Loving Leah

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Loving Leah
Directed by Jeff Bleckner
Produced by Michael Besman
Written by Pnenah Goldstein
Starring Lauren Ambrose
Adam Kaufman
Susie Essman
Ricki Lake
Music by Jeff Beal
Editing by Geoffrey Rowland
Production company Hallmark Hall of Fame
Country United States
Language English
Release date January 25, 2009
Running time 98 minutes

Loving Leah is a television movie 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 an unobservant Jewish bachelor who feels compelled to marry his observant rabbi brother's widow, Leah (Lauren Ambrose) to honor him via the ancient Jewish custom of yibbum (levirate marriage).[1]

Loving Leah began as a play by Pnenah Goldstein and was brought to Hallmark by Ricki Lake, who also 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 of widow in the Hasidic community, lead actress Lauren Ambrose spent time with women of the close-knit community.[2]

Plot

Jake Lever (Adam Kaufman) is a successful cardiologist living in Washington, D.C. While at the hospital, he dreams that his brother, Benjamin, tells him that they are okay. Jake is confused and is baffled after learning later that day that his brother has died suddenly. He feels guilty for not having kept in touch with his brother for several years. After Ben's funeral held in Brooklyn, Jake finds out that because his brother's wife Leah (Lauren Ambrose) has been left without children, they must perform a ceremony called halizah in order to nullify a levirate marriage.

Jake and Leah agree, but Jake changes his mind after seeing a necklace which his brother gave him. Dating from before Benjamin left home, the necklace reminds Jake of how much he loved his big brother. He pulls Leah aside and tells her that he doesn't want to deny his brother's existence. After deciding that she wants to leave her mother's home, become independent, and start college, Leah agrees to move with Jake to Washington. 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. But eventually, true love arises, and the two find that the greatest gift Benjamin has left them is each other.

Cast

"Loving Leah"
Hallmark Hall of Fame episode
Episode no. Season 58
Episode 2
Production code 345
Original air date January 25, 2009
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Front of the Class"		 Next →
"The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler"
  • Lauren Ambrose as Leah Lever
  • Adam Kaufman as Jake Lever
  • Susie Essman as Malka
  • Ricki Lake as Rabbi Gerry
  • Christy Pusz as Carol
  • Mercedes Ruehl as Janice Lever

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Loving Leah Is an Unorthodox Hallmark Movie". ReelzChannel. Retrieved 2009-01-24. 
  2. ↑ Lauren Ambrose plays Hasidic role in 'Loving Leah' on good faith Cristina Kinon. Daily News (New York). January 23rd 2009.

External links

Films directed by Jeff Bleckner
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