The Polka King

The Polka King is a comedy based on the true story of Jan Lewan, a Polish immigrant living in Pennsylvania who becomes a popular polka bandleader. As his career grows and money gets tight, he turns to his most devoted followers, many of them retirees, for loans he promises to repay with unusually high returns. The scheme draws in more and more of his admirers even as it becomes impossible to sustain.

Maya Forbes directed the film, following her debut Infinitely Polar Bear (2014) and preceding The Good House (2021). She wrote the screenplay with Wallace Wolodarsky. Jack Black plays Lewan and also produced, alongside Stuart Cornfeld and Monica Levinson. The cast includes Jenny Slate as Marla Lewan, Jason Schwartzman as Mickey Pizzazz, Jacki Weaver as Barb, JB Smoove as Ron Edwards and Robert Capron as David Lewan, among 81 credited performers.

Released in early 2017, the film runs 95 minutes. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6 out of 10 from around 13,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 5.6 out of 10 from roughly 342 votes. A critics' rating of 6 out of 10 from 35 reviews places critical response broadly in line with the larger audience sample, suggesting a moderately received comedy rather than a strongly praised or widely disliked one.