Return to Office

February 16, 2025February 17, 2025 / Rebekahrox / 2 Comments

You’ve Got Post-it Notes

This is a version of what some call the Epistolary Romance trope where two people get to know each other through the written word while remaining unknown to each other, or sometimes antagonists, in real life. You know, like Shop Around the Corner which You’ve Got Mail was based on. Or an old 1950s era movie, A Letter for Evie, which many probably don’t know (but which I highly recommend for fans of this trope). This one shares a device with a popular English romance novel and later TV series, The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary , in which two people share an apartment, one at night and one during the day and communicate using post-it notes.

Liv (Janel Parrish) is the Director of Corporate Strategy for a large tech conglomerate who works closely with the eccentric founder and head honcho. Her boss Walter obsesses over trivialities and “peacocks around” while she does the real work. She tactfully manages him and he depends on her loyalty and support (though he doesn’t know it.) She mostly works remotely from home, and has her routine down pat which is just the way she likes it. The huge firm has just purchased a boutique social media platform that is art and artist related. Tom is the Head of Design for this company. He is more of a free spirit, being of an artistic bent and all, which is the opposite of Liv. During a video call with all of the important officers of the firm and the “newbies” including Tom, Walter announces that he is instituting a “return to office” policy as part of his “vision.” But now having more employees than office space they will work alternate days and share desks. Liv and Tom end up paired up with the same desk. Liv works in the office Mondays and Wednesdays and Tom is at the desk Tuesdays and Thursdays. They work out the Desk-ual politics by means of communicating with post-it notes ( succulent v. rubber duck, a messy trash can v. a neat one, food left to fester, etc.) Poor desk being very much an innocent bystander caught in the middle. At first hostile, they quickly work out their differences and the friendship progresses to text messages, which start to get personal. When they meet and work together in real life the business end of the relationship also progresses, while they are both still unaware that Liv is his “Ms. Monday”, and he is her “Mr. Tuesday”. That is until Liv, who volunteers at the assisted living facility in which Tom’s mom lives, gets to know her, and in conversation, her son Tom’s dual identity as Mr. Tuesday is revealed.

Complications, continued flirting, dilemmas, matchmaking mamas, and workplace drama ensue. I won’t go into all that because it’s a lot, but just stop there and say what I liked about this movie. Besides a nicely written script (despite a lot of suspension of disbelief being required) I really liked the chemistry between Liv and Tom in both versions of their relationship. They were both very likable, despite Liv’s not standing up to her egotistical and volatile boss when he gets stupid. I loved that Tom calls her out on her lack of backbone, not standing up for what is right, and being a “yes-woman.” And I really loved that Liv did not get all pissy over his criticism but took it to heart and started to rethink her approach. I also liked that Tom’s mother defended Liv by reminding him that he had never had to answer to a demanding boss, work for a promotion, or be a team player. Acknowledgement that things are not all black and white and can get complicated. I liked that no one says “It’s Complicated.” When, in this movie, for once, it really was. Christopher Shyer was great as Walter, taking his character from a silly caricature of an Elon Musk-type to vaguely menacing to an outright villain. At the end, Liv and Tom see that their individual strengths and weaknesses make for an unbeatable team, professionally and personally. I also liked that Hallmark tackled the phenomenon of AI encroaching on and replacing human creativity. They don’t approve. Although our couple have a brief parting of the ways before the end, it is not due to some stupid misunderstanding. Very much a fan of that.

The only quibble I have is that I would have really liked to see an epilogue. Although Walter gets his just deserts somewhat, I would have loved to see him suffer more and have the consequences of his actions come home to roost in a more spectacular fashion. I also would have liked to see more closure to the couples partnership and love story. **7 1/2 stars**

Happy Howlidays

December 22, 2024February 16, 2025 / Rebekahrox / 4 Comments

It Barks.

So this is the last movie of 2024’s Countdown to Christmas. I didn’t review as many as I wanted to. This will be my 20^th one but last year, I reviewed 27 and the year before that 45! How did I do that? And one of the 20 was from 2011 that I ran across, not one of this year’s. I wish I could blame my lack of inspiration on the movies. As usual there were some real winners, and some losers, but I didn’t review many real losers. Until today. No, to my surprise, it really wasn’t that horribly bad. It features the return of Jessica Lowndes to Hallmark after her defection to GAF. She is even more beautiful than before, thanks largely to considerably toned down makeup for this movie. However, her lack of authenticity in her acting hasn’t changed a bit, nor her vocal fry, intonation, or lack of enunciation. However, she is competent over half the time and she has her moments. I keep waiting for a breakthrough but I have a soft spot for her and hope she stays with Hallmark. Her leading man is the winner of Hallmark’s competition show, Finding Mr. Christmas. And as I never saw that series and am not likely to, this is where I found him. It was his first acting job, and it shows. But I’ve seen worse. Somewhere. If he keeps acting, I’m sure he will improve. He is very hunky, as proven by having to take his shirt off and discombobulating poor Jessica. Would have seen that scene coming from the international space station.

Jessica plays Mia, who works for the Seattle Travel Bureau which promotes tourism for the city. She is followed home one day by a cute dog she rescues from a killer fence. The next day, she tries to drop him off at a pet rescue center, but is turned away by our hero as the center is full. They hate each other, she, for good reason. He is a real jerk of spectacular proportions. In fact, my judgement of Mr. Christmas’s acting may have been influenced by how much I hated his character. So if that’s the case, I’m sorry, guy. “Max” is officious, mean, and has such a high bar for aspiring pet owners to adopt one of his dogs that he coldly rejects a nice suburban mother’s application, yet won’t take Mia’s dog, despite her telling him she would not be a good dog parent. She is forced to foster him because she is not heinous or cruel, and Max lets her, even though she is clueless about raising a dog, and he calls her apartment a death trap. So maybe health and safety not his first priority? Not surprisingly, his pet rescue center is struggling to pay the bills. I hated this guy with the heat of a thousand suns. However, he does apologize later and does some groveling. So I let him live, even though he was always doing something lame. Anyway, her dog, Russell, and Max’s dog, Jules, fall in love which forces the two to spend time together especially since Mia’s videos of the doggy duo have gone viral and “Jussell’s” love affair has kept thousands of Seattleites glued to their screens. In fact, one wonders why one of his thousands of fans hasn’t stepped up to adopt Russell. Max’s excuse for his behavior, (that is, keeping many dogs from good, if not perfect, homes) is that his and Jules’ hearts were both broken when his girlfriend left for Los Angeles and took her dog with her who was Jules’ doggy girlfriend before Russell. Sorry, I’m not buying it.

Mia, on the other hand, I liked. She won me over right away when she wakes up with potato chips all over her sheets, and she grabs a few to eat for breakfast. When she wakes up to Russell’s eating her feather pillows and overturning all of her plants, (after stepping barefoot in his pee) she tells him, “There is room for only one hot mess here, and that’s me!” Jessica was funny in these scenes. So we are getting not so subtle hints that Mia has some secret tragedy or at least some serious life disruption that she is running from. **Spoiler Alert** I was quite taken aback when it turned out that she was a former surgeon who got reprimanded by her hospital for operating on a woman who was in a coma and dying without the proper paperwork filled out. This kind of soured her on being a doctor. Though it might have also been because she says she is not good at Math. (Cover your ears, Danica Mckellar!) Towards the end, her doctor parents, whom she has been trying to avoid, try to tell her she can’t save everyone but she shouldn’t stop trying. They were totally right of course, and that’s when I started to not like her so much. What a waste. And her career decision at the end, after Max’s Pet Rescue is saved by a fundraising festival and a large check from Mia’s parents, did not make me change my mind. She decides to throw all of her medical and surgical training for humans away and start all over again to become a vet. Hope she doesn’t lose any furbabies, because here we go again with the quitting trying to save pets as well as people, and throwing a career away.

So despite some bright spots in the script, the big picture was a “Nope” from me. It’s a “5 1/2” because of the cute dog actors, and a funny cameo by Jonathan Bennett. And Max’s cute and smart sister Penny, played by Cassandra Sawtell who was an oasis of charm and talent.

Leah’s Perfect Gift

December 10, 2024February 16, 2025 / Rebekahrox / 3 Comments

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Unfulfilled Promise

Young New York professionals Leah Goldberg and Graham Westwood are in love and in a committed relationship. In fact, Leah, although she laughs off the idea coyly, is expecting a proposal soon, likely during the holidays. She meets his nice (gay) sister for the first time and they get along great. On impulse, the siblings invite Leah to spend Christmas with his family in Connecticut and to meet their parents for the first time. Leah is excited to finally experience a traditional Christmas holiday with all the trimmings. That evening, Graham goes to Leah’s family’s Hanukkah celebration. Her large family are warm and welcoming and a wonderful time is had by all. There’s lots of food.

On the way to Graham and Maddie’s luxurious home they give Leah a list of forbidden topics of conversation and warn her that their parents can be “a lot.” Indeed. They probably should have provided Leah with much more detail. In fact, a manual of behavior would not have gone amiss. Their father is pretty nice when he is not hinting around that he expects his children to eventually join him in the banking business (not happening), but the mother, played by Barbara Niven is a piece of work. Barbara Westwood is tense and inhospitable to Leah, who is a star in every way: Sweet, friendly, warm, and very intelligent and successful. As we learn, Barbara can not deal with change and thrives on routine and tradition. Leah’s mere presence as Graham’s unexpected new girlfriend, is enough to seriously upset her apple cart. She also is a perfectionist and very particular about everything. When decorating the tree, she uses a tape measure to divide the tree into quadrants to ensure each section has the same number of ornaments and those ornaments must be exactly 4 inches a part. You get the picture. Throughout the family’s checking off all the activities on Barbara’s Christmas Itinerary, Leah can do nothing right in Barbara’s eyes and she cannot disguise that fact. To make matters worse, there’s no food! No snacks to nosh on and Barbara is a terrible cook. The constant barrage of Barbara’s micro-aggressions towards Leah while putting on a smiley facade is like death by a thousand cuts. Leah goes from an eager to please and be pleased confident woman to doubting her own worth and often on the verge of tears. Graham and Maddie try, but are of very little help. They have lived with their mother’s quirks all their life and don’t seem to fully realize the effect she is having on poor Leah. They comfort her and assure her that it’s not personal and to just be herself, but Leah still feels like an outsider. I couldn’t wait for one or both of them to stand up to Barbara or at least do more to help Leah cope. And to top it all off Graham is being aggressively pursued by his old off and on girlfriend with Barbara’s full blessing.

Everything is barreling towards a great dramatic and exciting scene where the last straw is finally reached and Barbara finally gets the truth bomb dropped on her in an epic telling off. Would it by Graham, Leah, Maddie, or some combination of the three? I was all there for it, And the snobby bad girlfriend had to be similarly dispatched, of course. I couldn’t wait. There’s nothing like retribution, repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation for Christmas! But nothing of the sort happens. At the culminating event of the Christmas fundraiser Graham mildly tells his mother that Leah is “good for him,” (which she already knew he was going to propose) and she needs to be “a little more flexible” with her. What? As if it was Leah’s behavior for which allowances needed to be made?! Barbara runs away to the cloakroom, starts to cry, and is found by Leah. And all of a sudden Barbara has a total personality transplant. Out of nowhere, she tells Leah she likes and admires her and starts calling her “honey,” and “sweetheart”. She is “shocked!”, I tell you “shocked!” that Leah could have gotten it into her head that she did anything wrong or that Barbara hated her. And the girlfriend! She buttonholes Leah and out of nowhere and admits she crossed the line with Graham and apologizes! Is it possible that Graham finally stood up to her? Maybe. But if so we were cheated out of that scene too.

At the end, the Goldbergs and the Westwoods are together to witness the long awaited proposal of marriage on Christmas Day. Which she accepts. Graham promises to stand up for her in the future and to be her “rock.” Do we believe him? Who cares? It’s too late for the viewer because the movie’s over.

There were many good things about this movie besides the performances, but in the end I just couldn’t forgive the unfulfilled promise. Emily Arook absolutely shone as the overwhelmed but plucky Leah. She carried the movie and kept me watching and anticipating for her to be avenged. For once, Evan Roderick seemed right for his role. In the past he has played a spoiled brat not nearly good enough for the heroine, or seemed to be more of a little brother to the heroine rather than her romantic partner. But it is Barbara Niven’s performance that I was most impressed with. Yes, her character is rigid and awful to the point of scariness. But the veteran actress made her vulnerable as well. One had the impression that she didn’t have any control over her behavior. That her meanness was not a conscious choice but some kind of personality disorder for which, we would be assured at the end, therapy would be forthcoming. At one point I briefly thought early onset Alzheimers might be a possibility, but that would probably be too depressing for a Hallmark Christmas movie.

Three Wiser Men and a Boy

November 24, 2024September 29, 2025 / Rebekahrox / Leave a comment

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Christmas is Saved!

It’s 5 years later, and we’re back with the three Brenner boys. On the surface, everything seems fine. Luke is married to Thomas’s mother Sophie and being a Dad. Thomas was the baby in Three Wise Men and a Baby who was foisted on the three brothers by a complete stranger to temporarily take care of. Which they did, and by doing so managed to heal a breach that had developed between them, learned to appreciate how great their mother was, and grew up a good bit themselves. Thomas’s mother, I’m happy to report, is now gainfully employed and being a success at her job. She is going to some kind of work conference and Luke is going to be taking care of Thomas on his own while she is away. Stephan, former pet psychologist, has now written a self help book for humans about conquering his own crippling anxiety. He is still seeing Susie, whom he got together with at the end of the previous movie. When we first see Taylor, he is pitching the new video game he has created to an investor on a video call in what appears to be an office in his own company.

But all is not what it seems. To make a long story short they still have a lot of work to do on themselves. Especially Stephan and Taylor. Luke, who has been promoted to Fire Chief, still pretty much has it all together although he is as tightly wound as ever. He has dropped some balls at work and at home but that’s parenthood for you, right? The corporate representative that Taylor is pitching his game to wants to buy the game for a large amount of money, not invest in it. Taylor refuses his offer because he views it as selling out. After the call, we see that Taylor is using a coffee shop as a front for an office and he and his props are kicked out. He goes home to his apartment and is met with an eviction notice for not paying his rent. Stephan has been neglecting Susie in favor of promoting his aforementioned book and their relationship is showing some cracks. As does his new calm and collected facade. Susie wants to get married like a grownup and Stephan is oblivious. Taylor, due to his being homeless, suggests that all three of them move back in with Mom as a Christmas treat for her and so they all can take care of Thomas while his mother is away. Of course we know that many challenges are on their way and by the end they will result in “the boys” getting back on the right track once again.

Since they have the parent and uncle thing pretty much nailed now, the challenges come in the form of Mom’s new boyfriend and them taking charge of Thomas’s school Christmas pageant. While visiting a rehearsal, they had accidentally destroyed all of the sets and props and served the children “poison” cookies so half of the kids quit, along with the director. Mom’s new boyfriend, who is a pastor and pretty much the perfect man and in all ways worthy of their wonderful mother, is very much resented by the boys and is not exactly welcomed with open arms into their Mom’s life. Taking charge of the pageant does not go well as all of the kids who had any talent are gone, and the boys think the whole thing has to be rewritten. They are determined not to let this pageant be a disaster that will scar the kids’ lives forever, but true to form, they screw it up even worse by calling in “the big guns,” Mark LeClark, the Christmas decorating champion from the previous movie. He is all about Christmas glitz, giant inflatables, smoke machines, and disco lights. In short, everything not in line with the true spirit of Christmas. After the set burns down thanks to a blowtorch and an overloaded circuit board (way to go there Mr. Fire Chief-maybe not so together after all), they finally listen to the advice that all the adults in the room have been trying to tell them and go back to the original simple plan. The pageant is a success and, to borrow a line from the show, “Christmas is Saved!” The play is called “The Grump Who Ruined Christmas” to avoid copyright infringement which was a humorous touch.

Besides this basic plot, there was a lot more going on in this movie, including Taylor finding romance with one of the volunteers. She is described as female version of himself including a predilection for constantly sucking on a candy cane. Only she is a much better more mature version of him and he learns a lot from her. The character and the actress were real bright spots, and it was an very clever idea for the love interest. She was funny and my favorite character even though she replaced Ali Leibert as Taylor’s girlfriend. There are a lot of pep talks in this. The “boys” give a lot of them and get a lot of them. They also get told off a lot by virtually everybody at least once, even Mark LeClark. At first I really wasn’t feeling this movie, as the growth we thought we saw in the brothers at the end of the first movie seemed to be more of a one step forward but two steps back situation. A lot of it was a rehashing, but the script was funny. Not really in a laugh-out-loud way but with clever lines and terrific visual comedy. So, well written (by Kimberley Sustad and Paul Campbell) and directed. Cute cameo appearance by Ms Sustad, btw. The obligatory heartwarming scenes were there of course, but I could have done with one or two less of those. No complaints about the acting of the three co-leads or the supporting characters, even the kids. Everyone was great, but Paul Campbell was a stand out as always. The true meaning of Christmas was learned once again. I hope we don’t have to learn it a third time because there just might be a third movie next year as the door was left open just a crack. Can we see some real steps forward with no backward ones? Can they be men and not boys? And can we keep Taylor’s girlfriend next time around? (If there is a next time.)

Friends & Family Christmas

December 19, 2023February 16, 2025 / Rebekahrox / Leave a comment

Family Friendly

Hallmark has had at least several movies with lesbian romances playing a part as a side story, and in one case, as an equal share of the romance plot line. But this is the first one in which such a romance was the whole focus of the story. And it was really good and well done.

Ali Liebert, a Hallmark favorite in front of and behind the camera plays Amelia who is an attorney on the partnership track at her father’s firm. He is concerned about her because she suffered a broken engagement and is still sad and not ready for dating yet. But he keeps bugging her. Dani is an aspiring professional photographer who has yet to make her mark. She works at an Artist’s Lab and is trying to live her dream in New York City. She cannot leave to visit her parents for Christmas because she is very busy working on a project that might lead to a Travel Grant. Dani’s father and Amelia’s father are old friends and set the women up under false pretenses. They get off to a somewhat of a rocky start but have a friendly parting. But then Amelia’s Dad reminds her that she is expected to attend the annual firm Christmas party and bring a date. And Dani’s parents unexpectedly arrive on her doorstep for Christmas. Her mother has boundary issues, but thank goodness they are staying at a B&B, not with Dani in her little apartment. A quick note. Dani’s mother is a world-renowned novelist and her father is a preeminent mathematician. I loved that. It also explains how Dani can afford the very nice apartment. And that she has some insecurity issues to conquer. The women get together again because of a mix-up over their gloves. Things go great this time and they decide to Fake Date to keep their respective parents off their backs. Also, Dani will be Amelia’s plus-one at that confounded Christmas Party.

This is basically the standard fake dating turns-to-real love trope except that…you know. But it’s so sweet! The parents are nice and don’t do anything too dumb. They just love their daughters and heartily approve of the new love interests. Ali and Humberly Gonzales, who plays Dani, seem to have a great rapport. Both are gay in real life. The script is sparkly and witty, the plot and character development kept me interested and the production values are tops. The love between the two women evolves gradually and realistically which is not always the case in Hallmark movies. I really believed their relationship.

All of the actors were great, but Ali Liebert was fantastic. She starts off very stiff and comes off a little cold and intimidating, as she should. The gradual melting of her facade was done very effectively. When it looks like a breakup is imminent (yes, there is the tried and true last-minute misunderstanding based on failure to communicate), she conveys vulnerability and bravery with her nuanced performance. She was very touching and really commanded the screen. I liked that although they were a couple at the end, Dani did not give up her dream of travel (She won the grant). But it is made clear they will visit and Dani will always come home to Amelia.

I am betting that the title of this movie was a gibe at the Great American Family channel which was formed to provide a “family-friendly” alternative to Hallmark’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. I am happy that the network and its movies are doing terribly while Hallmark goes from strength to strength ratings-wise while putting a quality product on the air.

Rebekah's Readings and Watchings

Mostly Happy Stuff, Mysterious Stuff, and Guilty Pleasures

Christopher Shyer