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!

The two leads have such great chemistry with each other. The way they both drove each other's storylines but at the same time they went on their own journey. It felt like the way marriage should be. I am also a huge fan of when things in life just happen a little out of order. Fate has a way of working things out and I think this movie showed that through a Jewish lens. I liked her love of her god Anybody could fall in love with this story and their willingness to compromise with each other. All around an excellent movie. Yes I recommend it. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 01/31/2021

In the orthodox Jewish faith, when a man dies, the wife is supposed to marry his single brother, if there is any. In order to avoid such a marriage, there is a nasty ritual that the man and woman has to go through.

This is the case in "Loving Leah." The film is somewhat unrealistic. An orthodox woman would not just take up with her brother-in-law as the film seems to suggest. When he calls her on Friday night, he should have realized that she'd never answer the phone and as for the sleeping arrangements made with the arrival of her mother, forget it, it doesn't happen like that. In addition, the prospective mother-in-law would never have a change to a more modern attitude in invoking the Lord's name for justification.

All of the above being said, the movie is still a very interesting one and becomes extremely poignant at the end as the unveiling of the stone for the deceased draws near.

The film tries to succeed in attempting to reconcile assimilation with accommodation here. Sociologists would have an absolute ball with this film.

The film is still quite memorable and open to a lot of discussion. Some people may need to see it twice for a better understanding.