L'amour plus fort que la raison

"Feel-good" movies are much like the classic pop love songs of the 30's & 40's: they're aspirational---that is, such depth/perfection of love is probably not achievable, but we'd like to believe it is. Hence, why complain about realism and accuracy, as though Hollywood routinely trades in those commodities and "Loving Leah" is an exception. We want to believe it's possible and there is no harm in doing so.

That being said, this is about as well-acted a TV movie as you're likely to see: Harris Yulin as the Rabbi, Susie Essman & Mercedes Ruehl as the stereotypical yet lovable Jewish mamas, Natasha Lyonne as Leah's older sister (her wide-eyed look from the cab at the film's end is classic), Christy Pusz as Jake's girlfriend (the look on her face when she first meets Leah at the party perfectly communicates that she suddenly understands why Jake refused to let her go...), Tonye Patano cute-as-the-dickens in her small role as Emily, and, of course, Adam Kaufman terrific as Jake.

However, Lauren Ambrose IS this movie, appropriate since she plays the title character. Possessed of what my late mother called "natural beauty" (i.e. a haunting combination of outer & inner beauty), those incredible eyes communicate at least as much as her spoken lines. She is that captivating (to men) combination of fire & ice: (Jake: "You're not what I expected...'Ya got sh-punk, Kid'...Bogart"), formidable yet breakable, assertive yet unsure, a budding feminist yet desiring the love of a man. Her facial expressions when Jake first introduces her as "my wife, Leah", when she gives him that "come hither" look as they're silently standing in the doorway, at the very end when he places the ring back on her finger---all are testimonials to her superb acting ability. She is the quintessential Jewish (or Gentile, for that matter) "girl next door".

And, as an aside, the two kissing scenes between Leah & Jake are among the most tender I've ever seen---passionate yet non-sexual (yes, I realize that their first sexual encounter followed the first scene). It's so refreshing to see kissing express love rather that merely lust, where the characters start ripping one another's clothes off. None of that here---what happened in the bedroom is left to one's imagination, just as it used to be when Hollywood had a measure of restraint.

And Jeff Beal's musical score (complete with klezmer clarinet at times) adds a great deal to many scenes, even though for my tastes it is just a tad too much reminiscent of Schindler's List...

In short, feel-good movies are feel-good movies, but some are memorable and should stay around while others should not only be quickly forgotten but never should have been made in the first place. This one belongs firmly if the former category...

So "Loving Leah" is a little schmaltzy, even for a love story. I loved it anyway. It's a real pleasure to watch a movie that is respectful of Jewish customs and presents a non sensationalized, exploitative, or prejudiced view of Jewish religious practice. Usually the only portraits of Jewish life I see on TV are tragic stories set during the Holocaust or comedies. I appreciated that Leah's mother was strict and scared her daughter enough for her to put up a show of the pretend marriage, but ultimately she cared for Leah, wanted her to be happy, and encouraged her to go back and make up with Jacob, even if he wasn't Orthodox, and even if he and Leah would attend a Reform Temple with a woman rabbi. I appreciated that none of the characters were stereotypes or played for laughs. Well done Hallmark!

First, I would like to thank Hallmark for putting on this movie because in doing so they took a chance that people could actually relate..and not be afraid to throw in a story with a religious element..the old adage is never talk about politics or religion. While it is true that we delve into some fundamental issues of the Jewish faith, this is first and foremost a story of friendship offered and love found. One review called this a romantic comedy..others found faults here and there but there will always be those that look for some shortcomings. I see this as a tender story of two people discovering that they have much to offer each other after Jake's brother dies leaving a widow. She has her ways steeped in tradition and Jake has his ways..not being home much and a girlfriend and working long hours at the hospital..did I mention that his girlfriend initially encouraged Jake (Adam Kaufman) to befriend the young widow (Lauren Ambrose)?After all, she's family. The first days and weeks thrown together as "roommates" are played in such a realistic and touching way, you are drawn into "their" story..and it is theirs and the memory of his dead brother..and mothers wanting what's right for their kids..this is a sweet, innocent and tender. Telling of simple love..there's no comedy here..but the facial expressions and the eyes say this is really some fine acting..I waited for this to come on and was not disappointed. And neither will you.It's that good.

I have been pleasantly surprised by this movie. The level of acting was verry good, the story was excellent and I liked it very much.

How do you explain a religious tradition? This movie succeeded in bringing non-Jewish viewers in contact with a specific tradition from the Jewish religion.

The characters were portrayed very well by the cast.

Most movies for me are just to pass the time, this, however, made me pay attention. I chose it as a romantic movie, but it was so much more.

I hope there are more of these movies to follow. And I learned to look beyond the cast. That was an eyeopener for me.

My wife and I are Orthodox Jews addicted to the Perry Mason of our childhood. We couldn't resist watching Hallmark's presentation of levirate marriage, or yibum, but never expected we could stomach more than 20 minutes of it.

The writers and directors certainly get credit for coming up with an original plot device to create romantic tension and resolution. This is Hallmark, after all, and we didn't expect all the dramatic unities to be observed, but we were pleased at the overall high quality of the research, writing and acting. There are Orthodox men who make a living outside the rabbinate, and non-Orthodox Jewish men who aren't cardiac surgeons, but avoiding these clichés might been too distracting.

The mystical / romantic motivation was never made quite reasonable, but much worse was the simple fact that marriages religious and secular require sexual consummation in order to be valid. The whole point of yibum is that the wife should get pregnant with her brother-in-law's child and therefore continue her dead husband's family and name. Such a beginning would have ruined the plot and perhaps run afoul of Hallmark's standards and practices.

One may quibble about this or that presentation of Jewish religious practice, but on the whole this movie did a good and conscientious job with remarkable few cringe-inducing mistakes. In the end it worked as a romantic comedy/drama which held our attention to the end.