Dismally predictable, humorless and
heavy-handed, Segal's latest melodramatic tale (after Doctors ) is
potboiling at its most banal. Daniel Luria is the heir apparent to the
Brooklyn-based Silczer dynasty of rabbis. After Timothy Hogan (an
"orphan" with two living parents) breaks the Lurias' window, Rabbi
Luria hires him to turn out the lights on Sabbath nights. When the
rabbi sees his daughter Deborah and Timothy poised for a forbidden
embrace, he banishes Deborah to Jerusalem. Timothy, a rising star en
route to Catholic priesthood, eventually encounters Deborah on her
kibbutz; they consummate their relationship, despite Timothy's vows of
celibacy. Meanwhile, in rabbinical school, Daniel finds doubt as well
as lust in his heart; his lover leaves him, but not without some hot
stock tips. A millionaire (if still unhappy), Daniel decides against
religious life, to his father's profound discontent. Timothy encounters
liberation theology in Brazil, has an epiphany, turns his back on
Church hierarchy and acknowledges love. Daniel, who has rejoined his
faith on less Orthodox terms, meets the woman of his dreams, and also
finds he can follow in his father's footsteps. Segal makes even the
interesting details and dilemmas of religious lives seem superficial.
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Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.