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Loving Leah

Field	Value
image	Loving Leah, 2009 film.jpg
caption	Promotional poster
genre	Romantic drama
based_on
teleplay	P'nenah Goldstein
director	Jeff Bleckner
starring	{{Plainlist
music	Jeff Beal
country	United States
language	English
executive_producer	{{Plainlist
editor	Geoffrey Rowland
cinematography	Charles Minsky
runtime	98 minutes
company	Hallmark Hall of Fame
network	CBS
released

Lauren Ambrose
Adam Kaufman
Susie Essman
Ricki Lake
Mercedes Ruehl
Brent Shields
Michael Besman

Loving Leah is a 2009 American romantic drama television film that aired on CBS as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on January 25, 2009. The film is directed by Jeff Bleckner and stars Adam Kaufman as a non-observant Jewish bachelor who feels compelled to marry his rabbi brother's widow, Leah (Lauren Ambrose), to honor him via the ancient Jewish law of yibbum (levirate marriage).

Loving Leah began as a play by P'nenah Goldstein and was brought to Hallmark by Ricki Lake, who appears in a minor role in the film. Goldstein also wrote the screenplay and "saw it in a way like Moonstruck or Crossing Delancey." To prepare for her role, lead actress Lauren Ambrose spent time with women of the close-knit Hasidic community.

Plot

Jake Lever is a successful cardiologist living in the upscale Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. When he dozes off at the hospital where he works, he dreams that his brother, Benjamin, tells him they are okay. Jake is confused and baffled after receiving a phone call from his mother later that day informing him that his brother, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish rabbi, has died suddenly. He feels guilty for not having kept in touch with Ben for several years. After Ben's funeral in Brooklyn, Jake learns that because his brother's wife Leah was left without children, they must perform a halizah ritual to release them from the religious obligation to conduct a levirate marriage.

Jake and Leah agree, but Jake changes his mind after seeing Leah wears a necklace with the identical hamsa his brother gave him before Benjamin left for college. The amulet reminds Jake of how much he loved his brother. He pulls Leah aside and says he doesn't want to deny his brother's existence, which is what he believes the halizah vow requires of him. After deciding she wants to leave her mother's home, become independent and start college, Leah agrees to Jake's alternate offer to marry him and move with him to Washington but maintain a platonic relationship. Jake is constantly busy with work at the hospital; his girlfriend Carol has little patience for his new "wife", and Leah adjusts to finding her way around a new city. As Leah becomes more liberal in her religious outlook, Jake finds himself drawn back to his Jewish roots. Eventually, true love grows and the two find the greatest gift Benjamin left them is each other.

Cast

Lauren Ambrose as Leah Lever
Adam Kaufman as Jake Lever
- Timothée Chalamet as Young Jake
Susie Essman as Malka
Ricki Lake as Rabbi Gerry
Christy Pusz as Carol
Mercedes Ruehl as Janice Lever
Harris Yulin as Rabbi Belsky
Natasha Lyonne as Esther

Production

Filming took place in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.

References

"Loving Leah Is an Unorthodox Hallmark Movie". [[ReelzChannel]].
[http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/01/24/2009-01-24_lauren_ambrose_plays_hasidic_role_in_lov.html Lauren Ambrose plays Hasidic role in 'Loving Leah' on good faith] Cristina Kinon. [[Daily News (New York). Daily News]] (New York). January 23rd 2009.
Lowry, Brian. (January 22, 2009). "Loving Leah". [[Variety (magazine).

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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