Janel Parrish

Forgotten Holiday

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“Sam Darnold won a Super Bowl?”

I’m a sucker for a good amnesia story. And Forgotten Holiday was a pretty interesting love story, that didn’t always go down the predictable path. It opens with antique dealer Kathryn Liu snagging an antique projector out from under craftsman and restorer of vintage machines (I paraphrase), Rob Ashford’s, nose. In the ensuing banter, Rob (Daniel Lissing) falls head over heels for Kathryn (Janel Parrish). Kathryn, not so much, but she is interested. It is difficult for them to get together for a date during the busy holiday season. One of the events Rob has to attend is his family’s extreme extravaganza of a one-night cookie bake, in which they bake almost 1000 cookies for charities across New York City. He is thrilled when she suggests she accompany him there for their first date. He loves Christmas and his large welcoming and rambunctious family. Kathryn feels overwhelmed but settles in pretty well, which is quite the feat, considering she barely know him, and his family is *a lot.*

Some things become apparent as she is nicely grilled by his family. Kathryn is not a big Christmas person. The only “Christmas tradition” she has is a Christmas Eve pancake breakfast with her father. She is an only child and comes from a broken home. Her mother lives across the country with the man she remarried, and her father has been re-married and divorced twice and currently dating a woman who will presumably be wife #4. Rob’s family has always been happily intact and headed by his mother (Gabrielle Rose), a former judge, and his father, a former District Attorney. They live in a large home surrounded by their grandchildren courtesy of his older sister, Amy. Also, Kathryn was briefly and unhappily married 15 years ago in college. So although Amy and her father run a very successful antiques business together, Kathryn and Rob’s backgrounds and emotional foundations are as different as can be. Nevertheless, we jump ahead a year later and the two are happily still dating and getting ready for the holidays. One night, eager-beaver Rob pulls out a diamond ring and a marriage proposal. Kathryn is shocked and runs away in a panic. Rob is devastated and calls his sister Amy, who tells him to get in the car and come over to her house. On the way he has a car wreck. He is fine but now has a kind of amnesia where he remembers everything but the past year and his relationship with Kathryn. When she hears about his accident and rushes to the hospital, he has no idea who she is, although his family, assuming she accepted his proposal of marriage, assures him that she is his fiancee. Shades of While You Were Sleeping! Only his sister knows the truth, and given the circumstances, they continue the charade, especially since the Doctor thinks it would be a fine idea to try to relive the last year’s progression of their relationship to help him regain his memory. So that’s the set-up.

They start going on some of the same dates and dates that they planned on, and although Rob likes Kathryn and Kathryn still loves Rob, the dates themselves surprisingly do not go well. Also, He is no longer Coo-Coo for Cocoa Puffs about Christmas either. So what’s going on? They start to get on the same page again even though Rob is kind of different. Still nice, still wholesome, but more down to earth when it comes to Kathryn. Kathryn is afraid of losing him again once he remembers everything and finds out the truth about their non-engagement.

So there was a lot in this one to interest and engage. Will his family, particularly his intimidating and more than a little suspicious mother find out the truth? Will Kathryn be able to conquer her fear of commitment? They looked so happy and in love in the numerous photos we see of them together. What about their different backgrounds? Why isn’t Rob crazy about Christmas anymore? (I still am not sure about that one.) What’s going to happen when Rob regains his memory? It all culminates in a charity gala where a vintage Jukebox that Rob had been restoring is auctioned off.

I thought this romance had a little more depth and subtlety than usual. While Janelle Parish’s Kathryn was the same person throughout the movie, Daniel Lissing’s Rob was like two different people before and after the amnesia.  Pre-accident Rob was very intense and overwhelming. I didn’t blame Kathryn for running from his proposal in a panic. I liked Amnesia Rob much better, and so did Kathryn. But she obviously loved the old (new?) Rob as well. Who wouldn’t love a great handsome guy who was so smitten with you?  His mother Meryl, sister Amy (Jennifer Oleksiuk), and Kathryn’s father (Eric Yue) were the three other important characters and all three actors were great. Janel Parrish and Gabrielle Rose have a scene together in Meryl’s kitchen later in the movie that was a real standout, and also pleasantly surprised me. I had a little quibble with the intrusive product placement (which turned out to be an actual unboxing) and Lissing’s character got a little petulant once or twice at the end, which I didn’t like.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Two for Tee

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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.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Christmas on Duty

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Oorah!

First of all, I don’t have a military bone in my body, so I am not going to comment on how authentically or inauthentically military culture, protocol, uniforms, etc., etc. were depicted in this movie. But kudos to Janel Parish for being outfitted in bulky military camouflage throughout, except when she was wearing an elf costume, instead of the usual array of red and green coats and cute winter hats our heroines are usually garbed in. She really took one for the team because that cap was really ugly. The one thing I did learn about the military was how much our soldiers love the insurance company, USAA. Honestly, I was expecting Rob Gronkowski to pop up at any minute. Oh wait, they sponsored this movie. I get it.

 We first meet Blair and Josh when they are in basic training at Quantico. They are rivals but also kinda like-like each other. Blair is a star student and Josh is not far behind, but when the rankings come out, Blair is first in her class and asks for the very assignment that Josh has made no secret of hoping for. She had told him she was going after something else but changed her mind at the last minute without telling him. Naturally, Josh was quite put out by this dirty trick  oversight. It ends their friendship and they go their separate ways. Cut to the present day, 6 years later. It is Christmas time and Blair is shown to be very competent and respected in her position on the Marine base as some kind of trainer or instructor. We learn the commanding officer of the base is retiring and  Blair is up for a company commander position. At the Christmas/retirement party her old enemy Josh is introduced as a newly promoted company commander, one of the coveted slots Blair had hoped to get. Blair is vexed. Karma’s a bitch, girl. Josh and Blair get into a big loud fight and knock a big fancy cake all over a visiting Colonel and his wife. Apparently, this kind of thing is frowned upon, and Blair and Josh are reprimanded and relegated to spend Christmas Eve and Day working together at the base instead of at home with their families. Speaking of families. Blair and Josh are both products of longstanding military traditions. Their fathers are retired and have been nursing a grudge against each other for years and years. The sins of the fathers are visited on the children and all that.  Josh’s dad is very strict, scary, and demanding and it was to please him that Josh wanted the assignment that Blair ended up getting 6 years ago. Blair’s dad is nicer, but was always very discipline- oriented, until his wife, Blair’s mother, recently died. Now he is trying to lighten up and take her place as far as Christmas cheer and more traditional holiday fun is concerned. Josh finds out some bad news from his sister, who bears an unsettling resemblance to Blair. (This  led to a bit of confusion on my part at one point-Why is Josh dancing at the party with Blair when they are so hostile?!) It turns out that his little nephew, along with all the other military children in the neighborhood, are not going to get their Christmas presents on time because of a snowstorm shutting down all deliveries. Josh and Blair propose to the retiring Colonel, their commanding officer, that since they have access to a military vehicle, that they go south to where the toys are and the snowstorm isn’t, and bring back Santa’s bounty for all of the kids. He says no way and that is that. Ha ha, I jest. Of course he agrees, especially since he has a little granddaughter whose heart is set on a pink skateboard.  And how else are we going to have all the high jinks, teachable moments, and the enemies to lovers romance that Hallmark is famous for?

This was an OK effort by Hallmark. Although the overall arc of the romance and plot was predictable as usual (the feuding fathers bury the hatchet in the end and Josh’s father learns not to be a d*ck) the actual activities were a little different (no festival, institution saving, or climactic holiday ball!), adding a little freshness to the 88 minutes or so. The opening credits were really cute. Janel Parish and newcomer Parker Young were fine and made a good couple. Also, thanks to Josh, all professional and personal misunderstandings are cleared up and Blair is recommended for a Company Commander. It’s all Happy Families on the personal side, and Janel finally gets to ditch the camos.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Return to Office

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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**

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Sugarplummed

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A Very Meta Christmas

Hallmark making fun of itself in their own movies seems to be a bit of a thing lately. They take all of the usual Romantic Comedy ingredients, fold in all of the cliches and tropes that are exclusive to Hallmark itself, and fill up a movie with them. If I was a cynic, I would be  a little suspicious that it’s an excuse to get another Christmas movie in the tank without having to think of an original plot. And they can still say, “ Hey, aren’t we clever? See how we are laughing at ourselves!? Our movies are filled with cliches but that’s OK!”  I thought this was the way this one was going and I felt the tedium coming on, but then it took a turn.  And I started to really enjoy it.

 We meet lawyer Emily (Maggie Lawson), her architect husband (Brendon Zub-love him) and her two teenage children. Although the family love each other, we see there are troubles a brewin’ . Emily is over-organized and tightly wound. She is determined to give her family “the perfect Christmas” (or else) so they can reconnect and become closer together the way it used to be. We see her husband is overworked by his bully of a boss who has been making his and all of his coworkers miserable since his divorce. “It’s like I’m working for Scrooge, but instead of 3 fun ghosts, he’s just haunted by regret.” Their son is struggling in a new school and feels like an outsider. Emily’s relationship with her daughter though is the most troubled. Nina has dreams of being a singer and going away to a performing arts school. Emily discounts her dream and insists she go to the university close to home and study for a more practical career.

Emily gets to the office and and her assistant is watching the famous  and beloved series of Sugarplum Christmas movies. Sugarplum saves a bakery, Sugarplum meets a secret holiday Prince, etc. They have a long conversation over the rules of Christmas movies, as seen on the “Harmony Home Network”, where following these rules will always result in a perfect Christmas for the cast of characters. Later that evening, Emily wishes on one of her mother’s old ornaments, a Christmas star, for the perfect Christmas to make her family happy and create special memories like her mother did for her. Christmas Magic happens and Sugarplum herself appears, a little discombobulated over being sucked out of her perfect Christmas movie world and into the real one, where she assumes things will work just as smoothly as she is used to. And at first, it does! Everything goes according to the rules in her very thick Christmas rule book (which she pulls out of her bottomless purse where all of her fashionable coats and matching accessories also live.)

**Spoilers**

She replaces the artificial tree with the perfect real one, which she cuts down herself from Emily’s grinchy neighbor’s yard. She uses a magic snow globe to cause a snowfall inside the son’s school which proves very popular with the students and helps him bond with his classmates. She solves a dispute between one of Emily’s clients, the owner of an old ski lodge/Christmas tree farm and a developer who wants to knock it down and put up a resort. Sugarplum takes one look at the couple (played by Fiona Gubelman and Victor Webster, Hallmark regulars in amusing cameo performances) and knows they are destined to fall in love and come to a compromise solution on their own. And they do! Right before our eyes! Lots of other stuff happens, and Emily is well on her way to her “perfect” Christmas. Except her family is still disconnected and stressed out.

But then things start to go awry for poor Sugarplum and Emily. Sugarplum meets a handsome man by an elevator (another cameo-this time by Carlo Marks) and romance beckons, as it does when elevators are involved in Rom-Coms. Until he serves her with a summons for criminal trespass (the Christmas tree incident). The rapprochement between Emily’s  client and the developer turns out to be nothing but a ruse to get her to sell her land to him. And finally, Sugarplum is thrown in jail for starting the snowstorm and snow ball fight in the school lobby and causing damage to government property. Also, the police are very suspicious because “Sue Garplum” doesn’t exist according to the internet and she might be a terrorist(?) because her fingerprints all look like snowflakes. Apparently Sugarplum’s Christmas magic is fading due to all of the heavy lifting needed bringing magic to the real world. It’s just getting worn out. Can anything revive it? Hmmm. I wonder. Maybe Emily learning the true spirit of Christmas? In the meantime, it’s a good thing she is a lawyer.

After a slow start, this turned out to be one of the most entertaining, funny, and clever of  2024’s Christmas movies. At first, Janel Parrish as Sugarplum seemed too over the top cheerful and perky. She was getting on my nerves and I was getting antsy. Emily’s blindness to what would truly make a warm and wonderful family Christmas was frustrating. She confides that her favorite childhood memory with her late mother was the Christmas all of their presents were stolen, the tree caught on fire, and they ended up spending Christmas day in a motel. But it was great because they were together! She won’t listen to her own words! Her assistant, seeing Emily’s holiday stress, advises her to quit chasing perfection and live in the moment.  Emily cynically tells her she sounds like a Christmas movie and discounts that advice, which turns out to be the lesson of the whole movie. But then things got great.  I think it all turned around for me when Emily, fully invested in Sugarplum’s magic, makes gingerbread cookies even though she doesn’t have any ginger. But that doesn’t matter because in Christmas movies all cookies are delicious and perfect even if they don’t have all the ingredients! “I didn’t have any ginger so I just threw in a whole bottle of gin!”,  she boasts. Luckily, Sugarplum “couldn’t drink another bite.” because last thing we need is a drunk Sugarplum.

Being a Hallmark movie, Emily finally gets the message, the faded magic returns, and everything comes together for her and her loved ones in all phases of their lives. But it’s all about the journey to the inevitable happy ending, isn’t it? For Emily’s family, all is resolved very poignantly at the school Christmas Pageant starring Emily’s singing daughter.  But there’s more! The final scenes back home, with some unexpected visitors, were funny, surprising, and are what really tied the bow on top of this almost perfect gift of a movie.  Right down to the kiss under the mistletoe.

All of the actors in this did well but Maggie Lawson and Brendan Zub were perfectly cast and I was glad to see them again as Hallmark leads after such a long time. Kyra Leroux was also as stand out as Emily’s rightly resentful and talented daughter. The imperfections in her singing at the beginning turned out to be perfect in the end, reflecting the moral of the story. This movie was a solid 8 1/2 or 9 but those last scenes were just so fun.

Rating: 10 out of 10.