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Following in the seasonal footsteps of Rudolph, Elmo, and Ernest, “certified circumcised dick” Mordechai Jefferson Carver must save Hanukkah—and you thought the holidays were over. Yes, The Hebrew Hammer is just now showing in Washington, and if it sounds familiar to you, perhaps you’ve already seen it on Comedy Central. Its arrival on the big screen makes as much sense as having the spindly, hirsute title character (Adam Goldberg) say, “I am not a piece of meat—I can’t help that I look like this!” But the sense of this “Jewxplotation” flick is not nearly as important as its sensibility. When Santa Claus is murdered by his religiously intolerant son, Damien (Andy Dick), the Jewish Justice League calls upon the leather-coated, Cadillac-driving, theme-song-having Hammer to deal with the cold shit going down up north. Hammer enlists both Mohammed (Mario Van Peebles), head of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, and Esther Bloomenbergensteinthal (Judy Greer), daughter of the JJL chief, in his fight against Damien, who wants to eradicate the Jewish holiday. Written and directed by newcomer Jonathan Kesselman, Hammer is unabashedly Brooksian in its approach, with jokes and sight gags—often so bad they’re good—coming at a furious pace. Though Jewish folks are the main target of the stereotypical ridicule here—put checks next to “whiny,” “penny-pinching,” and “nebbishy”—there’s plenty of insensitivity to go around. African-Americans and Catholics both get the shaft here, and even the physically challenged aren’t spared when Damien asks his confused assistant, Tiny Tim (Sean Whalen), “Should I get crutches for your ears? Would that help?” Yet Hammer is more exuberant than execrable: The dialogue brims with Yiddish, most of the H’s come with a healthy dose of phlegm, and Goldberg makes a surprisingly satisfying comic action hero. Even if you weren’t raised in the ’chood, you shouldn’t have a problem understanding Hammer’s hilarious shvitzing or signature send-off: “Shabbat shalom, motherfuckers!” —Tricia Olszewski