Loving Leah (2009)

A quirky love story revolving around the unexpected wedding and unconventional married life of a 26-year-old widow and her late husband's brother, a handsome 30-year-old cardiologist.

Director:

Jeff Bleckner

Writer:

Pnenah Goldstein

Stars:

Lauren Ambrose, Adam Kaufman, Susie Essman

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lauren Ambrose	...	Leah Lever
Adam Kaufman	...	Jake Lever
Susie Essman	...	Malka
Harris Yulin	...	Rabbi Belsky
Natasha Lyonne	...	Esther
Christy Pusz	...	Carol
Ricki Lake	...	Rabbi Gerry
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Janice Lever
Tonye Patano	...	Emily
Donnie Keshawarz	...	Raj
Sylvia Kauders	...	Widow Goldfarb
Jayne Houdyshell	...	Mrs. Finkelman
David Rossmer	...	Rabbi Benjamin Lever
Tibor Feldman	...	Dr. Saloway
Jolly Abraham	...	Priya

Storyline

A quirky love story revolving around the unexpected wedding and unconventional married life of a 26-year-old widow and her late husband's brother, a handsome 30-year-old cardiologist.

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Plot Keywords:

levirate | chick flick | character name in title

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

CBS

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hallmark Hall of Fame: Loving Leah episode #58.2

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

A sign outside the Reform synagogue says that the rabbi's name is Gerry, so there's no expectation that the synagogue will turn out to have a female rabbi. However, for Leah's mother, a glance at the synagogue's sign is enough to reveal that the rabbi is a woman.

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Connections

Edited into Hallmark Hall of Fame (1951)

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Soundtracks

"Everything"
Written by Michael Bublé, Amy Foster-Gillies, and Alan Chang
Performed by Michael Bublé

User Reviews

Unrealistic but well acted

To begin with, a real Orthodox Jewish woman, from an Orthodox Jewish community, would not bother making an oven kosher for use if she couldn't count on her own flatmate to try to keep it kosher, or even to know what's kosher and what isn't. She wouldn't go to a swimming pool where men are allowed in at the same time. She wouldn't even hold a conversation alone with a strange man on a rooftop. We're given to understand that the heroine of this film isn't the typical Orthodox Jewish woman anyway, because she likes to sneak out to the movies; but obviously the real reason for her atypical behavior is that without it, the plot of the film could never occur. Also misrepresented is Reform Judaism: a Reform rabbi explains soberly about the interaction between the living and those who have passed on, and although with enough effort you could probably find a Reform rabbi who would say almost anything, I think you would look hard before you found one who claimed that the dead soul goes through experiences, and harder yet before you found one who claimed to know exactly what those experiences are. All that said, what we have here is a well acted film albeit a doubly formulaic one-- formulaic both in the progress of its love story and in its reconciliation of ostensibly incompatible ways of life.