pirate Westley if only for revenge. While he does it, Crystal manages to embody some of the oldest and most easily-identifiable Jewish-humor tropes in the world, in a role that's half-Gollum, half-Thousand Year-Old Man, and all brilliant.

Notable Jewish Moment: In most of the American Pie movies, the Levenstein's Judaism is mostly implicit, except for American Wedding, in which Jim's grandmother/Noah's mother objects to Jim marrying a girl who isn't Jewish. Typical.
Classic Quote: "I have to admit, you know, I did the fair bit of...masturbating when I was a little younger. I used to call it stroking the salami, yeah, you know, pounding the old pud... I never did it with baked goods, but you know your uncle Mort, he pets the one-eyed snake 5-6 times a day."

Back in 1999, it would've been hard to imagine that the guy from the Christopher Guest movies would turn out to be a teen sex comedy's lasting legacy.

But eight films later (only four of which went to theaters, maybe 1.75 of which are genuinely worthwhile) the American Pie franchise's greatest contribution to cinema isn't Jason Biggs sexing some pastry, nor Sean William Scott's bigger-than-life dickhead Stifler—it's the character genuinely known as "Jim's Dad," who, like so many middle-class Jewish fathers before him, just wants to give his son some solid advice and empathize with whatever weird teenage sex thing he might be into at the time. Levy's execution was flawless. It was also incredibly uncomfortable, awkward, and hilarious.

Notable Jewish Moment: He grew up Jewish in an Italian neighborhood, and the only other Jewish kid who grew up with him is now, also, a Jewish gangster (Ron Perlman).
Classic Quote: "The money always flows up, Izzy. You know that."

The ultimate minimalist action movie, a lot happens in Drive, but those looking for 90-minutes of car-chasing spectacle need to look elsewhere. At its heart, director Nicolas Winding Refn's film is about characters: Ryan Gosling's silent, nameless stunt driver of the title who will save a single-mother Angelino damsel in distress (Carrie Mulligan) at any cost, or Bryan Cranston as his hapless mentor.

And yet, the most memorable character of the film is handily its most evil: Bernie Rose, in a less-than-comic role for Albert Brooks. Shylock he ain't: Rose is the rare, modern-day Jewish gangster, whose defining qualities aren't greed, or slyness, or sleazy hucksterism, but empathy (though not enough to stop him from being evil). At the end of the day, Bernie Rose just wants his money right, and when his muscle creates a problem with the East Coast mob, he feels his hands are tied in the situation, and has to kill (much to his disappointment).

In a movie built around the power of regular human beings, Bernie Rose exhibits superhuman qualities for just how human of a villain he can be.

Honorable Mention: Ron Perlman as Nino, Rose's right-hand man, a Jewish gangster who actually aspires to be an Italian gangster, and also owns a pizza shop.

Notable Jewish Moment: When a colleague stops by his office to discuss a tenure meeting, Larry starts confessing things he wasn't even asked about. It's an instant-classic breakdown.
Classic Quote: "I am not an evil man! I went to the Astor Art once! I saw Swedish River! It wasn't even erotic! Although..it was..in a way."

There's the cliche of the nebbishy, self-pitying Jewish man who sees the world as an unrelenting assault on his peace of mind, and then there's Larry Gopnik, the Coen Brothers' full-force manifestation of this perception. His family is indifferent to him, his best friend is screwing his wife, his life is coming apart at the seams, and he's just trying to find some meaning in it all (if there is any).

Even worse, he can't seem to get a moment of time with the top rabbi in town to explain any of this to him. Stuhlbarg's performance ages well over time, especially as we see the underrated actor's range continue to develop. For example, his role on HBO's Boardwalk Empire as cunning Jewish gangster Arnold Rothstein couldn't be any more different from Gopnik, the great, tragic, existential hero.

Honorable Mention: Larry Gopnik just narrowly edges out his son, Danny Gopnik (Aaron Wolff), who unlike his father, actually achieves some things of note: performing his Bar Mitzvah stoned out of his mind and getting into the office of the town's top rabbi, from whom he finally gets his confiscated Walkman back.

Notable Jewish Moment: Nazis suspect Donowitz to be a golem, or a rabbi-molded demon from Jewish folklore who can only be summoned by a rabbi.
Classic Quote: [Immediately after bashing a Nazi's head in.] "Teddy fuckin' Williams knocks it out of the park! Fenway Park on its feet for Teddy fuckin' Ballgame! He went yardo on that one, out to fuckin' Lansdowne Street!"

Of all of the Nazi-scalping soldiers in the Jewish-American army regiment of Quentin Tarantino's vengeful "Basterds," Sgt. Donny Rothstein (played by actually-Jewish horror director Eli Roth) is by far the most merciless, introduced when dealing with captured Nazis who aren't divulging information to the troops.

The reputation of the "Bear Jew" precedes him. For example, when asked if he's heard of the Bear Jew, a Nazi answers, "He beats German soldiers with a club." And then, spoiler alert, after the sound of his bat clacking a wall, the Bear Jew emerges, and beats a German soldier's head in.

Donowitz is the brute of the group, a vengeful, pissed-off Jewish soldier who relishes the opportunity to enact revenge on his enemies, and he has a blast while doing it. Brutal, yes? But it's hard not to enjoy watching the Bear Jew have fun, however disturbing it might be.

Honorable Mention: Mélanie Laurent as the film's heroine, Shosanna Dreyfus.

Notable Jewish Moment: She doesn't bat an eye when her friend Dionne drops the word "kvelling" into a sentence. Also, Cher ends up being saved by a nice Jewish boy named Josh (Paul Rudd).
Classic Quote: "Okay, so you're probably going, "Is this like a Noxzema commercial or what?" But seriously, I actually have a way normal life for a teenage girl. "

Cher is likely the least explicitly Jewish character on this list—not much is made of her religion, aside from the obvious reference to it in her last name. But she's handily one of the most memorable.

In Amy Heckerling's 1995 teen comedy, Cher clashed with as many of the early '90s Jewish American Princess stereotypes as she reinforced, if not more. Daddy's girl? Check. Father's a lawyer? Yep. Rich, young, in Beverly Hills? Sure. Overdressed, uninterested in school, a spoiled gossip and matchmaking yenta? Absolutely.

But also: She's blonde. She's an all-American California Girl. She's popular. And she proves herself to have a fiercely independent streak. If anything, Cher Horowitz showed the rest of America that a Jewish it-girl really isn't all that different from any other it-girl. Besides, she doesn't even have the most Jewish line in the movie.

Notable Jewish Moment: He's put in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. But, when forced to board the train to said concentration camp, Guido jokes to his son about requesting to take the bus back due to unsatisfying travel conditions.
Classic Quote: "'Not Allowed' signs are the latest trend! The other day, I was in a shop with my friend the kangaroo, but their sign said, 'No Kangaroos Allowed,' and I said to my friend, 'Well, what can I do? They don't allow kangaroos.'"

Holocaust films are tough. That's not to say they can't be great (they usually are). But they're tough to watch, and, unless you're a student of film, even tougher to truly love.

Roberto Benigni changed all that with Life is Beautifulwhen he pulled off the impossible: He made a funny, touching, and completely loveable film about the Holocaust, all of which is filtered through the character he plays in it, Guido Orefice. Guido's charismatic, a charmer, and will do anything for the laugh.

The fact that he maintains all of that in the face of everything he's put through, right into the final minutes of the film, might make also him the greatest hero on this list. If Benigni's Guido—or the now-famous, unabashedly joyful chair-hopping Oscar acceptance speech he gave for Best Foreign Film—isn't an inspiration for the power of positive psychology, we don't know what is.

Notable Jewish Moment: He doesn't bowl on Saturdays.
Classic Quote: "Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't drive a car, I don't fucking ride in a car, I don't handle money, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit don't fucking roll! SHOMER SHABBOS! Shomer fucking Shabbos."

Walter Sobchak is the Sandy Koufax of Jewish movie characters. Of everyone on this list, none may be more remembered for vocally asserting his Jewishness than this man, the bowling, ear-biting, gun-toting Vietnam vet (who has "dabbled" in pacifism).

John Goodman's portrayal of Sobchak goes beyond the pantheon of classic Jewish movie characters and into non-secular lists. But not including him here would be an egregious error: As Sobchek gets dragged into The Dude's hysterically bizarre kidnapping drama, the image of the gun-toting Jew as something other than a gangster of America's past is flipped on its head, and so is the observance of the Sabbath, which yielded, in a very memorable movie, what may be The Big Lebowski's most widely-repeated quote.

Notable Jewish Moment: A Fellini-esque dream sequence in which Melvish gets carried on a cross through Manhattan by monks, who attempt to parallel park him. In other words, Manhattan Jewish neurosis at its most refined.
Classic Quote: "I once stole a pornographic book that was printed in braille. I used to rub the dirty parts."

Yeah, we know: It's not Alvy Singer. But the main character of Annie Hall—played by Allen, of course—is just one piece of that brilliant film's formula. Fielding Melvish of Bananas , on the other hand, is every single neurotic trait from all of Allen's more extreme characters rolled together into one man. He goes through some of the most absurd situations of any of Allen's characters. Like, for example, becoming the dictator of a South American country in order to impress a social activist he's trying to bed, and having his sex life narrated by Howard Cosell.

No, Bananas isn't on par with Annie Hall, or even Manhattan, but it does have Allen's funniest, weirdest, and most easily lovable hero.

Notable Jewish Moment: The film ends in a synagogue, during the high holidays. If that isn't Jewish, not much is.
Classic Quote: [Nate, to his wife, about his son, who is dressed up for Halloween.] "I wanna talk to Hitler. Put the Führer on the phone!"

Because picking one was too hard. Three generations of Jewish men, played by three solid actors, in one incredible 1960s period piece, all with their own problems.

There's Ben Foster, playing teenager Ben Kurtzman, who starts the movie by dressing up as Hitler for Halloween, and his rebellious trouble doesn't end until long after he decides to go on a mixed-race date to a James Brown concert. And then you've got Joe Mantegna as Nate, the loveable patriarch with the troubled number-running racket, whose charm has kept him away from competition and cops. Finally, Adrian Brody, who may have won his Oscar for The Pianist, but ends up being the heart of the Kurtzman clan as Van, who's just another Jewish kid in college trying to win the heart of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed W.A.S.P.

The real trick here? Whether you;re Jewish or not, by the end of Liberty Heights the three actors have made you feel like you're a distant relative, in that there's always a Kurtzman you can relate with.

Honorable Mention: Bebe Neuwirth as the mother of the Kurtzman clan.