Here’s a party that even outsiders will enjoy

OK, I might not be the target audience for “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.”
The movie (shown here) – which debuted today (Aug. 25) on Netflix – is about Jewish girls turning 13. I miss that by one gender, one Testament and two generations.
But I found it to be an enjoyable journey to a different world and to some too-common human frailties. Also, it has a bright look and a relentless barrage of pop music.
This is a family-friendly film and a family project. Adam Sandler produced it and plays the dad. His daughter Sunny (second from left) stars as Stacy and her older sister Sadie plays, logically, her older sister. Adam’s wife Jackie is confined to playing Stacy’s friend’s mom; instead, Adam’s wife is played by Idina Menzel.
Sunny and Menzel are particularly good. We might expect that from Menzel, who has a Tony award (“Wicked”) and two nominations (“Rent,” “If/Then”), but for Sunny Sandler, 14, it’s remarkable.
Director Sammi Cohen has drawn performances from everyone that are solid and subtle. Even Adam Sandler – unaccustomed to subtlety – is just right as the laissez faire dad, who loves his daughters but is careful not to question his wife’s edicts.
The film introduces us (well, me) to three prongs of the bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah – the religious text, the service project and the party.
That last one has apparently grown over the years. In the film, the dad says his bar mitzvah was just in the family basement, with everyone eating from one giant matzo ball. In real life? Well, Melissa Rauch (the “Night Court” star and “Big Bang” co-star) gave her party a comedy-club theme; Sunny Sandler’s real-life party included music by Halsey and Charlie Puth.
The parties we see here are somewhere between those extremes. They are big, brash and fun … or they would be, if they didn’t come with all the flaws of impending teendom.
Stacy argues with her long-time best friend Lydia — yes, a guy is involved – poisoning their parties.
Some of this seems forced, an arbitrary way to move the story. The extremeness of Stacy’s betrayal – and the adult flubs that propel it – don’t ring true.
But the rest of the film works well. There’s humor (especially in Stacy’s prayers, which are more like negotiations), and warmth (especially with the family) and fun. There are splendid supporting characters; Sarah Sherman, a delight on “Saturday Night Live,” sparkles as Rabbi Rebecca.
Cohen cranked up the music and the colors, nearly, but not quite, to excess. She made a movie that’s fun, but has things to say – even to those of us who have never had a bat mitzvah or a matzo ball.