Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah’ is a comedy-drama that follows the story of a young girl named Stacy Friedman. Stacy wants to have the best, most perfect bat mitzvah. She has been planning for it with her best friend, Lydia. One of the things that Stacy wants the most is to date Andy Goldfarb. However, when she and Lydia have a fallout, and Lydia starts dating Andy, Stacy realizes that she has lost the most important friendship she’ll ever have.
The film stars Adam Sandler alongside his real-life daughter, Sunny Sandler, who plays the lead role. His daughter, Sadie, plays the role of Stacy’s elder sister. With Sandler and his real-life daughters appearing in the movie as his onscreen daughters, you might wonder if the Friedman family in the film has more in common with its real-life counterpart. Let’s find out.
Friedman Family is Not Based on the Sandler Family
While Adam Sandler and his daughters appear as a family in the Netflix film, ‘You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah’ is not based on them. It is based on the book of the same name by Fiona Rosenbloom. The author based the novel on the bar and bat mitzvahs she’d attended as a kid while using her own struggles as a teenager to craft the lead character. In adapting the book to screen, several changes have been made to it. The filmmakers updated the story to make it more relatable to the current audience.
The film also changes a few things about the Friedman family. In the book, Stacy’s parents have separated, and she has a brother, Arthur. In the movie, Danny and Bree Friedman are very much in love and share an understanding that makes others look up to them. The separation angle is transferred to Lydia’s parents. Moreover, Arthur’s role is turned into Ronnie, Stacy’s elder sister. Adam Sandler’s daughters Sunny and Sadie appear as Stacy and Ronnie Friedman. Their real-life mother, Jackie Sandler, plays the role of Gabi Katz, Lydia’s mother.
While this is the first time that Adam Sandler has played an onscreen father to his real daughters, who have a starring role in the film, this is not the first time that the Sandler family has appeared in a movie together. They appeared together in ‘Blended,’ which also had Sandler’s mother in a small role. His wife and daughters have also appeared in small roles in films like ‘Bedtime Stories,’ ‘That’s My Boy,’ ‘The Do-Over,’ ‘Grown Ups,’ ‘Grown Ups 2’, ‘Murder Mystery,’ and ‘Hubie Halloween’ among others.
Casting the real-life father and daughters in the role of onscreen father and daughters brought a realistic touch to the story, especially regarding their chemistry and connection. Talking about working with the Sandler family and how it helped elevate the characters in the Friedman family, director Sammie Cohen revealed: “It was this really beautiful thing where everyone had space to do their own thing, but always had support when they needed it. There’s a natural chemistry you get with the Sandlers that makes everything feel real and slice-of-life. What was really special to watch was how the movie mirrored real life. Right before filming, Sunny had her actual bat mitzvah. It was a big coming-of-age moment for everyone. And filming the movie felt like a continuation of that.”
Considering all this, we can say that while the Freidman family is not based on the Sandler family, the actors bring their own experience to the characters and lend their real-life chemistry to make the Friedman family feel as realistic and relatable to the audience as possible.
Read More: Where Was You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah Filmed?
