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48 December 29 • 2016 arts & life HUPPERT'S MOMENT Two French films starring French actress Isabelle Huppert, 63, opened in lim- ited release in the last month: Elle and Things to Come. Both got great reviews and Huppert won both the New York and Los Angeles film critics' awards for best actress of 2016 — both awards cited both films in the award citation. Nothing is certain, but the betting odds are that Huppert will win the Golden Globe for Elle (for which she was just nominated) — and the Oscar for best actress. (Elle opened last Friday in Detroit.) In Elle, Huppert plays a tough career woman whose father is a serial killer who's about to come up for a parole hearing. Her father's dark past stops her from calling the police when she is raped in her home by a masked assail- ant. Suffice it to say here, she finds out who the rapist is and her relationship with that man takes many surprising turns. Huppert's own father was a wealthy Jewish manufacturer. Her mother was Catholic and she was raised Catholic. Her parents wed during the Nazi occu- pation of France, and various sources say he "laid low" during the war and hid his Jewish background to avoid depor- tation. It appears he even hid his back- ground after the war. To this day, the actress is very reluctant to talk about her father's Jewish background. Typical is this exchange with a French maga- zine: "No, it's my father [not my mother; who is Jewish]. But I never talk about it … Because there was silence about it in my family, and it's a silence I naturally prolong." (Huppert's sister, who is more open about talking about their father, seems to be the one who disclosed "the family secret.") One might think Huppert would be more open — she has played a Jewish woman in at least two films (which prompted questions about her own background) — and her husband of 35 years is producer/director Ronald Chammah, 60, a Lebanon-born Jew and the father of the couple's three children. (One is actress Lolita Chammah, 33, who is well-known in France.) I suspect the Huppert family is carrying the bag- gage, at least in part, of the twisted wreckage of the Holocaust and its last- ing psychic affects. Huppert isn't Jewish; but her family history is a Jewish story. MEET THE PARENTS: REDUX? The comedy Why Him? opened last Friday. It's directed and co-written by John Hamburg, 46, and the plot is similar to Meet the Parents (2000), which Hamburg also co-wrote. James Franco, 38, plays Laird, a video-game billionaire who is dating Stephanie (Zoey Deutch, 22). Laird's vulgar personality turns off her parents, Barb and Ned (Megan Mullally and Bryan Cranston). Things go into overdrive when Laird tells them he intends to propose to Stephanie in five days. Laird tries everything to win them over while Ned tries anything to get Laird out of Stephanie's life. A Variety review mentioned that Why Him? is familiar material and noted that it's a bit too long. Still, it gave it a positive notice, praising Franco and Cranston's performances and some consistently funny support- ing characters. * Celebrity Jews Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News Huppert Franco Deutch $BUFSJOHGPSBMM0DDBTJPOTt$BSSZ0VUt0VS4QFDJBMJUZ-PX$BSC3JCT$IJDLFO-BNC3JCT Try Our New Boneyard Beef Ribs! Orchard Lake Rd. South of 14 MiletFarmington Hills 248-851-7000 10 % OFF TOTAL BILL &YDMVEJOHUBYUJQBOECFWFSBHFTt8JUIUIJTBEt$BSSZPVUPS%JOFJOt&YQJSFT+/ /PUWBMJEPO)PMJEBZT THE GALLERY RESTAURANT Daily Special to choose from for lunch & dinner… Dinner specials come with complimentary rice or chocolate pudding or jello "For 40 years, Gallery Restaurant has served up masterpieces" ~ Danny Raskin #MPPNGJFME1MB[Bt5FMFHSBQI3PBEBOE.BQMFt www.thegalleryrestaurant2.com OPEN 7 DAYS: .0/4"5BNQN 46/BNQN Now Serving Beer & Wine 2125290 AIM HIGH SCHOOL NOW ENROLLING www.aimhighschool.com Dedicated to the academic and social success of 6th-12th grade students with language-based learning differences, including autism, anxiety disorders, and attention defi cits. t4NBMMDMBTTFTUBVHIUCZMJDFOTFEUFBDIFST t1FSTPOBMJ[FEDVSSJDVMVNTTUSPOHBDBEFNJDTMJGF TLJMMTBOEDPNNVOJDBUJPO t"TBGFIBQQZFOWJSPONFOUXIFSFWBSJFEMFBSOJOH TUZMFTBOECBDLHSPVOETBSFWBMVFE Grades 6-12 (248) 702-6922 2142440 40380 Grand River, Novi Between Haggerty & Meadowbrook on the north side 248-615-2102 t Bigtommys.com OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK Start off your 2017 with a delicious Big Tommy's Brunch! Featuring: Omelette Station, Carving Station, Chicken, Pasta, Breakfast meats, Cold Salads, Desserts and MUCH MORE!! Join us for NEW YEAR'S DAY BRUNCH ALL DAY! 10AM - 4PM Complete Brunch-Only $16.99 per person!