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To the previous reviewer who said there's no DNA test that would show Jewish:

My wife took one a couple years ago and it returned 99% European Jewish. It's not just a religion, it's also a heritage.

It was a warm and heartfelt Christmas movie, one of Hallmark's better movies this season. At its heart for me was family: the love of family (the discovery of that family love), and being surround by people you love and people who love you (during the holiday season, of course). This was the underlining theme I took from the film. And I think the writer did a great job of conveying it thru the dialogue and interactions between the characters in the script. Our protagonist in this film is Christina (played by Mia Kirshner), an Italian restaurant owner keen to learn more about her biological family (as she was adopted). She is excited to find out from a recent DNA test that she is part Jewish and has genetic relatives living nearby in the city (who are open to meeting her). And so, her journey in this story begins: meeting new family, discovering and connecting with her roots, and, just maybe, leading her to a new, unlikely romance. I can't comment on the portrayal of the Jewish family in this film as others have done on here, but what I can say is that the film treats Hanukkah as more than just a complement to Christmas. Due to the nature of the story, the movie spends a significant amount of time presenting the celebration of Hanukkah and its traditions. Similar to other reviewers, I thought this element of the film was lovely, nicely done. What makes all this work, of course, is the acting. Kirshner's performance was outstanding. She did a great job of threading the line of someone who was a bit guarded but, at the same time, eager to meet her new family/romance. Simply put: her performance was believable, convincing. Ben Savage's performance was also strong (playing David, our other protagonist in this film). I have not seen him on screen since the 90s, but after this performance, I am wondering why not. The chemistry between the two was just about right for this family-focused movie. The supporting cast was brilliant. What stood out for me was Marilu Henner's performance (playing Ruth); it was an impressive performance, I thought (it pulled me in). As usual, with Hallmark Christmas movies, the scenery, props, and sets were festive, elegant, and well-polished, though I was not a fan of the ribbon on Christina's tree. It covered 80% of the tree, you barely knew it was a pine tree. All in all, this is a lovely new edition to Hallmark's Christmas movie lineup this season. I highly recommend it.

As an adoptee, who recently found both bio families thanks to DNA, and also finding that I was 50% a nationality that I had no idea of, I found this interesting. There are many emotions that you go through, and finally you come to realize that now you have 2 families, and you love both of them.

Sorry but Pittsburgh is in so many movies and never gets credit. The skating rink with the Christmas tree is ppg place and the exterior of Christina's restaurant is a Condados tacos. Start giving Pittsburgh proper billing for our appearances in movies!

The movie is cute and, like Christina's lasagna, predictable.

This movie was certainly better than the other two Hallmark Chanukah movies. However, I wish that the writer/producers would have expanded a little bit more on the candle lighting ceremony. On the first night, there are three blessings recited. On every other night, there are two blessings. Twice, this film cut off the second blessing. Also, it would have been nice if it showed the family singing "Maoz Tsur", in their home. It was heard at the outdoor Menorah lighting ceremony. All in all, it was a good film.

This movie pushes a lot of my sentimental buttons. One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time is The Christmas Note. If you've seen it, you know the parallel.

In this movie, we find out early on that Marilu Henner is Christina's biological mom. When that was revealed, I thought at first that it was too early, but that's just the first of many such moments. And that moment was done so well. Both Henner and Kushner had great responses to the situation.

Mia Kushner! Wow. She was great throughout. And her chemistry with Ben Savage was so strong. There was a lot of good dialogue between them especially, but with everyone.

So much happens in this movie. Some of the things are predictable to a point, but they just keep coming.

I love movies like this because of the theme of love of family. Finding a whole new family and then falling in love with all of them is so great.

My only complaint about this movie is that it ended too soon. I wanted it to keep going.''

To reviewers who say that Jewish isn't something that can show up on a DNA test, tell that to the company that did my DNA test. My test recently came back showing a significant portion as Jewish. Jewish families have protected their genealogies since Jacob.

Beautiful Story, but no one in Cleveland, OH, where this story is supposed to have taken place, would be a Cub Fan! Clevelanders would not refer to distances to some place as miles away, they refer to distances as minutes away.

One of the best holiday movies this year. From beginning to end , every scene well potraed and directed. Casting was brilliant along with the surprise of Ben Savage. Your heart will be filled with joy as you watch these characters develop into a beautiful story. Enjoy! I did~

6/10 - I appreciate Hallmark shining a light on Hanukkah, but this story was pretty bland

To the reviewer who said no DNA test can show someone is of Jewish decent..that is not correct. Jewish is a nationality not just a religion. I don't understand how people could not understand that fact. Not all people of Jewish ancestry are religious.

I was touched by this movie. A different approach from the usual Hallmark Christmas movie. Ben Savage showing his sense of humor that he is known for even since he was as a child star. Good to have a Jewish holiday celebrated. Mia Kirshner was sweet and demonstrated well all of the emotions she was dealing with. Loved seeing Marilu Henner in a different role since I've only seen her in all of the Aurora Teagarden mysteries recently. Very sweet movie and worth a shot.

Enjoyed the movie, but I wasn't overwhelmed. We did learn some things about the Jewish faith, which really touched us. I wanted to get into it more, but it didn't happen. Marilu Henner exceptional,...as usual. The two leads were OK. We're not hating this movie though.

Perhaps this movie could have been tolerable had Ben Savage not been the lead. There was zero chemistry and his lines were always so stilted. The female lead was also not strong but it could have been just the lack of chemistry that made her role seem weak. Marilyn Henner was good though. I think I would have stopped watching entirely had she not been in it.

Charming movie that combines two major religious holidays but I have to say Mia Kirshner looks terrible, her face seemed bloated. I guess I'm used to seeing her look differently in some her other films.

Enjoyed this movie immensely. It presented what it had to present, how Hanukkah is celebrated, very well. A different religion, a romance, the discovery of new family, and how all of this was wonderfully combined into a dual holiday celebration, is a lesson for our time.

I really cared for the movie, that left me with a smile. Nice movie that celebrates family, old and new traditions and love. Combining Hanukkah and Christmas with respect to both, with a story that is reliable, concurring fears and loss and embracing hopefulness and love is the essence of this movie. I always like when we get new actors as well as actors we know and appreciate from other Hallmark movies. Nice seeing nature vs. nurture in a story of a family reunited when an adopted woman finds her roots.

Between hoping they make many more Christmas/Hanukkah movies because I've adored everyone I've watched and hoping they do them sparingly because they take such care to get everything so right when they only do a handful of them. I prefer quality but I'm hopeful of getting both quality and quantity. I'm not even Jewish. I don't even think I know anyone who is! But seeing the Hanukkah traditions is so fun and beautiful. Ben Savage I was looking forward to seeing anyway and thought he did a terrific job as always. Mia Kirshner I was curious to see and she sold me all of her feelings. I loved the very layered story telling with this movie. I would love to see sequels to this one!! Make it happen Hallmark!

This movie makes a valiant effort to work some Hanukkah traditions into the standard Hallmark format. Unfortunately, it uses up all its good ideas within the first half hour, and then gets overwhelmed by the boilerplate.

The first act sets up an interesting plotline: Christmas-obsessed gal discovers that she's part Jewish, finds her biological family, and approaches her cultural heritage with admirable openness. Explored deeper, this really could've been something special. Instead, the plot quickly shifts gears into a bland romance, and all the cultural exploration stuff is shuffled to the background.

With very real lead characters, a sweet family story, and reminder of the reason for the season, a delightful movie!

This movie is horribly written and acted and the actors have no chemistry and the sets are put together lazily but yes they don't have a lot of Hanukkah movies so I give it a two

This film was far more enjoyable than I anticipated. The merging of cultures and family traditions was beautifully done and could be a guide to all of us for respecting and learning about cultures different from our own. I enjoyed seeing Ben Savage again. He is good in this role. I was impressed with how sensitively Mia Kirshner was in her role. I found myself wanting to know more about the relationships Christina builds and am hoping Hallmark will give us a sequel next year to see how those relationships are growing.

I didn't find this movie to be particularly happy and festive. Maybe it's me, having recently lost my mother and this is my first Christmas without her. I didn't card for the acting,either, with the exception of Marilu Henner. She always gives a good and believe performance. I also didn't think there was any chemistry between the main characters. I guess I just didn't like this movie, which disappoints me because I was looking forward to it. Perhaps I'll give it another chance, but not this year.