Hanukkah on Rye

source: Hanukkah on Rye

This is easily the best of the 3 Hanukkah-centric movies Hallmark has aired to date. Please let Julie Sherman Wolfe write all of them going forward. Two rival deli owners meet as neighbors and get to know each other. Little do they know they are also being set up via a matchmaker employed by their grandmothers and said matchmaker requires them to write incognito letters to each other. Eventually, Jake finds out about the matchmaking but keeps it from Molly. You can guess where this is going. Anyway, I adored Jeremy Jordan in this. He got to use his comedic chops but unfortunately didn't get to sing aside from a quick prayer. Come on Hallmark, if you're casting Broadway talent let them sing! He and Yael had great chemistry and the supporting cast was wonderful. The old school matchmaker was an interesting angle but it seemed to work! Also, I loved the attention to detail in this movie including making sure that the candles on the menorah wouldn't tip over. I hope Hallmark and even Lifetime get to a point where there is Hanukkah representation in more than one movie per season.

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.

This movie is upbeat, sentimental and educational with a dynamite storyline. The letter writing matchmaking service complete with a courier is so romantic and adorable. I absolutely loved all of the deli foods and the close ups of the food as scene transitions. Hanukkah on Rye Summary Molly and Jacob are matched together in a Brooklynn matchmaker service that connects the match with old-school letter writing and a courier that secretly delivers them in envelopes. The two fall into love through writing letters under the pen names Betha and David. Unbeknownst to them, Molly and Jacob's families have competing Jewish delis. In real life, Molly and Jacob bond over Hanukkah week celebrations and traditional Jewish foods. Molly seeks to bring her deli into modern times, while Jacob seeks to bring his deli back to authentic traditions. The two learn from one another and grow. MeetCute Jacob is new to the old-school New York apartment building that he is renting while he opens up the new location of his family deli, Zimmer's Deli. He cannot open up the mailbox and Molly, as a life-long tenant, shows him how to open up the mailbox with the key. Molly tells Jacob that her family has lived here since they came from Ellis Island and gives him her number so that he can call on her as a good neighbor. Jacob says that he is flattered and thinks Molly is hitting on him. She tells him her type is someone who can "open up a mailbox." Later, Mizansky's Matchmaking Service matches them and the two write letters to each other without exchanging names or meeting. Setting New York City The apartment building where they live and the delis are all on a Jewish neighborhood block. Old-school New York apartment building where both Molly and Jacob live. There are menorahs in almost every scene. Gilbert's Deli is also old-school with big open windows in a corner New York City Street lot.

I loved this movie. Yes, it is yet another take on the "you've got mail" idea, but with the addition of a matchmaker and two meddling but caring extended families. The two leads were very appealing and their connection, both in person and in their letters, was fun to watch. I have also enjoyed the other movies this year with the Jewish faith and traditions shown, and in this one, the history of these families and how they came to their new country. The ending was just lovely, as the two families come together with much love and a shared experience. All in all, a great movie and will be one of my favourites of this season.

I'm giving this six latkes, and I usually rate Hallmark holiday films five, and the past "Jewish attempts" closer to four. Hallmark holiday films are typically formulaic, with trite scripts and dialog. The script and dialog were markedly improved with this outing, and with better casting, this could have been great. I'm very pleased that the gentiles who watched enjoyed it, and were charmed by the accurate Jewish quirkiness; as with Mrs. Maisel, that makes us feel more loved and less alone in America. The casting was not on point, though. As an American Israeli, I really want to love Groblas, but her American accent is worse than Gal Gadot's - and that's saying something. She is really bad in this role. I didn't look it up, but as a Jew, both sets of parents do not appear via physical traits or seem by their mannerisms (or lack of hand gestures) to be played by Jewish actors - if anything, this is the Aryan-nation-Jewface casting that repeats the mistakes of Mrs. Maisel instead of correcting them. Why not cast an actual American Jew, like Sarah Silverman? There are tons of Jewish no-name actors to play the parents. Jewish or no, the grandmothers were ON POINT, but the fact that only. Jordan consistently pronounced bubbe correctly (it's BUH-BEE, and saying BOOBY is obnoxious!) was jarring and the use of the word was so frequent, given the plot line, that it felt like there wasn't a single American Jew on set to give the non-Jews their two cents and a smack on the tuchus. If you'll forgive the bad pun. I realize the world doesn't want to accept that Jewface is the same as Blackface, and will insist that 'acting' can make even Michelle WIlliams appear Jewish. OY YOI YOI - it is embarrassingly bad. It really is just as bad as RDJ in blackface in Tropic Thunder - it's just that, apparently, only Jews can see it. And if you can't see how this, M. Williams and Maisel are exaggerated gentiles in dress-up, then it's like you don't truly see us at all. Try casting Jewish actors next time, across the board. If we actually run Hollywood, how hard could that be? This was better than the other Hallmark dreck, but...isn't it possible to do WELL? I could make a better latke than any of these ppl even dreamed of, blindfolded.

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.

It was "just okay", but so many cliches - ugh. Meanwhile, a question: how did the two deli owners made their "Ranch Dressing" that they both raved about? I ask, because if they made it the traditional way (with milk or buttermilk), both delis would NOT be kosher. But maybe they don't care? Now, I have to write out 281 more characters to post this. Yes, it was cute; yes, it was mostly Jewish; yes, it was soooo "Hallmark" I could plotz. The best character was the "matchmaker" (I tried to write the word in Hebew, but your system wouldn't allow it)... though they really didn't need her, since we all knew at the beginning what the ending wold be. If you are going to make a REAL Jewish movie, make a real Jewish movie without all the cliches and Yiddishkeit!

A number of reviews mention this movie is similar to You've Got Mail. While true, that movie was based on the 1940 film, The Shop Around the Corner. Hanukkah on Rye has a good pedigree and is a fun movie. The two leads have a lot of chemistry. An enemies to lovers romance is a great trope. Watching the movie did get me kind of hungry. My one criticism is that some of the Jewish references are a little over the top. Reminded me of some goyim screen writers trying to sound Jewish, but missing the mark. Wasn't enough to stop me from watching. On the other hand, some of the references to the history of Jewish immigrants is nicely handled.

Cute movie, but the closed captions describe them singing the Hanukkah blessing in Yiddish. I'm not even Jewish and I know it's Hebrew. Is there anyway to fix that? The direction is leadfooted, but this is a Hallmark movie, after all. It has about what you expect for snappy dialogue, too. I was trying to avoid having to see how weak this movie really is but I am told that I have not written enough words. So, it's lighthearted and gentle and all that, and after all it is a Hallmark movie, but come on folks- how about some real dialogue? Like the sort of words that people actually speak. Just a couple of winking allusions to a not really very important Jewish holiday doesn't cut it. I think I'm gonna go back and take off another couple stars.