Loving Leah (2009)

I came across this movie quite by accident and began to watch it. Being a Hallmark romance, I kind of had an idea where this would go. However, I was pleasantly surprised and it seemed to me to be different from most other Hallmark movies. The more I watched, the more I became intrigued and wondered just what road this story would take. Although, not Jewish myself, I am always amazed about religion and how one dedicates themselves to any religion, Jewish or not. I found this element of the movie most informative and very interesting. I would love to see this movie with a bigger budget just to see a bit more romance and chemistry and story between Leah & Jake. I thought the actors were superb and suited the roles to a tee, even the supporting cast. It was great seeing Ricki Lake also. I would recommend this movie to any of my friends. It was just wonderful and left me wanting to see more of their story.

I saw Loving Leah recently for the first time and a few times since. Lauren was faithful to the character throughout and nudged her "replacement husband" from his almost terrified responsibility to his deceased brother for the good of his brother's name and Leah. Jake seemed barely into the idea of marriage as it turned another relationship upside down in a way that was slightly comical as Jake squirmed as he dealt with the two women in his life and not being sure which way to turn. (Having know a woman co-worker years ago who lived a closely guarded with chaperons on dates and strict public and private moral behavior, I think I can in a small way understand what Leah was going through.) Leah was like a butterfly emerging from the restrictions that bound her to her faith and duty for her deceased husband and this new husband and ever so subtly made the new life inescapable for Jake who tried to carry on his own life as a doctor while being drawn into Leah's innocent charm. Leah's quiet charm had me falling in love with her too!

The story line wasn't full of any big surprises but the overall cleanness left my husband and me grinning for the rest of the evening. I Loved the fashionable modesty in this film..... even the non religious characters were dressed more modestly than the average cast. Except for Jake's topless moment there wasn't a lot of skin! I will recommend it to my friends who are picky about this sort of thingLeah's choices for head coverings after she let go of her wig are inspiring for any woman who is thinking of adding this to her way of life. I usually cover my head in public and I was truly blessed to see a film whose leading lady covered head and herself yet remained well groomed and didn't lean too far to the frump.Also, the biblical reference to Jacob and Leahs loveless marriage was fantastic. I doubt most viewers picked up on it but there it's there and that little triumph made it an even sweeter tale. Even my super manly husband said this is one we will enjoy again and again.

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.