Hanukkah on Rye

I love finally having a Chanukah movie that made celebrating Chanukah seem like the norm. The conversations, the intonations, the references, the traditions - I felt like I was watching a movie about people who could actually be family. It just resonated with me. My only gripe was that when they were singing the prayers while lighting the menorah, the subtitles read "singing in Yiddish" when it's Hebrew. Otherwise, just a feel good Chanukah movie. It feels so good to write that! I didn't even realize I'd been waiting for a movie like this! We just don't have enough modern Chanukah movies and I've now found my new Chanukah movie to watch every year.

For a Hallmark film, I would give it an 9 out of 10, but rating on an overall film scale I would rate it a 7/6.5. Hallmark films tend to have the same test formula. This film does breaks the mold in several ways. The dialogue was much better and the plot was well executed. The film uses many of the same plot elements of "You've got mail."

The positive aspects of the film includes the following: The plot moves forward fast after the first 15 minutes, the main characters have a lot of chemistry, the small supporting characters worked well, such as the Apartment reception person, the delivery person, and the matchmaker. The movies does attempt to deal with issues that you would not normally associate in a Hallmark film, such as the decline of the Deli in New York City. Most importantly, the film delivers on what Hallmark movie fans, which is a fun romantic film with a holiday theme.

My many problem with the film is that it does not pay attention to details, such as labeling prayers are in Hebrew, not in Yiddish. In my opinion, there was too much use of Yiddish words that were forced and not correctly pronounced. In an age where the movie "Menache" was successful (which was in Yiddish and used all Jewish characters), I don't understand whey they can't cast all Jewish people for Jewish characters in a Hanukah film, use real dialogue that Jewish people would speak, and get the details correct.

Sure this is a knock off on the famous movie You've Got Mail, but it is well done. And Jeremy Jordan and Yael Grobglas have sizzling chemistry. I really like Grobglas as Molly. There are so many parallels to the other movie, but about half way through things start going differently and get a little crazy. It occurred to me briefly how it might all turn out with the delis but I was like "nah".

The acting is good. The dialogue is excellent. There are a lot of funny moments. I really like how straightforward Molly and Jacob are about everything with each other.

This will be worth watching again.

I'm not Jewish, but I enjoyed this movie even though the Hanukkah syrup was poured on pretty heavy. My Jewish friends tell me Hanukkah really isn't that big of a deal for them but I appreciate Hallmark's continuing effort to be inclusive.

The coincidences, especially towards the end, were implausible, but French Israeli actress Yael Grobglas is beautiful and charming as Molly. Jeremy Jordan was also solid as Jacob. It was wonderful to see the mutual attraction of these two likeable characters grow based on their written words AND by getting to know each other in person. Without any annoying competition.

The anonymous "pen pal" storyline is one of my favorites. There's a great old black and white classic film about anonymous pen pals who know each other in real life (without realizing it) called The Shop Around The Corner starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan. That inspired the more recent rom-com classic, You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan ("I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly.").

Hallmark has successfully used similar anonymous "pen pal" storylines in Bottled With Love with Bethany Joy Lenz and Andrew Walker (one of my favorite Hallmark movies) and in Love Always, Santa, and The Christmas Promise. I really enjoy a romance based on the exchange of thoughtful letters (or emails or texts). But, unlike the older classics, the Hallmark movies tend to turn the inevitable disclosure of the identity of one of the anonymous writers into a conflict that never really rings true. It seems to me that learning the name of the person who has been sending you anonymous letters, and learning that person is actually someone you know and like in real life, would be good news, as it was in the older classics. But nearly every Hallmark movie has an often contrived conflict pop up in the fourth quarter that gets resolved in the last 5 minutes. This was no different.

I liked the inclusion of the dancing dinner rolls from Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush, but watching outdoor movies in NYC in December would usually be too cold to be fun. The Jewish song competition was also a bit weird. It featured two awful performers (who were meant to be funny but weren't). Fortunately, they were followed by Lisa Loeb performing a lovely song called "Light". I was inspired to listen to it again on Spotify after the movie along with her big hits "Stay" and "I Do".

I thought the role of the doorman was a bit 2 dimensional. He was used a little too frequently for silent reaction shots and never seemed like a real person. One of his few lines is a line about not saying anything. I appreciate Hallmark's increasing commitment to diversity, but when the only Black character in a movie is a cardboard character, that undercuts their attempt at progress.

But, overall, it was a fun movie thanks, mostly, to the leads. I'd like to see more of them, especially Yael Grobglas.

Very reminiscent of the movie "You've Got Mail" with the letter writing and competing businesses! I loved that movie and really enjoyed this one. I am not Jewish so can't speak to the authenticity of the traditions, but this movie was centered around family and love...and aren't those the most important things, especially during the holidays but also year round?

I really liked both the lead actors and thought they had great chemistry. The doorman was great! And the bubbies! They were both awesome! Without giving anything away...I enjoyed the whole matchmaker story line, and especially the twist at the end!

Made me want to go back to visit New York!