ONE OF THE BIG DRAMATIC SCENES in Holy Rollers sees Sam (Jesse Eisenberg) cutting off his payot, the dangling hair curls worn by Orthodox Jewish men. Considering the movie deals with some pretty exciting issues—drug trafficking, religious conflict, a family torn apart—it's a pretty meager emotional climax. Holy Rollers has a fascinating (true) story as its source material, but there's really nothing to latch onto.

Raised Hasidic in Brooklyn, Sam is studying to become a rabbi when he's offered a job importing "medicine" from Amsterdam. He doesn't realize the implications (the "medicine" is ecstasy) but soon Sam's recruiting other Hasids to become drug mules. After all, what customs official would question a Jew dressed in the traditional dark clothes, hat, and payot?

Sam's kind of a dullard, though—he doesn't question God so much as gently set Him aside—and Eisenberg, so good in so many other movies (mostly comedies, it should be noted), just doesn't have much to work with. Holy Rollers' other big dramatic scene is when Sam does ecstasy for the first time. Like the rest of the movie, there's a ton of buildup—a girl sexily plants the pill in his mouth via her tongue—but we never see the payoff. We never see Sam trip; in fact, we never see the poor kid have any fun at all.