“Hanukkah on the Rocks” Rocks
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Hanukkah has become more fun — and increasingly elaborate — in recent years. Just ask Hallmark.
For the last three years, a sole Hanukkah-focused film during Hallmark’s annual Countdown to Christmas marathon has received the entertainment company’s full rom-com-during-theholidays treatment. Jewish characters do pop up in Christmas movies here and there. But in “Hanukkah on the Rocks,” the opposite is true. Those who do not celebrate get swept up in the momentum, which is kind of awesome.
In the center of this year’s Hanukkah foray are two 30-something professionals, played by Jewish actors Stacey Farber (“Virgin River”) and Daren Kagasoff (“The Secret Life of the American Teenager”). The duo, who meet while on their solo quests for the good Hanukkah candles, find themselves rethinking the decisions that led to their professional paths. Then, through the magic of the holiday, community and each other, they find the chutzpah and inspiration to be their true selves.
“Out of 47 Christmas movies, I feel lucky and grateful to be in the one Hanukkah movie that they’re doing this year,” Kagasoff says. “I just hope it resonates with people, people like it, and they feel the love.”
Kagasoff’s Jay is sent to Chicago by his parents to encourage grandfather Sam (played by Marc Summers, “Double Dare”) to return with him to Florida. Sam’s haunt is Rocky’s bar in Old Town, that has as much character as the staff and regular patrons. The bar becomes a Hanukkah pop-up and gets more elaborate with food, drinks and activities with each of the eight nights; the plot was inspired by actual themed pop-ups.
“With the bar setting and all the cocktails, I just thought it was a really fun concept,” Farber says. “I hope we also spark some new ideas in people’s minds. Maybe some people will throw their own Hanukkah party and adopt some of the games that we put forward.”
With all the celebratory fun, the plot entwined relatability.
Farber’s character, Tory, is a corporate lawyer who, after getting laid off, lands a job tending bar, where she creates Hanukkah-inspired cocktails and begins to truly enjoy the balance aspect of work-life balance.
“Maybe it’s just more traditional thinking, but it really resonated with me that Tory, at least in the movie, has become a success by all accounts as a corporate lawyer,” Farber says.
The character has done what her parents expected and encouraged her to do, and then throughout the film, she finds herself grappling with her unhappiness in that role.
“I never became a corporate lawyer,” Farber says. “I’ve been an actor since I was 12, so I was always off the mainstream and more in the circus — but I can relate to the pressures to check certain boxes and, when you do, sometimes it isn’t as fulfilling as you think it might be.”
Kagasoff has his own career-transformation backstory. He was a baseball player up until college, when he decided he no longer wanted to pursue that path.
“I can’t really explain it, but I just wanted to act, and I never had any experience,” he recalls. “At the time, I was young enough where my mom and dad were supportive … I got into some acting classes, and six months later, I got an agent and got on a teen show that lasted for six years.”
“I think the film affirms this: It’s easy to have a plan for what you think is going to bring you joy, but you don’t really know what works or what doesn’t work until you’re in it,” Farber adds. “I’ve experienced that in my own life; that’s what happens in the movie too.”
Kagasoff’s character had his own arc with an emotional journey.
“Jay’s initial reason for going back to Chicago was to get his grandfather to come and live with him,” Kagasoff says. “But in that journey of trying to bring him back home to his family, he did find himself in a way that I don’t think he expected.”
Plus, meeting Tory took Jay by surprise.
“I think Jay was in a bad relationship before and wasn’t really trustworthy on love,” Kagasoff explains. “So when he came across Tory, and they just had this chemistry, it kind of rejuvenated his lust for love
again.”
Character growth plus chemistry and fun, and are the … ahem … hallmarks of a Hallmark movie.
But also, in true Jewish style, there was food.
“Food is always a huge part of any Jewish holiday, of course, but there’s also so much nuance with how people make their different foods in their families,” Farber says. “We had to have discussions about how everything was done, because everybody has their own interpretation of things.”
As bartender Tory was experimenting with creative drinks, the character Lottie had fun making Jew-ish appetizers.
“Lottie brought over this tray that she made with delicious different types of food that she was going to preview for the menu,” Kagasoff recalls. “I think it was kugel that was on there — I was starving that day, and I just couldn’t get enough of it — it was delicious.”
Farber explains that when you’re an actor and there’s food in a scene, you must be strategic with what you eat and mostly don’t eat, because you’re committing to it for all the takes you have to do.
“But these things were bite-size,” Farber says, “and I remember the tray that she brought over, and every single time we did it, I took, like, five different things and ate them all, knowing that I’d have to repeat it every time, because the food was so good.”
Kagasoff’s favorite Jewish foods are challah with chocolate chips, and matzah ball soup. Farber loves blintzes, bagels with lox and cream cheese, and the matzah crack her best friend Jamie makes for Passover.
Tory’s bartending was also presented creatively, since the cocktails were so intricate and there were so many of them.
“We had to cheat it a little bit, which is common when you’re filming things like that,” Farber explains. “If you’re playing a barista or there’s lots of food involved … you turn around and the drink’s made, and you turn back and it’s ready to go.”
They showed Farber how to use the shaker and pour the drinks on the fly.
“I usually was left with the task of garnishing it before I handed it off,” she adds. “It’s a lot in your brain to be remembering where to stand, where to look, what to say, and know that the real star of the scene is the cocktail being presented.”
This is Farber’s third Hallmark film — she was in “Butlers in Love” and last year’s Thanksgiving-to-Christmas film, “A Season for Family.”
“Hanukkah on the Rocks” is Kagasoff’s first.
“One of the things that really appealed to me about it was the portrayal of Tory’s relationship with her grandmother and also how she connects with Sam,” Farber says. “That multigenerational friendship really stood out to me because I’m really close to my grandparents — I’m lucky enough to have a grandmother who’s in her 90s, and my grandpa is 101 and a half — and it was really great that they captured that on the page.”
When Kagasoff saw the script, he jumped at the chance to participate.
“This was the first opportunity that came my way to do a Hallmark movie, and it resonated with the way that I grew up,” he says. “With everything going on in the world, it felt like it was like my calling to be a part of this.”
This film definitely oozes Jewish joy, along with a fun and friendly character chemistry. It makes you want to hang out with Farber and Kagasoff, who clearly enjoyed working together.
“Hanukkah is the celebration of light, and I think that’s what this movie is meant to be,” Farber says. “It’s meant to be light and fun and to entertain, while also making people laugh.”
Farber adds that she hopes audiences will connect with the film and see themselves in it, especially if they’re Jewish. “I think everyone will enjoy this movie, no matter what their faith is,” she says. “But I hope non-Jewish people watch it too and learn a little bit about the holiday in a fun way and see that it’s really a beautiful tradition.”
“I hope it reinvigorates the audience’s whole holiday spirit, whether it’s cooking or getting the family together and just thinking back to old times,” Kagasoff says. “This was my first holiday-themed movie, and the fact that it was centered around Hanukkah and not Christmas, and being a Jew myself, I’m just happy and grateful to have been a part of it.”
