Keeping Up with the Steins on DVD: Indie Family Comedy with Jeremy Piven is Sure to Please

There will always be good movies that fly largely under-the-radar, but finding a family comedy that does so is fairly rare. After all, the 'unnoticed' category is usually marked by documentaries, biopics, or controversial fare for one reason or another. But Keeping Up With The Steins breaks that rule and somehow got lost in the box office shuffle.

Replace the proverbial Jones family with the Steins and you have the competition for the Fieldler family, a dysfunctional group focused on beating the Steins for the best Bar Mitzvah that the city of Brentwood has ever seen. This city is loaded in more ways than one and the family goes the obviously overboard directions to outdo the competition. While the plot is nothing new and sometimes the scenes are formulaic, director Scott Marshall (son of Garry Marshall) gets the most out of his largely underrated cast.

Ben (Daryl Sabara of Spy Kids fame) is the subject whose narration moves the movie forward from a young teen's perspective. He also watches his father, Adam (Jeremy Piven from Entourage) and mother, Joanne (Jami Gertz) become ridiculous dreaming up schemes like having Ben skydive in to his celebration. Piven showcases why he's one of the best actors nobody talks about and equally delightful is Ben's grandmother, Rose, played by Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond.

The story plays up the Jewishness of it all to sometimes great hilarity, although it's much too over-the-top at times. Yet the same could be said of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but that didn't stop audiences from approving in large numbers. Steins has that same charm, but obviously the formula didn't work twice as this version was quick to DVD.

But that really isn't fair and the hope is that Keeping Up With The Steins will be much more appreciated the second time around. Family-friendly entertainment is hard to find in Hollywood anymore and while this is an edgier example, it's still something that fits in the category. Marshall and company have done a solid job of giving us something worthwhile to watch on the shelves of our local video store and that's something to celebrate all on its own.