And Tea for Two

More times than I can find excuses for, it seems like Hallmark just puts its writers on auto pilot, and points them in the general direction of “acceptable movie” and gives them a push. I thought this was one of those when the big tent pole that the story is built around turned out to be Saving the Community Center. Enough all ready! Also the romance was with “a single father while she is trying to find herself and her confidence after a busted romance with a unsupportive ex-boyfriend”. Also get a load of that poster to my left. Yet, there was just enough good things here to almost make it to a 7 out of a 10 on my special Hallmark Scale.

Janel Parrish plays half-Chinese “Tee”,  the owner of a vintage retail shop in a Community Market. She co-owns it (I think) with her male cousin Theo (David Kaye) who is meant to be gay (I think). He is not the typical Hallmark gay guy because he actually acted pretty normal. His sexual preference was not an issue, which was refreshing. She is also a potter who aspires to have her pots sold as art. To that end, Theo has gotten her tickets to an art gallery opening so she can show pictures of her work to the owner (played by familiar and welcome face, Daniel Bacon, aka resident black person of power. He usually plays a Mayor or a Mogul.) She does, and he says thanks but no thanks. He tells her that, basically, she has talent but her pots are boring and generic. There is nothing of herself personally in them to show her inner soul or some such thing. Tee does not know what that means and neither did I, but whatever. Meanwhile she has met single father Will (Chris McNally), the new Community Center Handyman. Tee had unknowingly met his tween daughter and her mother when they visited her shop and enthusiastically bought some stuff. The actresses who played mother and daughter looked very much alike. I liked that. It is unusual in any movie, not just Hallmark. It turns out the two parents are happily and peacefully divorced and Will has moved to town to take over care of Natalie while Mom pursues her high-powered career. This arrangement was handled without shaming the mother for being a bad career-obsessed mother, which is a good thing and worth mentioning. Will, on the other hand, is not ambitious at all. He is just content to pay the bills and be a good Dad. This might be a red flag, but he seems to have enough money (alimony?) so it is not really an issue.

Moving on. Tee and her mother have a conversation. Apparently it is one of a very few conversations they have had over the years, because Tee asks her about her Tea Pot which is a family heirloom made by her grandfather in her old home town in China. It is a highly valued Yixing tea pot which is a special type of teapot which absorbs the flavor of the tea into its highly porous type of clay which makes tea taste all the better from the years of use. This part was really interesting, as were several bits of Chinese culture which were shared during this movie. One would think, being a potter, that Tee would have expressed an interest in this cool little teapot that has been sitting there on the table her whole life before this conversation, but such was not the case. During this momentous conversation with her mother she also learns that her mom is estranged from a beloved cousin because she stayed in the United States after she married Tee’s American father and has no idea even whether she is alive or dead. Tee’s mom could have been one of those extremely annoying over-involved Hallmark Moms, but she is not. She is involved, but very lovable and the actress (Lillian Lim) steals every scene she is in. In her Mom’s teapot, Tee has found inspiration and a new focus for her pottery. Especially since she now knows that she inherited her pot making skills from her great grandfather.

Moving on. We learn that the Learning Center is going to close down. The woman who was hired to turn the place around (Enid-Raye Adams whose Mini-Bio on IMDb is very funny) has done nothing but cut costs instead of proactively taking positive action to raise its profile and attract the community to its doors. Tee, Will, and their 4 musketeers (senior retirees who as far as I could see, are the only 4 people in town who use the facilities) finally take over from the useless but at least cooperative director to save the center. I will say no more except an Open House, a dance, busted pipes, and a last minute invasion of a City Council meeting are involved.

All in all, as any Hallmark devotee can see, this is all pretty standard stuff. However, it had enough positives (tea pots, lovable mother and her touching story, unusual parenting arrangement, etc.) to at least keep me awake. Janel Parrish and very cute Chris McNally were fine, as were their characters. Tee takes her new teapots to Daniel Bacon, and they are still not for him! Plot Twist! His is the wrong type of gallery for such art, but there is still a happy ending for Tee’s pots. And best of all, there was no Third Act Breakup for Tee and Will! They actually have a nice, mature relationship with no childish miscommunication or drama. The Community Center is saved as well as Tee’s pot making business as theirs is the only kiln in town. No, Tee’s efforts were not entirely humanitarian, which she actually admits. Despite the overused elements in this one, I think it’s a 7.