Sour Grapes

Even Seinfeld fans will probably shun this dreadful, nasty-hearted film by Seinfeld cocreator and writer Larry David. It's a tepid comedy about cousins--Richie (Craig Bierko) and Evan (Steven Weber)--who enter into a feud after one borrows two quarters from the other while on a vacation in Atlantic City, and then wins a $400,000 jackpot, which he refuses to share. His action fuels retaliation and one-upmanship that results in death, racism, and a general bad taste in the mouth (you'll have to see the film to figure that one out). Sour Grapes is a misanthropic movie about cheapness that's supposed to be clever in its play on the "Jewishness" that permeated Jerry Seinfeld's hit TV series. But it doesn't gel here, and the movie is full of more self-loathing than one might care to admit. It also introduces several subplots that go nowhere. All in all, its TV mentality doesn't translate to feature film. --Paula Nechak