I had a strong objection to the film — specifically the fact that he spent all that money on the Esrog. He could have bought a very nice Esrog and used the balance to support his family for a while. There is no mitzvah to buy an Esrog for $900 (IIRC, he got $1000, gave 10% to his poor friend for tzedaka and used the rest to buy the “Yahalom”) when you are poor and learning and your kollel is late with the payments. I think that it would have been far proper more proper to spend $100 on the Esrog (or even less) and use the rest of the money to enable yourself to sit and learn for another few months.
The Wolf