An account of a bar mitzvah boy burdened by his father's gambling problem in 1968 Los Angeles, the new film "Family Prayers" leaves no coming-of-age cliche unmolested.
Joe Mantegna and Anne Archer are the parents, and comic actor Paul Reiser is the bar mitzah tutor, who takes his politics from Abbie Hoffman and his acting cues from the sage Yoda of "Star Wars." The lead role is played with a one-note sullenness by the irksome Tzvi Ratner-Stauber, a non-actor plucked from the Beverly Hills Hebrew Academy.
First-time director Scott Rosenfelt should stick to producing, a role he filled far better on "Mystic Pizza" and "Home Alone." For some real cinematic bar mitzvah action, head for the nearest video store and rent "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz." Sheli Teitelbaum/Los Angeles