Kosher Mafia

This pulpy yet pious crime drama from Hazan (Nottingham) and Kivelä (Abbott) pits a pair of renegade “Kosher Nostra” against the rising tide of Nazism in pre-WWII America. When Howard Berkowicz, reluctant bookkeeper for the Jewish mob, raises the alarm about Hitler to mob boss Moishe Levinson, hit man Ephraim Gold is sent to “retire” Berkowicz for threatening the uneasy truce between the German and Jewish syndicates. Instead, Berkowicz and Gold form a rocky partnership to expose the American Nazis. The script parcels out graphic violence and religious contemplation in equal measure, most of the latter in banter between the uneasy allies, whose sharp dialogue embodies Jewish didactic argument in method and persuasion. Gold champions the ease that assimilation has brought the syndicate; Berkowicz asks “if all we’re doing is becoming more like the goyim that want us dead, what is it we’re preserving?” A standout extended scene juxtaposes the readings of Yom Kippur against brutal fistfights and bloody shoot-outs. Kivelä’s artwork is reminiscent of Joe Kubert in both facial expression and punch-throwing, resulting in an action comic with heart—and some genuinely clever twists. This gritty period piece recalls Road to Perdition and A History of Violence. (Mar.)