MovieShrink7 Review of Menorah in the Middle

Menorah in the Middle (2022)

Do yourself a favor and make some rugelach instead

[2/10 · 16 December 2022]

For some reason I've been in the mood to watch all the garbage (i.e. Hallmark/Lifetime and their ilk) holiday movies this year. Most of them are watchable even if they are forgettable. I was genuinely excited for this one since there are few Hanukkah options. But sadly, it is just truly bad and it starts right at the opening scene where the protagonist is in "Paris" with a mime taking up half the scene. There's also this awkward minstrel that shows up at odd intervals to add narration that in no way fits with the tone of the movie. It seems like the soundtrack was taken from the rejected score from Fiddler on the Roof. The director also apparently doesn't believe in lighting. It was just rough from start to finish. It was like they looked at a list of Yiddish words and placed them at random intervals in the script and called it a day. The plot is bordering on nonsensical and absolutely no one broke a sweat coming up with the business names in this movie (Panda Bread, Becker Family Bread). If I wasn't such a glutton for punishment, I would have turned it off.