Beau Jest (PG) ***

OK, he's not a real doctor, but he plays one for a fee.

By Rene Rodriguez, The Miami Herald

In Beau Jest, a Chicago schoolteacher named Sarah (Robyn Cohen), tired of her parents trying to find her a mate, hires Bob (Tony Daly), a male escort and actor, to play the part of her new boyfriend -- a doctor.

''They want what's best for their children, which, translated, means I should only date someone Jewish,'' Sarah explains to her fake partner. Sarah happens to have an actual boyfriend (Greg Cromer), but he's a Gentile, which means he would never pass muster with her parents (Lainie Kazan and Seymour Cassel).

So the charade begins, even though Sarah worries that Bob, who is also not Jewish, will flunk the parent test. ''They'll know,'' she frets. ``They can spot a Jew a mile away. It's like radar.''

Writer-director James Sherman, adapting his own long-running play, gives Beau Jest a likable, breezy energy that helps the film get past its sitcom airs. The story takes a number of twists as Sarah's nest of lies grows thicker, although only a few that can't be predicted well in advance.

The cast, which includes Sex and the City's Willie Garson as Sarah's increasingly suspicious brother, has a well-honed ensemble timing that helps sell the humor, which isn't exactly highbrow (''So what are you, Sephardic?'' ``No, no, I'm Jewish.''), but can definitely be qualified as crowd-pleasing. Beau Jest is a lark, but it kicks off the 2009 Miami Jewish Film Festival on an upbeat note.

Cast: Lainie Kazan, Robyn Cohen, Tony Daly, Willie Garson, Greg Cromer, Seymour Cassel.

Writer-director: James Sherman.

Producer: Daniel Newton.

A Prostorm Pictures release. Adult themes. Plays at 8:30 p.m. Saturday at the Sunrise Intracoastal.

Robyn Cohen, Tony Daly and Lainie Kazan.