A pleasant, frictionless story from screenwriter Julie Sherman Wolfe.

Ultimately, the ensemble nature of this movie as well as the focus on celebrating Jewish culture and traditions help to make it feel worth watching for viewers of all backgrounds.

These two hours become easy to watch if only because you know you’d love to hang out with these people in real life. The delicious food and drinks don’t hurt, either.

Hanukkah on the Rocks sticks too close to the Hallmark formula and could do a better job with researching Chicago.