SYNOPSIS: England, the summer of ’66 and the country is about to be consumed by World Cup Fever. For 12-year-old Bernie (GREGG SULKIN), the biggest day of his life is looming, the day he becomes a man - his Bar Mitzvah. However Bernie’s North London family seems a little distracted. His father Manny (EDDIE MARSAN) is concerned about the giant supermarket opening opposite his grocery shop, a business he shares with his more charismatic younger brother, Jimmy (PETER SERAFINOWICZ) -- and it’s making Manny’s bizarre obsessive compulsive disorder even worse than usual. Between worrying about Manny and Bernie’s older brother Alvie (BEN NEWTON), mother Esther (HELENA BONHAM CARTER) barely has time to notice her better behaved younger son, and the only attention Bernie ever gets from Alvie is a punch for stepping onto the wrong side of their shared bedroom. Bernie believes his Bar Mitzvah is about to change all this. He’ll no longer be the kid everyone ignores, and he envisions and begins to plan the perfect ceremony and reception, where everyone assembled will acknowledge his new status as a man. Unfortunately for Bernie, things don’t quite go according to plan.

REVIEW: "Sixty Six" is a 2006 film directed by Paul Weiland, who recently directed the comedy "Made of Honor", includes a very good cast including Eddie Marsan (Mission Impossible III, Vera Drake), Helena Bonham Carter(Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, Big Fish) and newcomer Gregg Sulkin. "Sixty six" will be released by First Independent Films on August 1 in New York, expanding to other parts of the country on August 6. The film is based on the real life experience of director Paul Weiland.

"Sixty Six" is one of those films that engaged you for the most part of the 96 minutes running time, but fell short to finish in the same act. The script follows the misadventures of Ernie a 12 year old kid in his desperate need of attention not only from his parents, but from the world around him. Through a well develop innocent and classic comic scenes, Paul Weiland is able to captivate audiences by taking them back to the wonder years. The comedy is simple but effective creating a sense of connection between Ernie and the audience.

The main problem with the film to me was the way the misfortunes of Ernie's father, Manny (Eddie Marsan) were presented during the movie. After all the problems encountered by Manny during the period of the film, the audience never felt any connection to this character. In other words, the script didn't help Eddie Marsan's outstanding performance develop a real connection with the viewers. It is clear that the writers wanted to justify why Ernie was not getting his dream bar mitzvah, but it was just too much drama for a coming of age comedy.

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