Guns & Moses[3] (formerly titled Man in the Long Black Coat) is an American crime thriller film written by Nina Davidovich Litvak and Salvador Litvak, directed by Salvador Litvak and starring Mark Feuerstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney and Christopher Lloyd. It premiered in the 2024 Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival and was released theatrically on July 18, 2025, by Pictures From The Fringe and Concourse Media.[4]
| Guns & Moses | |
|---|---|
 Release poster | |
| Directed by | Salvador Litvak |
| Written by | Nina Davidovich Litvak Salvador Litvak |
| Produced by | Lee Broda Aimee Schoof Isen Robbins Salvador Litvak |
| Starring | Mark Feuerstein Neal McDonough Alona Tal Dermot Mulroney Christopher Lloyd |
| Cinematography | Ricardo Jacques Gale |
| Edited by | Peter Marshall Smith |
| Music by | Aaron Gilhuis |
Production companies | LB Entertainment Intrinsic Value Films Pictures From The Fringe |
| Distributed by | Concourse Media |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 94 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $77,433[2] |
Premise
editA beloved rabbi in a high desert town becomes an unlikely gunfighter after his community is violently attacked.[5]
Plot
editRabbi Moses (Moyshe) Zaltzman, with his wife and five children, is an Orthodox Rabbi (Chabad, although it is never mentioned and shows up only subtly) in the town of High Desert, California. At a town gala for the High Desert Jewish Center (synagogue) where local philanthropist Alan Rosner is being honored for his contributions to the community, Rosner pledges $2 million to the Center just before he is shot by an unknown assailant.
The local police arrest Clay Gibbons, who has a history of Nazi-like threatening of the Jewish community. Everyone except the Rabbi thinks Clay is guilty. The Rabbi had an experience of welcoming Clay when he was threatening the community, and teaching him about the Holocaust and Jewish history (with the help of Sol Fassbinder, a Holocaust survivor who tells his story first-hand), and keeps saying that since Clay "ate the brownie" the Rabbi had offered, Clay could not be guilty.
The story develops with additional murders of key characters, and the issue appears to be about a land deal. The synagogue's security person, non-Jewish Brenda Navarro, insists that the Rabbi and his wife get training in how to shoot, and insists that the Rabbi carry a gun.
In the end, the local police and mayor, who had been in the military together, had framed Clay and they try to kill the Rabbi and his family. With the help of allies including Clay and his father and Navarro, the Rabbi and his family win out in the end, and the bad guys are killed.
Cast
edit- Mark Feuerstein as Rabbi Mo Zaltzman
- Neal McDonough as Mayor Donovan Kirk
- Dermot Mulroney as Alan Rosner
- Christopher Lloyd as Sol Fassbinder
- Alona Tal as Hindy Zaltzman
- Jake Busey as Owen Gibbons
- Craig Sheffer as Tibor Farkas
- Michael B. Silver as Jeff Rosner
- Zach Villa as Detective Nestor
- Ed Quinn as Detective Wallace
- Gabrielle Ruiz as Brenda Navarro
- Mercedes Mason as Liat Rosner
- Jackson Dunn as Clay Gibbons
- Mila Brener as Esty Zaltzman
- JuJu Brener as Dini Zaltzman
- Joshua Gallup as Yossi Zaltzman
Hidden Clues
editFrom his warm and caring character, the shape of his hat, and the general role Rabbi Moyshe and his family play in their small community, they seem to be Chabad Lubavitch, though it is never mentioned. The only explicit clue is near the end, when he is praying at home before the bad guys are expected to attack, and when he closes his siddur (prayer book) it is recognizable as the Chabad "Tehillat Hashem" siddur.
Production
editIn December 2022, it was announced that Feuerstein, McDonough, Mulroney and Lloyd had been cast in the film, with filming beginning in Santa Clarita, California.[6] In January 2023, it was announced that Tal, Busey and Sheffer, as well as other actors, had been cast in the film.[7]
Release
editReferences
edit- ↑ "Guns & Moses (15)". British Board of Film Classification. July 16, 2025. Retrieved July 16, 2025.
- ↑ "Guns & Moses". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
- ↑ Lobell, Kylie Ora (June 20, 2024). "'Guns and Moses': The Heroic Hasid". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
- ↑ Abramovitch, Seth (June 20, 2025). "Jews Fight Back in Trailer for Neo-Western 'Guns & Moses' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
- ↑ Tenorio, Rich (March 16, 2025). "A Gunslinging Rabbi Takes on an Antisemitic Whodunit in This Thrilling Jewish Western". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved May 14, 2025.
- ↑ Reul, Katie (December 14, 2022). "Mark Feuerstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney, Christopher Lloyd Starring in 'Man in the Long Black Coat' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ↑ Complex, Valerie (January 11, 2023). "Jake Busey, Craig Sheffer And Alona Tal Board Salvador Litvak's Western Crime Thriller 'Man In The Long Black Coat'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ↑ Or-El, Ayala (June 12, 2024). "How Filming 'Guns & Moses' Brought Two Sisters Closer to Judaism". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
- ↑ London, Rob (May 14, 2025). "A Badass Rabbi Has an Appetite for Destruction in New Trailer for the Neo-Western Thriller 'Guns & Moses' [Exclusive]". Collider. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
- ↑ "Guns & Moses". Fathom Entertainment. Retrieved August 30, 2025.
