Family Prayers

Set in Los Angeles in 1968, FAMILY PRAYERS is an earnest, interesting drama about the crack-up of a dysfunctional middle-class Jewish family, told entirely from the point of view of a 13-year-old boy.

Andrew Jacobs (Tzvi Ratner-Stauber) and his six-year-old sister Faye (Julianne Michelle) are increasingly troubled by the arguments between their father Martin (Joe Mantegna) and mother Rita (Anne Archer), which center on Martin's addiction to sports betting with the local bookies and after-work poker games with garment-factory cohorts and partner Sam (David Margulies). Fed up, Rita throws him out and takes a job. Andrew is in the midst of preparing for his bar m...