With everything that has been happening in the world, Hanukkah is especially meaningful this year. That’s why it’s immensely comforting for viewers to immerse themselves in Hallmark Channel’s fun romantic comedy “Round and Round,” an adorable holiday film, chock full of fun Jewish references, latkes and sufganiyot!
Director Stacey N. Harding loved making the film, which has a stellar ensemble cast. “‘Round and Round’… such a fun collaboration with so many humans airs tonight on Hallmark. Hopefully you enjoy watching it as much as we did making it!! 🕎❤️” she said on her Instagram.
Here’s five reasons to watch “Round and Round!”
1. It all starts on the seventh day of Hanukkah, when Rachel (Vic Michaelis) visits her local Jewish bakery to bring the sufganiyot to her parents’ party. She manages to accidentally drop the three boxes of donuts after bumping into Zach (Bryan Greenberg) and they fall everywhere.
Without giving too much of the story away, let’s just say, the Hallmark audience will be seeing an awful lot of donuts! So much so that after watching, you will want to stay in the kitchen all day baking and frying! Here’s a great recipe to try!
2. Viewers are taken on an amusing rollercoaster, as Rachel realizes she is having a “Groundhog Day,” where each morning she wakes up, and it’s still the 7th day of Hanukkah! Zach and his friend repeatedly try to figure out what will break the time loop she is in!
This comedy has a fresh and original storyline appeal, and viewers get a realistic glimpse of Jewish life. It didn’t go full throttle with a “hey - we’re doing a Hanukkah movie with latkes and somehow throwing in a mishmash of Yiddish words,” as other films have awkwardly tried to do.
3. Viewers will absolutely fall in love with adorable Grandma Rosie, (Paula Shaw) who senses that her granddaughter needs to get out of her creative rut and gifts her a dreidel, which has been in the family for decades. If you were a fan of Netflix’s “Jewish Matchmaking,” you will appreciate how she repeatedly tries to fix up her art teacher at the senior center and Rachel!
4. Seeing a Jewish family light Hanukkah candles, spin the dreidel and all the decorations will uplift anyone watching! There are some wonderful education moments too, where an element of Judaism is explained. For example, Rachel’s dad (Rick Hoffman) talks about his 36th wedding anniversary, mentioning how the double chai, 18 is a lucky number and means “life.”
He also wears this groovy latka apron, similar to this one!
6. There’s also lots of fun trivia and unique pop culture references throughout the film. For example, if you were a fan of “Hanukkah on Rye,” Hallmark’s Hanukkah movie last year, you will definitely notice that the kosher bakery, Goldberg’s, which was a focal point in that film, is the same as in “Round and Round!”
In this movie, Rachel’s parents (Hoffman and Nicole Oliver) have a great origin story, where they met at a ‘80s Jewish singles event and it was love at first sight! The couple end up spending all night together in New York City, eating donuts from Goldberg’s Bakery!
Photos courtesy of Hallmark Channel.
