Oy Vey!
This movie received a lot of backlash after the promotional poster was revealed last month (see left). There are 5 main cast members and only ½ of one of them is of Chinese extraction (Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, who is half Scottish and half Chinese). And non-traditional tiles. I will leave the outrage and accusations of cultural appropriation to others who have more of a dog in the hunt. But it was jarring to say the least. And premiering during Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage month! Oooof, Hallmark. But I did read a little about it and this was inspired by the executive producer’s wife (white) and her path to becoming a well known and respected teacher of the American variant of the game. Frankly I’d always associated Mahjong with the Jewish community as much as the Chinese community. Didn’t appear to be any Jewish representation either, probably because it’s not Hanukkah time. It’s fair to note that there is a scene set in a Chinese cultural center where Yan-kay does give a talk about the Chinese origin of the game and it’s importance to the culture. I do fault Hallmark for the lack of diversity in general lately. To me they do seem to be dialing back on that front. Just for one example, after featuring some really great movies centered round Chinese families at the beginning of the 2020’s there was a big gap between 2022 and this year’s Two for Tee. Thank goodness, just in time.
The movie opens with Roni ( the ever lovely and ageless Fiona Gublemann), our main character, playing Mahjong with her friend group and seeing her daughter off to college. The cast in this one is strong. Her 3 friends are played by the previously mentioned Lowe, Melissa Peterman, and Tamera Mowry-Housley. Her love interest is one of my favorites, Paul Campbell, who has lost the Botox, as have others amongst his Hallmark colleagues, thank goodness. Although the script didn’t give him a whole lot of opportunities to use his rightly acclaimed comic timing, he was charming as always. Roni has been divorced for 5 years and her ex comes by to remind her of their agreement to sell the house after their daughter goes off to college. The house has to have some minor repairs and a refresh before it goes on the market and he tells her to take all the time she needs (within reason.) When Roni is prevailed upon to give a Mahjong lesson for the school’s end of year fundraiser, she meets Ben, a contractor and the uncle of one of the kids. Ben’s mother is in an assisted living community and is having trouble making friends. Ben thinks Mahjong is the answer and gets Roni to start a class there in exchange for him doing the repairs on Roni’s house. One thing leads to another and soon Roni has a fledgling side hustle being a Mahjong teacher. It’s timely because her job as a school nurse has been cut back to part time. Unfortunately Roni lives in the only community in the United States that has a glut of unemployed nurses because she can’t get a job elsewhere as any kind of nurse. At least we assume so, because we see her only unsuccessfully applying for one position in a hospital emergency room. Nevertheless, Roni, with Ben’s encouragement, has decided that she loves her house too much to move to a condo and is going to try to buy out her husband’s half despite her shaky financial status. After all, barring one disastrous experience with book club women, her mahjong classes are really taking off. She’s thinking maybe she can make a real career out of it. Unfortunately, her ex-husband’s loose goosey time line to get the house on the market changes to “You have 3 weeks!”, thanks to the house he and his new wife want finally coming up for sale. The change from reasonable ex-husband and co-parent to condescending stinker made me long for Roni to put him in his place by the end of the movie.
Overall, this was a good one despite a weak plot. A lot of time was taken up with “Adventures in Mahjong”. But at least it was something different after the last several trope-filled offerings. I had a few quibbles, as usual. When Ben made an appearance while Roni and her friends were playing their Mahjong game, the 3 women were very immature and obnoxious with the usual “ hello-o-o-o-o-o Roni’s got a boyfriend you’re hot” routine. They acted like 13-year-olds and it was embarrassing. Also after a night out Roni invites Ben in for a drink, and instead of romance, they end up playing Mahjong. I was rolling my eyes, but the situation was rescued by a kiss and a fade out. So who knows what ended up happening? Roni’s progress in her newfound possible career, securing a loan to buy her house, and romance was well paced, made sense, and overall engaging. Ben had some issues with his brother regarding his non-involvement in their mother’s life. Both Ben and Roni had to learn to ask for help, a frequent Hallmark roadblock to happiness and fulfillment. I liked that when Ben gave his brother a chance, he came through with flying colors and we have a nice clearing of the air scene between them with both apologizing to the other. Unfortunately the same closure can not be said between Roni and her ex, which was a disappointment and kind of a loose end in my book. I really needed an acknowledgement of Roni’s success from him at the end of the movie. A little less Mahjong and more groveling. He really got on my bad side. I almost knocked it down a notch for that, but I’ll be nice and give it a 7.
