Hanukkah on the Rocks

I never like it when the lead loses her job right off the bat. It's too depressing especially for a Christmas movie. Well in this movie, Tory bounces up right away. Believe it or not, she goes from a lawyer to a part time bartender and she's perfect for the job. So is Stacey Farber. She is really growing on me as a Hallmark lead. She and the rest of the cast have good dialogue to work with that is upbeat and fun. For a while the story isn't that complex. Obviously there is a guy spending time in the bar trying to convince his grandfather to go back to Florida to be with the rest of the family. But the story doesn't need more than that for a while because it's about the people with Farber's Tory being the center of everything. It works.

There is a secret hanging over Tory's head in that she doesn't want to tell her parents she lost her job. You know that will do something to interfere with how things are going at the bar and with Jay. That and the fact Jay lives in Florida. And there is an additional little surprise conflict.

Farber and Daren Kagasoff have great chemistry. The acting is good.

There is an element about family that gets stronger in the second half. It even leads into a really good ending, although a lot of things get tied up pretty quickly. (I was surprised the one big thing isn't completely tied down. Usually Hallmark movies put bows on every possible thing for an HEA.)

6.6 stars.

The best word to describe a story set in a bar with a bunch of random people celebrating Hanukkah is: strange. I can't imagine a bunch of bar flies would be acting like normal, upstanding, sober people all through the holidays while they're celebrating Hanukkah in a dive bar in the big city. Where is the raucous behavior and the lewd comments? Where are the loud drunken conversations that become so overbearing that you have to vacate the bar at some point? None of the realistic stuff that happens in bars actually takes place in this film. Everyone is on their best behavior. Everyone is quiet, everyone is easy-going. It's a dive bar in the middle of a city!

This is why you don't see movies like this, because it's completely unrealistic to imagine a bunch of drunkards hanging out in a bar all day every day getting along and singing Kum ba yah.

All the above outrageousness aside, it's not a bad fabrication.

This is a rare Hallmark movie where even the dialog associated with the obligatory plot points is executed in a way that doesn't sound cliche. The imaginative games at the bar are a lot of fun with more interesting and quirky supporting characters than usual. The leads are engaging and have good chemistry. The "bubby" and the grandfather are both exceptionally well played. The different dilemmas unfold in the usual Hallmark way but enough fun stuff is chocked into the middle that it all seems more natural somehow. I think the Hallmark genre of movies needs to be rated on their own scale with enjoyment being the main criterion. As such. I enjoyed Hanukkah on the Rocks thoroughly and rate it a 9/10.

I watch just abouy all the new hallmark movies each year, this was already on my list with much knowledge of what it was abouy or who was in it. Then I heard Marc Summers on a radio show promoting the movie and then I was even more intrigued to watch it and it did not disappoint! I really enjoyed this one, Marc summers was SO good! I heard him saying he's not an actor but I thought he did a great job!! All of the actors really did in this. It was one of my favorites this holiday season.

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Hallmark's 2024 Hanukkah on the Rock's was one of the better releases this season. The leading actress, Stacey Farber who plays Tory was very good and hopefully we'll see her in more leading roles in Hallmark movies, but the real star of this movies was Marc Summers as Sam Rosen. My wife and I were pleasantly surprised to see him in this movie because we were fans of his old Food Network show Unwrapped for many years. He's was superb in this movie. We enjoyed the story a lot despite several tropes, because it was really heartwarming and festive and a nice change of pace watching mature adults enjoying Hanukkah inspired cocktails in a grown up's bar versus "hot cocoa stands" and "building snowmen". The only reason I'm giving this 8 stars versus 10 is because the brief "misunderstanding" trope towards the very end really felt like a square peg in a round hole and was totally contrived and unnecessary in this movie.