Juan Pablo Di Pace

Holiday Unplugged

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Keep Going!!!

So far, the Countdown to Christmas stories this year have been rather simple, straightforward, and family-oriented, emphasizing warmth and coziness rather than high stakes excitement: Leisurely paced and gently amusing rather than busy, clever, sparkly, and witty. Not all, but most have put the romance on the back burner rather than front and center. Such is the case with Holiday Unplugged. I genuinely enjoyed this one, thanks to a few things I will name later, but between you, me, and the Christmas Tree, I am also ready for some action, complexity, and comedy. And maybe a little more romance-forward with some genuine chemistry. Perhaps an ensemble piece or two?

Sally (Nikki Deloach) is a busy art teacher and single mother who, we see, has just joined an internet dating site. She’s a widow, whose husband has been dead for a number of years. I do not think the number was specified, but it seems like 5 or maybe 10 at the outside. Her kids are a daughter, 13, and a son, just home from his first year at college and supposedly homesick. While shopping at Michael’s, not an old fashioned fictional Hallmark store with little to no merchandise on the shelves, but national chain Michael’s, with merchandise all over the place. In fact, the surfeit of merchandise is responsible for Sally’s meet-cute with the male lead, Damon, played by Juan Pablo Di Pace, having stabbed him with a roll of her Christmas wrap causing their purchases to fall all over the floor. They know each other from back in the day as he was her kids’ kindergarten teacher that they both really liked. And he also happens to be the guy she was matched with on that dating site. They agree to meet later, because right now she hasn’t even got her shopping or her Christmas decorating done, and it’s December 21st. (At this point, why bother with decorating the Christmas tree in the yard? Christmas season is practically over. But that’s just me.) Anyway, he will text her.

On the home front, we see her whole family, including her Mom and Dad, visiting for the holiday, very involved with the screens on phones or TV. They are all looking forward to watching the home videos the late father was always taking, as part of their yearly Christmas tradition. These are very important and looked forward to all year. As Sally says later, to them, those videos ARE Christmas. Unfortunately, the website the Dad founded and headed which digitized and safeguarded family home movies is down. But no worries, Sally has back-ups on her phone. Which she promptly smashes into smithereens. To hide the devastating news that they will temporarily not be able to watch the home movies for Christmas, she institutes a holiday ban on phones and TVs. Landline only for outside communications!

Unfortunately, as Sally learns from her late husband’s partner, played by one of my faves, Carmel Amit, the videos may be lost forever. And she doesn’t “do the cloud.” Unfortunate. Sally reconnects with Damon, who was thinking Sally was ignoring his text messages, and he joins her in the hunt for the original video tapes. While the gradually unfolding news is all bad on the video tape front, the screen ban is working a treat. The time they would be spending on electronic devices is being spent happily designing homemade boardgames (or as we are informed, now called “Tabletops”. Who knew?), learning how to knit, listening to vinyl records, baking, making homemade ornaments and caroling. Fair Warning-there is also scrap-booking involved. The hunt for the tapes, the Christmas activities, and the developing relationship between Damon and Sally are all mixed in with Sally’s memories of happy family times with her dead husband. Thanks to the adroit pacing, I found all of this genuinely sweet and involving. There was always something happening, along with the overarching suspense of whether they were going to be able to get their beloved video memories back, and Sally breaking the news of the truth behind their technology detox.

Nikki Deloach was great as always, and probably is a large part of why I liked this movie. I thought the fabulously  gorgeous Juan Pablo Di Pace was miscast as a former Kindergarten teacher still trying to recover from being dumped by his fiancée by hiding out in his uncle’s Mercantile and fix-it shop, but that wasn’t his fault. He was fine in the role. Sallie’s family was very likable, especially the kids. I had my doubts about the Dad at first, but he turned out fine too. The plot itself was something a little different, not being a form of Country Good/City Bad for many reasons-pick one. Or two. Actually, to be fair, it has been a while since we have seen that plot. Maybe Hallmark has finally put that one to bed. We did have the interrupted kiss, but it was self-inflicted. There was a slight misunderstanding at the end to add drama to the romance. But it was understandable. There were some genuinely stirring moments, including a speech Sally gives to her son about returning to school, and a never before seen video of her husband. I liked the overall message of the movie, and it didn’t end in the Christmas Miracle I was expecting. I haven’t seen an 8 star or higher movie so far this Christmas Season (Hallmark Time) but this was, for me, a more than respectable 7 1/2 stars.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

My Argentine Heart

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Back at the Estancia

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I got so caught up in the financial complications of this one that I didn’t pay full attention to the more important parts, namely the romance, the scenery, and our heroine Abril’s Boston/career v. Argentina/man dilemma.

Abril, Julie Gonzalo, is a business consultant whose reputation in the industry was ruined by almost driving a multi-billion dollar company into bankruptcy. She’s actually famous as a cautionary tale and is unemployable in her field. When her cousin calls her from Argentina, she tells her she has gotten an offer to buy their ranch they inherited from their grandparents. Belinda is tired of trying to run it on her own and wants to pursue her dream of owning a restaurant.  Abril prefers to have the ranch in her hip pocket as a possible vacation or retirement home, even though she hasn’t visited in years and years since she was 18.  She hotfoots it to Argentina to see if there is a way to keep the ranch and still allow Belinda to achieve her restaurant dream. If she can work some financial wizardry, maybe she can punch up her resume and get a job again. When she arrives, she finds out it is her former boyfriend who has made the below-market but fair offer for the ranch. She is having none of that. Diego has given up his finance career in Mexico City to return to the soil and find his soul by owning the ranch that his ancestors have been caretakers of for generations. While going over the financials, Abril discovers an old loan which has never been repaid. Belinda explains that the loan had been sold and then resold and she doesn’t even know who owns the loan now and that whoever owns it has never asked for payment. She was advised to just forget about it. Rest assured that this will eventually come back to bite them. Abril looks for investors so she and Belinda can retain ownership and keep from selling it to Diego.  She discloses the loan to an interested party, as she is legally and ethically bound to do, and he ends up finding the loan, buying it, and asking for immediate payment or else he will take over the ranch and they will get nothing. Now faced with a common enemy, Diego and Abril end their hostilities and start working together, etc., etc. She wishes she had just sold the ranch to Diego especially since Belinda really and truly wants nothing to do with it anymore.

So many questions. First off could a bank do that? The answer is yes, depending on the original terms of the loan. But they cannot demand late payment penalties like they are doing. Belinda and Abril’s lawyer, a very handsome guy and really nice and Belinda’s love interest, threatens to tie the whole thing up in court. To avoid that, the bank offers to forgive the loan if they sell them the ranch for a fraction of its worth, much below Diego’s offer. At no time are we told the amounts of Diego’s offer, the size of the loan, the income from the ranch, its fair market value, or what the bank offered for the ranch. So it was all very murky. Abril contacts a former colleague in America who owes her a solid about investing in the ranch. He doesn’t want to do that, but offers Abril a position in his company with a high salary because he feels partially responsible for Abril’s reputation being ruined and being a pariah in the industry. Abril is ecstatic because that “solves everything.”  Diego and Belinda are confused, as was I, but Abril explains that now that she has a steady income, she does not have to rely on her savings to keep body and soul together while she is unemployed. Along with her savings, if she sells her condo, she can personally pay off the loan, and then she and Belinda can accept Diego’s offer to buy the ranch.  Belinda and Diego point out to this double MBA in Finance that the loan is twice as much as Abril would get back from the sale. But Abril assures them that it is “not about the money”. I thought Belinda should have at least offered her a share in her restaurant-to-be but she doesn’t. On the other hand, has poor Belinda ever been compensated by Abril for doing all the work running the ranch? Just a random thought. Later Abril suggests to Diego that maybe they could be partners and run the ranch together (she, remotely, from Boston) and she gets a big “No”. He does not want to share.

 So if I figure correctly, Abril loses her share of the ranch plus half of all her savings and the sale price of her condo. “You’re investing $10 to get back $5!” She has to find a new and cheaper place while working for a company which offered her a job out of guilt. But that’s OK because she has the satisfaction of helping her cousin achieve her dream and knowing that her family ranch will be in the hands of someone who will preserve its legacy and not in the hands of a greedy bank. Methinks Abril got the short end of the stick, and I really wouldn’t encourage her to put this on her resume. On her way back to Boston, in a considerably worse financial situation than when she left, Diego enters stage left at the Iguazú Falls, to save the day. He has had a think, and decides that he has been too proud and will now let Abril be his partner in the ranch instead of paying her the cash as long as she stays there with him in Argentina. He loves her, she loves him, and Abril decides that is a fine idea and they kiss.

Juan Pablo Di Pace, who played Diego, was very handsome and charismatic and Julie Gonzalo has never looked lovelier. They were both born in Argentina and were pretty good together. The rest of the cast were all local actors, and they were all great. The Argentinian setting was interesting and beautiful. It all looked pretty authentic to me, except their gaucho clothes looked a little costume-y. But I felt like Abril thoughtlessly discounted Belinda’s desire to sell the Ranch and Diego rubbed me the wrong way as well. He was inflexible and stubborn off and on throughout most of the movie in addition to that chip of class warfare on his shoulder. At the end of the day, the things that bugged me outweighed what I liked.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Branching Out

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Donor or Dad?

There’s probably all kinds of things wrong with a 10 year-old talking her mother into seeking out her bio-dad so that her school “family tree” project can have more than one branch with only her mother and her grandmother on it. “It’s more like a log”, she complains. And the fact that her bio-dad was a sperm donor who requested anonymity makes it even more problematical. Ultimately though, The sperm donor (T.J.) was interested in meeting his daughter and they had a lot in common. And conveniently no significant other to answer to. So because it was Hallmark and I like how they are trying new takes and new directions rather than relying on the same old formulas, I decided to give them a pass on the wisdom, ethics, and dangers of the mother’s actions.

Now what I did have a problem with was the teacher assigning such a project in the first place. For those kids who did not want their personal domestic situations exposed to the public scrutiny of the whole class, there should have been an alternate and less invasive project. Especially as Ruby, our kid heroine, went to her teacher and expressed her discomfort explaining she was conceived via IVF. The teacher just blows her off with ” A Family Tree can look like anything” and “even weeds can become beautiful flowers.” Ahem. Ruby’s mother, Amelia, should have gone to the teacher,  had a pow-wow, and escalated it as necessary. But she didn’t, needless to say.

Amelia, putty in the hands of her precocious and persistent daughter, decides to try to find the sperm donor with a DNA test. She gets a match and when she researches the background of T.J., the sperm donor, she learns that he is really rich. His family founded a huge and successful ranch which is also a tourist destination. The word “Dynasty” is used.  I am sure that had absolutely nothing to do with Amelia following through with ambushing him with no warning pursuing his acquaintance.

T.J. himself works there but his real career is as a professional musician and back-up singer (and he’s really good!) Ruby, like him, plays the guitar. Both Ruby and T.J. start to get attached to each other and T.J.’s large and loving family welcome Amelia and Ruby with open arms. Things proceed very quickly which gives Amelia pause from time to time. She keeps saying she wants to protect Ruby from being hurt by an absentee unstable father like she had, but does very little to do so. At several points she could have put her foot down, but she really doesn’t. To be fair, T.J. is very nice, and a very good guy besides coming from a wealthy and prominent family and not to mention handsome as heck. And his family could not have been more warm, loving, and lovable. Of course, T.J. and Amelia start to have “feelings.” The romance and relationship part was good. Also two good kisses in which Sarah Drew really gave her all. Not that I blame her.

Everything goes great until T.J. gets his dream job and tells Amelia that he has to go on tour for 6 months and Amelia goes berserk. From the beginning he has been totally upfront that this scenario was in the cards. But Amelia is triggered and gets all irrational. Luckily this doesn’t last long  due to the stern talking to she gets from her friend and partner, Maura. Actually, she reads Amelia the riot act and it works. The secondary plot line involves this very admirable business partner and reflects Amelia’s struggles with leading a “guarded life” to protect Ruby and herself from pain and disappointment. Her partner wants to expand their architectural firm by designing a whole subdivision and Amelia just wants to keep things small and unchanging. It’s a metaphor!

This movie could have gone sideways at many different points and in several different ways. That it didn’t is credit to the great cast and the acting. Cora Bella who plays the very precocious Ruby is a shining star. In other hands, Ruby could have been very bratty and irritating. The good script provided her with the best lines in the movie and she made the most of them. Sarah Drew, who always gives a likable performance ensured her character’s sometimes dubious actions were at least understandable. And the same with Juan Pablo di Pace’s T.J.. Amelia’s friend and partner Maura was a force of nature. And T.J.’s family. What can I say?  I love my family, but can I please just spend a week every year with the Cruz’s on their beautiful ranch?

P.S. I have to mention one thing besides the bad teacher that really bothered me. At one point, they have T.J. busting into the Elementary School and barging into Ruby’s the classroom during class unimpeded and with impunity. He just opened the door and ran in. No one turned a hair. This made me very uncomfortable. Also, I trust we won’t have a sequel where T.J.’s other hypothetical progeny start coming out of the woodwork. That would get way too complicated.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Raise a Glass to Love

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Subtle Overtones and a Smooth Finish

I went into this one without too many high hopes. Wine has become the new dessert food as far as Hallmark food themes go. Also, I have not been overly impressed with the female lead, Laura Osnes. She’s been OK, but just kind of  “meh.”  I liked her in this, and I loved the male lead, Juan Pablo Di Pace. His chemistry with Laura was definitely there, although in truth he would probably have had chemistry with a fence post.

This one centered around a  female character dealing with feminist challenges. Jenna is studying for her 3rd try at passing the notoriously difficult sommelier exam to become a master sommelier. In the United States, there are only 172 of which only 28 are women. One of these real-life women has a small but important role in this movie. The background provided was interesting and educational.

Jenna is the daughter of legacy vineyard owners and a lifelong wine lover. She has a long-term relationship with the owner of a 3-star Michelin restaurant (Matthew James Dowden). Her dream is to become the restaurant’s sommelier. But to become qualified for that position, as in any Michelin-rated restaurant, she must pass her master’s exam. She goes home to her parents’ vineyard to study and meets our hero, her family vineyard’s innovative new Argentinian winemaker. As they spend more time together, she realizes that not only is she attracted to him but that his attitudes and dreams are more of a match to hers than her current boyfriend’s are. Aiden does not respect her opinion on wine and when his master sommelier quits for a better opportunity, he does not even consider her for the position. He apparently has no faith that she will pass her master test. In a bit of a twist, when she finally lays all of her feelings and dreams on the table, he changes his mind and hires her whether she passes her test or not. This was actually pretty big for him. Despite this hiccup that separates the potential soulmates, it soon becomes clear that he still doesn’t trust or respect her judgment fully. He depends too much on outside validation such as diplomas and awards on the wine he wants in his restaurant rather than her infallible instinct and taste. His number one concern is the success of his restaurant. Ultimately, she realizes he is a follower, not a leader, and she rightly leaves him and her job. He wasn’t bad, or even wrong. They just did not have the same priorities. The reunion of the two wine lovers is romantic and even touching. They are a perfect match.

It is not rare that Hallmark champions women pursuing their professional dreams over romance (as long as they can have both), but this one was handled with more sophistication and subtlety than the usual Good vs. Bad Boyfriend trope. It added some complications, real-life challenges, and hard decisions that women are faced with when finding their best path to happiness and fulfillment.

P.S. Speaking of sophistication, kudos to the design team on the fresh approach to the promotional poster. Nice to see some whimsy for a change.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

September 24, 2021