Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!

By: Raymond Murray
In-House Review - Mar 24 2014

In the farcical tradition of Norman, Is That You?, Mambo Italiano and La Cage aux Folles comes this raucous, star-studded comedy.

Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay! follows two determined Jewish parents who will do anything to keep their faygala son on the straight and narrow. The indomitable Lainie Kazan is the brassy and opinionated Shirley, and Saul Rubinek is the long under-her-thumb husband, Martin. Blissfully unaware that the sexual revolution has come and gone, their only wish is that their son marry a nice Jewish girl. When their very successful (and so handsome!) son Nelson reluctantly reveals that his is in fact gay (and on top of that, his lover is a goy!), it sets off a series of actions by his frantically scheming parents to make him understand that it's just a phase.

A terrifically funny cast includes a beardless Bruce Vilanch as a (barely) closeted husband, Jai Rodgriguez as the love interest and the burley Vincent Pastore as Jai's accepting father. But it is Carmen Electra, who steals every scene she is in, as the blonde bombshell vixen asked by the parents to seduce the son back to heterosexuality. More Jewish than kugels and Manischewitz, Oy Vey delivers the laughs big time!

By: HeißerKerl

I was really looking forward to seeing this for quite some time. Overall it was a very good movie as far as gay cinema goes. Great performances by the whole cast and pretty funny.

My only concern is that it felt very rushed, as if it was an entire season of a TV show squished into one movie (I would love this TV show). But that aside, it is a really nice film and definitely a good purchase.

By: Mr. Bob

I have been looking forward to getting this movie for a while. I like the actors and the plot sounded fun for a comedy. As I sat watching the movie, I was a little surprised, as many elements of the film felt like a throwback to the 80's. Jai and John are cute as the young lovers, but really, the odd swish that Jai affects is as ill fitting as a too big overcoat. And the idea that somehow there'd be huge protests in the street (or even a news story) about two men adopting a baby in New York is about 30 years out of date. That's not going to make the news in Omaha, much less New York.

All in all, getting over the weird time warping of some of the films elements, I enjoyed much of the movie including favorites Lainie Kazan and Saul Rubinek. You might want to rent before you buy this one.

By: Amos Lassen

"Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!!"

Love is Love

Amos Lassen

This is the story of a Jewish family living on Long Island, where every Friday night, mother Shirley Hirsch (Lainie Kazan) invites another "perfect" girl for Shabbat dinner because she hopes in that her son, Nelson (John Lloyd Young), will marry a nice Jewish girl. However, Nelson has other ideas and things start hoping when Shirley finds out that her dreams of a perfect Jewish girl are dashed by the mysterious person that Nelson is dating turns out to be not only not Jewish, and a boy! It is a romantic, campy, heartwarming and family comedy about a Jewish family as it struggles to come to terms with their son's coming out.
The cast is excellent. Lainie Kazan as Shirley and Saul Rubinek as her husband are perfect as the parents and their chemistry is wonderful. Even though there is a great deal of exaggeration in the situations, everything seems believable. However the pacing of the movie was not so good at some points in the movie. The message is strong and this is a film for all people, not just Jews-all families share the same prejudices (at least many do) and here we see how two families react to a very real situation and how they come together through love and understanding.


It's an old fashioned style film with a modern day storyline. With Kazan, the hysterical Bruce Vilanch and beautiful Carmen Electra star in this 60's style comedy. There is also an outstanding supporting cast.
The plot is quite simple: Thirty-something Nelson Hirsh (John Lloyd Young) lives with partner Angelo (Jai Rodriguez) but his family does not know. His mom Shirley and father, Martin want to fix him up with a nice Jewish girl. That is every Jewish mothers' mission for those of you who do not know. Carmen Electra is mistaken as Nelson's fiancé and this him to come out to his family. Nelson and Angelo decide to make their relationship legal and adopt a child and what follows is a family dealing with acceptance and learning that love is love. Director/writer/producer Evgeny Afineesky has a hit on his hands and this movie shows a real gay relationship without the sex scene and the music to accompany it. Forget the fact it was entertaining, it brings this important powerful message to everyone about unconditional love and acceptance.
Those of you who know me will understand why I am so excited about this film. It has its problems but the message it gives us is so important that I am overlooking those.