UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

t_atzmueller Having grown up with his movies (them being brought regularly on German TV), I always had the impression that Louis de Funes and his films got better with age. The films progressed with plain, harmless slapstick to slapstick, that often had a serious core or issue. Perhaps one of the best examples is "The Mad Aventures of Rabbi Jacob". Sure, the jokes come fast and often fly rather low, but at heart it's also the story about bigotry, anti-Semitism and how a little laughter often goes a long way to overcome prejudices. We must also remember: despite being filmed in 1973, the last war still lingered in the minds of many Europeans and that, when Germany invaded France, most of the Parisians who welcomed Hitler did not raise their right arm in protest, but for an entirely different reason.That said, "Rabbi Jacob" has all the elements of your typical de Funes film: At the beginning we get the usual hyped-up de-Funes-persona, with all the trademarks. But the performance becomes a little more subtle when de Funes character reluctantly goes into hiding as 'Rabbi Jacob'. Those scenes are the true highlights of the film, including a short, catchy Klezmer-dance-routine. Despite some jokes being by today's standards far from 'politically-correct', the jokes never go at the expense of any of the subject (maybe with the exception of the stereotypical Arab goons, but here we shouldn't forget that upon the films release, the wife of an Arab embassy-worker had hijacked a plane in protest, because she found the film to be too "pro-Jewish"; the lady was dully gunned down by security, which reminds us that some stereotypes are unlikely to change any time soon).If you enjoyed this film and particularly that mix of French farce and Jewish humour, I would highly recommend you "Train de Vie" ("Train of Life"), which was filmed a few decades later.8/10

semiotechlab-658-95444 "Les Aventures De Rabbi Jacob" (1973) is actually based on two very different plot lines: The movie starts in New York, showing children playing in a street somewhere in Lower East Side and waiting to say good-bye to their revered Rabbi Jacob, who, after more then thirty years, returns to his native France in occasion of the Bar-Mitzwah of his nephew David. However, before the Rabbi and a good dozen of his friends make it - all together in one single taxi can - to the airport, the movie starts, so-to-say a second time, showing the industrial Mr. Pivert (Louis De Funes) and his chauffeur Salomon rushing home to Paris for the wedding of Pivert's daughter. But not enough with these two main lines: There is a third one interwoven: The trip of Mohammed Larbi Slimane (Claude Giraud) on the flight of his henchmen under the lead of the Colonel Fares (Renzo Montagnani). Now, the second plot-line with Pivert and Salomon breaks insofar apart, as Pivert fires his chauffeur Salomon because he is refusing to help his boss out of a misery that he (Salomon) caused, driving their car into a lake - because it is Shabbes. However, again, the fact that Salomon is Jewish, is a little side-line again to the real Rabbi Jacob, who turns out to be his uncle. Therefore, from the second plot-line, only Pivert remains, and he soon meets Slimane, so that the second and the third plot-line merge. After a long and funny trip, they arrive just at Orly Airport where the real Rabbi Jacob and his assistant arrive (merging of the second and third with the first plot-line). And at this point, the road-movie goes over into a screwball comedy, because the Jewish grand-mother, the sister-in-law of the real Rabbi Jacob, takes Pivert and Slimane for the real couple, because they had themselves to disguise as rabbis on their flight from the Colonel Fares and his henchmen and are at that time in Orly, when the real Rabbi and his assistant are scheduled to arrive. Thus, Pivert and Slimane, neither Rabbis nor even familiar with basic Jewish customs, have to play their newly overtaken roles as good as it gets in order to escape Fares and the henchmen. Furthermore, another confusion is caused by the jealous wife of Pivert, Germaine (Suzy Delair), and her trial to get to her husband whom she suspects to have left her at the day of the marriage of their daughter with a "Therese Leduc", is also conceived in the form of road-trip, thus here we have a forth plot-line. One really has to watch this movie several times - not because it is so complicated, but because in order to scoop out the tremendous potential of truly effective humor that is in it. This film is doubtlessly De Funes greatest performance ever, he pulls out all the stops which he commands, there are even people saying that "Rabbi Jacob" remains to be the greatest French comedy made ever.

David S. Rose This is one of the funniest, bust-a-gut laughing, most hysterical films ever made. It came out in France in 1973, and did so well that it was put into release (with subtitles) in the US, where it more than held its own. This is slapstick farce at its very best, triumphantly showcasing Luis De Funes, who was as big a comedy star in France as was Jerry Lewis. It is unfortunate that this is one of the only films of his that made it to America. The premise is the typical switched identities / coincidental mixups / innocent man being chased plots of the genre, but what makes this one sublime is the unbelievably rubber face and spot-on timing of De Funes, backed up by a good supporting cast, decent script and excellent direction. I first saw this in my teens when it originally came out, and my entire family all agreed that it was the funniest film we'd ever seen. I recently saw it again with my own children, and it has absolutely held up over thirty years. If you like comedy (particularly of the fish-out-of-water and/or slapstick variety) do your best to track this one down. It's worth it!PS: As a little treat, look closely at the actor who plays Rabbi Jacob. Look familiar? It was Marcel Dalio, who played the croupier in Casablanca!

mdibner This is one of the funniest films every made. Explores the differences among peoples. A very funny commentary on life. Has not been available on VHS with English subtitles until mid-2001. The acting is superb although the dialog somewhat slapstick.