Déjà Moo

Man, I can’t be too hard on this one. This was a very innocuous old fashioned Hallmark story which didn’t try to be anything other than what it was. Since it succeeded in reaching that unambitious bar, and did nothing to get on my bad side, I’m hovering between a 6 and a 7 out of 10 on my special Hallmark Scale. Someday, I’ll have to define exactly what that is. Stay tuned. Also it had a few saving graces in addition to the nostalgic vibe.

Nora (Taylor Cole) and James (Ryan McPartlin) are two successful Advertising Executives who are vying for the business of the same ice cream company. They used to work for the same top NYC agency until  Nora followed Alexandra, one of their vice presidents who quit to go off on her own. The culture of her new company is more humanistic, emphasizes a strong work/life balance (a favorite Hallmark ethos lately) and less cutthroat than the agency she left which James still works for. Needless to say, he is up for a big promotion if he lands this account, which will make or break their rival, the small still struggling start-up. So there you have it. The duo are not initially too friendly as James once got credit for Nora’s work, and apparently he did nothing to rectify that, and Alexandra chose Nora over James to bring with her to her new firm. Nora is a better person than James, obvs. (Later we get a sob story from James which explains his character failings which he apologizes for.) James and Nora agree on a set of rules while they compete for the dairy farm’s business which boils down to “no funny stuff.” 

The duo bond over cute little baby cows, delicious ice cream, farm chores, and a festival. Also there is the granddaughter of the elderly dairy farm couple/ice cream makers, whose hobby is udderly lame cow puns. I love stupid puns, but these were not even remotely a-moo-sing.  Of course at the end, James’ boss does engage in unethical business practices which sets up the big ending conflict. At least it is a legit one. It really looks as if James stabbed Nora in the back to win the account. Which he does (win the account). At first. Until he makes it right. 

If you are aiming to spend 2 hours engaging in a low risk, low expectation Hallmark experience, this one will fit the bill. It stars two Hallmark mainstays, Taylor Cole being more main than Ryan McPartlin. 41 year old Taylor and 50 year old Ryan have both been around a while in the Hallmark universe. Taylor Cole is one of the more classically beautiful Hallstars. Both look great although Ryan’s teeth are a little unsettling and sometimes Taylor’s hairstyle looks better in some scenes than others. Sorry! They were good together, and funny trying to ingratiate their New York selves with the down home farm people while hiding their ill feelings. The plot line fit their ages, which was unusual enough and a definite positive. Also, although set in Wisconsin, it was not filmed in Canada, but Alabama, U.S.A! You can never go wrong with ice cream, and the gimmick for the little company is sweet and savory inventive flavors which sounded…interesting: Blue Cheese and Honey Roasted Pear, Mascarpone and Balsamic Strawberry, Vanilla Bean and Smoked Maple, Apple Ginger Snap. Cowabunga! I particularly liked Chondra Pierce who played the grandmother. Great Voice! The actors who played the two bosses were familiar and good-to-see faces as well. Popular and always busy actor Patrick Muldoon played bad guy Everett. The actress who played Alexandra, the nice boss, looked very familiar to me and at first I thought it was another second tier Hallmark regular, but it turned out to be Elisa Donovan, who hilariously played Amber, Cher’s nemesis, in Clueless! Even the cows looked familiar but I was thinking of the Chick-Fil-A ads and bill boards. I think this is one of those ones which might improve upon re-watch.