A bar mitzvah is when people talk backwards and everyone gets circumcised, says Lucy, the popular cheerleader in Netflix’s “13: The Musical.” Of course, Evan Goldman (Jewish actor Eli Golden) explains that’s not true. Instead, he’s trying to have the best bar mitzvah party he can, given the circumstances.

He was excited to have it in New York City, but his father, Joel (Peter Hermann) has stepped out on his mother, Jessica (Debra Messing), leading to divorce.

Evan quickly befriends Patrice (Gabriella Uhl), but when he meets the cool kids at his new school, he finds out they don’t like her and it creates a rift in their newly formed friendship.

Evan hatches a plan to help cool kid Brett (JD McCrary) have his first kiss with Kendra (Lindsey Blackwell) at a horror movie, but Lucy (Frankie McNellis) threatens to tell everyone to skip Evan’s party if he helps the pair; Lucy is jealous and wants Brett to be her boyfriend.

The songs are consistently great, and the adaptation of the Broadway musical — written by Jason Robert Brown, Dan Elish, and Robert Horn — is a delightful and whimsical movie that is great for kids and adults.

Golden is charming, charismatic, and likeable as the star of the film, and he can sing. The performances overall are nearly perfect, especially from the teen actors.

Trying to make the best of a rough situation, Evan’s grandmother Ruth (Rhea Perlman) tells her daughter that maybe the divorce is a good thing, and can be the catalyst to write a great novel. There’s a sweet scene where Ruth gives Evan what she says was his grandfather’s first yarmulke.

“At least I’m the hottest rabbi somewhere,” Rabbi Shapiro (Josh Peck) says. He slaps Evan “Chai Five” which is a bit cheesy. Messing grounds the film with her solid acting, and there’s a scene in the shul where her ex-husband gives her a “Jewish olive branch” in the form of a poppy seed bagel from Zabar’s.

Peck is decent as the rabbi, though his Hebrew leaves much to be desired. Of course, for his haftorah, Evan inexplicably doesn’t begin with the blessings, the whole thing is ten seconds, and the actor can’t pronounce the throaty ”ch” sound correctly. A woman plays one note of piano as the boy starts the haftorah (I’ve never heard of that being done) but of course, this is a musical.

“13: The Musical” is a sweet success with actors that bring great energy and gusto, soulful voices, and good humor. This is a fantastic and fun film that will make you smile.

The author is a writer based in New York.

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