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Movies / Upcoming / Sixty Six
Sixty Six

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Sixty Six (2008)

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Reviews Counted:44

Fresh:28

Rotten:16

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: Likable but overly sentimental, Sixty Six has snatches of sharp dialogue but is ultimately too predicable.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for language, some sexual content and brief nudity

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Aug 1, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: Bernie Rubens (Gregg Sulkin) is a nerdy 12-year-old preparing for his Bar Mitzvah, which he wants to be a huge, ornate affair. However, his parents, Manny (Eddie Marsan) and Esther (Helena Bonham... Bernie Rubens (Gregg Sulkin) is a nerdy 12-year-old preparing for his Bar Mitzvah, which he wants to be a huge, ornate affair. However, his parents, Manny (Eddie Marsan) and Esther (Helena Bonham Carter), have accidentally scheduled it for the day of the 1966 World Cup final, so if England makes it, no one is expected to show for Bernie's big day. In the meantime, Manny, a depressed and depressing man unable to find any kind of happiness in his life, thinks the local grocery he runs with his slick brother, Jimmy (Peter Serafinowicz), can do battle with the supermarket conglomerate that has moved in next door. Once again, sad-sack Manny has made the wrong choice, leaving him with limited funds, unable to give Bernie the party he wants so badly. As England surprisingly starts playing better, Bernie begins rooting for his home team to lose; meanwhile, his breathing problems worsen, sending him to see Dr. Barrie (Stephen Rea), a big soccer fan who has some serious problems of his own. Based on director Paul Weiland's own experiences, SIXTY SIX, with a script by Peter Straughan and Bridget O'Connor, is a gentle, deeply touching film about the ups and downs of childhood--as well as the joys and sorrows that come with adulthood. Weiland mixes in just the right amount of slapstick humor and pathos. Sulkin gives a heartbreaking performance as Bernie, with excellent support from Marsan and Bonham Carter. And Richard Katz is a hoot as Bernie's blind rabbi. The period soundtrack features the Lovin' Spoonful's "Daydream" and Helen Shapiro's forgotten hit, "Walking Back to Happiness." Weiland includes photos from his own Bar Mitzvah over the closing credits. [More]

Starring: Helena Bonham-Carter, Eddie Marsan, Greg Sulkin, Stephen Rea

Starring: Helena Bonham-Carter, Eddie Marsan, Greg Sulkin, Stephen Rea

Director: Paul Weiland

Director: Paul Weiland
Screenwriter: Bridget O'Connor, Peter Staughan
Story: Paul Weiland
Producer: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Elizabeth Karlsen
Composer: Joby Talbot
Studio: First Independent Pictures

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Reviews for Sixty Six

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Cleaves too closely to the pattern set out by more original films with similar subject matter. Its obvious distinctions of time and place come through in clever details, but these don't seem to serve Weiland's autobiography so much as situate it into a fa

Full Review Source: indieWIRE | comment Comment
08/08/09
Leo Goldsmith
Leo Goldsmith
indieWIRE
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peg Aloi
Peg Aloi
Boston Phoenix

A film that tries too hard and wastes a cast of skilled veterans and talented newcomers.

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
11/14/08
Jason Heck
Jason Heck
Kansas City Star

Offbeat, nostalgic, wonderful.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
10/29/08
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com

Since Mr. Weiland himself had grown up in a Jewish section of North London, he was able to include many details of his own childhood.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
10/23/08
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris
New York Observer
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It’s labeled a 'true-ish story', and the results are cheeky fun.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/18/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sixty Six is also about accepting parents with all their frailties, coming to terms with the unfairness of life, and finding a way to switch the focus to the wonders we do have to celebrate.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
09/12/08
Nancy Churnin
Nancy Churnin
Dallas Morning News
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The story line sounds plain and simple, but the movie is enlightened by Bernie's impassioned narration and by a gallery of small comic details.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
08/29/08
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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Weiland has given us something we can cheer and feel good about.

Full Review Source: Kaplan vs. Kaplan | comment Comment
08/29/08
Jeanne Kaplan
Jeanne Kaplan
Kaplan vs. Kaplan

[Director] Weiland pours so much heart into his autobiographically 'true-ish' story that accessibility is a nonissue.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
08/22/08
Tom Russo
Tom Russo
Boston Globe
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...the sort of Jewish film that the whole family can enjoy without feeling they're fulfilling an obligation to see it.

Full Review Source: The Jewish Advocate | comment Comment
08/22/08
Daniel M. Kimmel
Daniel M. Kimmel
The Jewish Advocate

...a charming coming-of-age period piece about the trials and tribulations one young boy must face in his quest to become a man.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
08/19/08
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Weiland's occasional heavy-handedness is more than redeemed by the lightness of his cast.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
08/15/08
Sam Adams
Sam Adams
AV Club

It does cast Helena Bonham Carter against type as a devoted mother and housewife, and, for soccer nuts, integrate pristine footage from the '66 Cup.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
08/15/08
Stan Hall
Stan Hall
Oregonian

You don’t have to be Jewish to appreciate its uncondescending fondness for the claustrophobic warmth of family life among working-class people apprehensively inching their way toward upward mobility.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
08/07/08
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

Sixty Six may find a niche audience, but instead of depicting a boy's first steps toward manhood -- ceremony aside -- it turns into an uninvolving portrait of self-absorption.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
08/06/08
Michael Ordoña
Michael Ordoña
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I think it’s a very heartfelt story, but we get the same thing over and over again.

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
08/04/08
Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sixty Six's loving portrayal of the ups & downs of a Jewish family in London charmingly entices the viewer to find themselves within its four-eyed, adorably geeky hero.

Full Review Source: TheDivaReview.com | comment Comment
08/02/08
Diva Velez
Diva Velez
TheDivaReview.com

Director Paul Weiland ("Made of Honor") co-wrote the tone-deaf screenplay for this cinematic abortion that features the ever-lousy Stephen Rea adding his specific brand of stench to a pasted-together movie that is predictable and boring as it is depressin

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
08/02/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

The direction of this autobiographical tale by Paul Weiland (whose lengthy rap sheet runs all the way from Leonard Part 6 to Made of Honor) is less than subtle.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
08/01/08
Lou Lumenick
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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Latest News for Sixty Six

July 30, 2008: Coming-of-age comedy chronicles British Bar Mitzvah Boy's World Cup coincidence nightmare. Opens in new window
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June 29, 2008: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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