''Sixty Six'' is a 2006 British

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film about a bar mitzvah which takes place in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on the day of the

1966 FIFA World Cup Final The 1966 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 30 July 1966 to determine the winner of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth FIFA World Cup. The match was contested by England and West Germany, with England ...

, based on the true life bar mitzvah of director

Paul Weiland Paul Weiland OBE (born 11 July 1953) is an English motion picture and television director, writer and producer. Weiland is a director and producer of television commercials in the UK, having made over 500 commercials, including a popular and ...

Plot

Bernie Reubens, a young

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

boy, is about to have his bar mitzvah. Initially, he meticulously plans a lavish reception to upstage that of his older brother Alvie, but as the family's finances lurch from one disaster to another, the family is forced to lower Bernie's expectations and stage the bar mitzvah reception at home in

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

. When England reaches the

, held on the same day, most of the guests make excuses not to come to the reception so that they can watch the game. In the end, Bernie's father saves the day by driving Bernie to

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

to witness the end of the match.

Cast

Gregg Sulkin Gregg Sulkin (born 29 May 1992) is a British actor. He made his film debut in the 2002 ''Doctor Zhivago'' mini-series. He later starred in the 2006 British release '' Sixty Six'', and subsequently appeared in the Disney Channel comedy series ''A ...

as Bernie Reubens *

Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...

as Esther Reubens *

Eddie Marsan Edward Maurice Charles Marsan (born 9 June 1968) is an English actor. He won the London Film Critics Circle Award and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film '' Happy-Go-Lucky'' (2008). He has feature ...

as Immanuel "Manny" Reubens * Ben Newton as Alvie Reubens * Elliot Cukier as Young Alvie Reubens (uncredited) * Thomas Drewson as Terry Shivers *

Peter Serafinowicz Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as the title character in the 2016 live-action series of ''The Tick'', Pete in ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) and ...

as Uncle Jimmy / Mr. Reubens, Sr. / Football Commentator * Stephen Grief as Uncle Henry *

Catherine Tate Catherine Jane Ford (born 5 December 1969), known professionally as Catherine Tate, is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series ''The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007), ...

as Aunt Lila *

Stephen Rea Stephen Rea ( ; born 31 October 1946) is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in films such as ''V for Vendetta'', ''Michael Collins'', ''Interview with the Vampire'' and ''Breakfast on Pluto''. Rea was nominated for the Academy Award ...

as Dr. Barrie *

Geraldine Somerville Geraldine Margaret Agnew-Somerville (born 19 May 1967) is an Irish actress. She is known for her roles in the film ''Gosford Park'' (2001) and the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2011). Her other roles have included ''My Week with Marily ...

as Alice Barrie *

Maria Charles Maria Charles (born 22 September 1929) is an English film, television and stage actress, director and comedian. She is probably best known for her TV performance as the overbearing mother Bea Fisher in the ITV sitcom ''Agony''. Charles has also ...

as Mrs Glitzman *

Vincenzo Nicoli Vincenzo Nicoli (born 27 July 1958) is a British actor who appears in film, television and theatre. He is best known for roles in blockbuster films, such as Alan Jude in the 1992 science fiction film '' Alien³'' (1992), Enrico Biscaglia in the ...

as Leo * Maximilian Law as Narrator (uncredited)

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a rating of 65%, based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Likable but overly sentimental, ''Sixty Six'' has snatches of sharp dialogue but is ultimately too predicable." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film holds a score of 57 out of 100, based on reviews from 11 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' praised the film, saying "Although the subject might sound specialized, the picture is engineered with such skill that it transcends the ethnic details to become a universal story of a boy trying to find his place in an inhospitable world."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' reviewed the film as being "enlightened by Bernie's impassioned narration and by a gallery of small comic details." The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described the film as "A dolorous comedy that leans heavily, if inoffensively, on ethnic stereotypes."

References

External links

'' Sixty Six''
at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

''Sixty Six''
at British Council–Film
'' Sixty Six''
at Lumiere * * {{England national football team 2006 films 2006 comedy-drama films British comedy-drama films Films about Jews and Judaism Films set in 1966 Films set in London Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films produced by Elizabeth Karlsen Films produced by Eric Fellner Films produced by Tim Bevan Films shot at Elstree Film Studios Number 9 Films films StudioCanal films Working Title Films films Films directed by Paul Weiland 1966 FIFA World Cup Films about the FIFA World Cup British association football films British coming-of-age comedy-drama films England national football team 2000s English-language films 2000s British films