Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

MartinHafer The notion of making a film like "When Jews Were Funny" is a pretty good one. However, it's not a particularly good film--and much of it is because so many of the great Jewish comedians are dead. Who's left feels like a who's who of the D-list comedians. I won't name any names--I do NOT want to be mean. Had the film been made in the 1940s, 50s, 60s or even 70s, many brilliant comics could have provided their insights--and the film would have been so much better. Some of the old-time comics they interviewed seemed a bit ashamed of being labeled 'a Jewish comedian' or possibly worried about being seen as 'just Jewish'--which WAS a very interesting thing to follow- up on and I would LOVED to have heard much more about this sort of attitude. Yet, many of the younger folks didn't seem to feel that way at all. Again, this difference was interesting but didn't seem to be followed up on very well. Why did so many of the older folks de-emphasize their Jewishness while the next generation in the film tended NOT to? And, what exactly WAS the history of Jewish humor in America? Well, after seeing this film, I still didn't know because the film just seemed to go in many directions.Overall, a tighter focus and more interesting interviews (much of this just wasn't funny but should have been and the great comics simply are dead in too many cases) would have helped make this a much better documentary.

Larry Silverstein OK-so the filmmaker Alan Zweig's interview skills are terribly annoying, yet despite that I laughed a lot at the jokes, anecdotes, and schtick from the many comedians and writers that appeared in this film. As Zweig probes whether old style Jewish humor is dead, he unfortunately loses focus quite often and even, at times, gets some of the interviewees uncomfortable, confused, and even irritated, which, in my opinion, is not great viewing.The consensus ends up being that as the Jewish people are more and more assimilated into society the type of Jewish humor of the past, kindled by pain, suffering, and frustration, takes a new form today. Aside from the interviews from many of the top Jewish comics and writers today, there are a number of film clips of Jewish comedians, many of whom are no longer with us, performing on television.Overall, despite Zweig's style, I found this documentary to be quite entertaining and, as mentioned I found myself laughing whole heartedly quite often.

heystevesteinberg While anyone can enjoy this nostalgic look at what it means to be a Jewish comic, the question Zweig keeps returning to is how to get a fix for his Jew Jones. As another babyboomer NYC Jew who grew up watching Jack Carter, Red Buttons, Myron Cohen, London Lee, Jack E. Leonard, Alan King, Joey Bishop, Norm Crosby, Professor Irwin Corey, Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, Howie Morris, Alan Sherman, Jerry Lewis, The Three Stooges, George Burns, Corbett Monica, Sandy Baron, Stanley Myron Handleman, Buddy Hackett, Shecky Greene, Danny Kaye, Pinky Lee, Eddie Cantor, Groucho Marx...in other words, the funnymen of the late 40s and 50s, it seemed the whole comedy world was Jewish. There's nothing particularly ethnic about any of the above performers, many of whom were cited in the documentary, but that sense of Jewishness in comedy is an historic relic. While the documentary contains many funny lines and examples of Jewish jokes, there's a sadness as an undercurrent that only fellow 60+ Jews can truly understand...the loss of a culture. I'm glad I watched the film, but it left me melancholy.

jayraskin I am around the age of the director Alan Zweig, 60, and I come from a Jewish New York background, so I got exactly what Zweig was saying. We had very funny Jewish relatives and we watched Jewish comics on television almost every night of the week. We grew up at a very special time and only now are beginning to realize how special it was. Many Jews like myself and Zweig stopped observing all religious practices, married non-Jews and only had one or two child. I had about 15 or aunts and uncles and other funny Jewish relatives. My daughter only has three or four and they certainly aren't as funny. About every third comic/comedian on television was Jewish including many of the top ones like Jerry Lewis, Milton Berle and Jack Benny. Today, only about one out of ten are Jewish. For example, I think Vanessa Bayer is only one of the 15 comedians currently on SNL that is Jewish. Compare that to SNL in its first season where Lorraine Newman, Gilda Rahdna, Al Franken were all Jewish and the first three guest hosts George Carlin, Paul Simon and Rob Reiner were all Jewish, not to mention the show's creator Lorne Michaels and half the writing staff.What I loved about seeing the movie was getting to see some old Jewish comics whom I haven't seen in decades. I was really glad to know that they're still alive and kicking, these include Norm Cosby, Shelley Berman, Jack Carter, David Steinberg ("Boolah, Boolah"), David Brenner, and Bob Einstein (whom I still remember best as Officer Judy on the Smothers Brothers Show). Seeing these and others brought back a flood of memories. It was like seeing childhood friends again. The second great thing is that they all tell great old Jewish jokes in the movie. I had forgotten these wonderful jokes. My only criticism of the movie is that I wish there were more clips of deceased Jewish comedians. Alan King, Rodney Dangerfield and Henny Youngman clips are shown, but there were dozens more that I would have loved to have seen, Irwin Corey, Joe E. Lewis, Molly Pecon, Bert Lahr, Red Buttons, Jan Murray, etc. Still, it was a sweet and funny and beautiful little movie and it made me think about aspects of my life I haven't thought about in many, many years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Alan Zweig.