For a Hallmark film, I would give it an 9 out of 10, but rating on an overall film scale I would rate it a 7/6.5. Hallmark films tend to have the same test formula. This film does breaks the mold in several ways. The dialogue was much better and the plot was well executed. The film uses many of the same plot elements of "You've got mail."
The positive aspects of the film includes the following: The plot moves forward fast after the first 15 minutes, the main characters have a lot of chemistry, the small supporting characters worked well, such as the Apartment reception person, the delivery person, and the matchmaker. The movies does attempt to deal with issues that you would not normally associate in a Hallmark film, such as the decline of the Deli in New York City. Most importantly, the film delivers on what Hallmark movie fans, which is a fun romantic film with a holiday theme.
My many problem with the film is that it does not pay attention to details, such as labeling prayers are in Hebrew, not in Yiddish. In my opinion, there was too much use of Yiddish words that were forced and not correctly pronounced. In an age where the movie "Menache" was successful (which was in Yiddish and used all Jewish characters), I don't understand whey they can't cast all Jewish people for Jewish characters in a Hanukah film, use real dialogue that Jewish people would speak, and get the details correct.
