If you read my review of last year’s Hallmark Chanukah-themed movie (HANUKKAH ON RYE), you know that I enjoyed it as much as I enjoy having a colonoscopy. This year’s entrant is ROUND AND ROUND, and once again I gritted my teeth in anticipation of taking one for the tribe.

ROUND AND ROUND tells the story of Rachel Landau (Vic Michaelis, TV’s COLLEGEHUMOR ORIGINALS), a 30-ish woman who is living the good life in New York City. She works as an assistant book editor for a publishing house, a job that she loves, her boyfriend is a university professor, and she’s got a great apartment in Brooklyn. The story opens on the morning of December 13^th. Rachel has slept late and she has to go to Goldberg’s Bake Shop to pick up three dozen donuts that her mother had ordered for their 7^th night of Chanukah party at their home in suburban New Jersey that evening. In line at the bakery, her boyfriend calls and tells her that he won’t be able to make it to the party. Later, on her way to the train station, she crashes into Zach Rubin (Bryan Greenberg, ALREADY TOMORROW IN HONG KONG; TV’s THE MINDY PROJECT) and the donuts go flying everywhere. Rachel’s day really isn’t going well and it only gets worse when she gets to her parents’ place where Zach eventually shows up with her grandmother. When she wakes up the next morning, it’s December 13^th all over again. Realising that she’s stuck in a time loop, Rachel has to figure out what needs changing in her life in order to get out of it. Fortunately, she’s got some very willing help in Zach’s comic book nerd friend, Seth (Amitai Marmorstein, TV’s SCHMIGADOON!).

I hope you’re sitting down as you’re reading this. I actually liked this movie. Sure, it’s a riff on GROUNDHOG DAY but Rachel and Zach know that and there’s a running gag throughout the story about which one of them is Bill Murray and which one is Andie MacDowell. Unlike HANUKKAH ON RYE, writer Tamar Laddy (PRETTY LITTLE LIARS), who is Jewish, steers clear of creating stereotypically Jewish characters. Rachel’s parents, Joanna (Nicole Oliver, WONDER) and Stan (Rick Hoffman, THANKSGIVING; TV’s SUITS), are both down-to-earth and, dare I say, would be fun to hang out with. Joanna is the furthest thing from being overbearing and Stan loves his dad puns, which he workshops to the family. Even Grandma Rosie (Paula Shaw, HANUKKAH ON RYE) is a likeable character who, thankfully, doesn’t sound like she just arrived in America three months earlier. There is one character, Mildred, who does shmear the schmaltz on a bit thick but she can be forgiven because she’s only in a few scenes and she delivers her lines with clueless humour. The story’s Jewish content is solid though. Chanukah is more than just latkes, donuts and dreidels, although all feature prominently here. Hoffman delivers a quick lesson on why the number 18 is important to Jews and the tail end of one of the two prayers we say over the Chanukah candles is chanted correctly (although I was surprised it wasn’t sung, which it usually is). I guess there were enough Jews in the cast to get the Hebrew pronunciation right.

The performances all around are very enjoyable. Michaelis and Greenberg have good chemistry together and their banter is snappy and fresh. Hoffman, with his deep voice, adds both dignity and humour to the story, and Marmorstein and Shaw each put in strong supporting work.

ROUND AND ROUND is airing now on the Hallmark channel and is streaming on Peacock. Oy, if only all the Hallmark holiday films, Jewish and not, could be this good.

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