Watched: 11/05/2025
Format: Hallmark
Viewing: First
Director: Jennifer Liao
So, we were busy and we had stuff going on as I was having some foot surgery on the 6th, so we kind of randomly put this movie on.
There are two very exciting things about this movie, and one is that it co-stars Tia Carrerre as the "mom" if you want to feel your age, Gen-X'ers. And she is desperately trying to underdress so she is not obviously Tia Carrerre.
The second is that I was 4/5ths of the way through the movie and the dad character made a particular face and I ran to IMDB. And, yes, the guy playing the dad is Yee Jee Tso, who I suddenly recognized as someone from the 1990's Nickelodeon show Fifteen. Not even a main character. Just a guy. Which means this guy is exactly my age and somehow wound up 30 years later playing the husband to Tia Carrerre. Well done, my dude.
The movie is about a young woman of Chinese descent living in Nob Hill in San Fracisco. She works at the San Francisco Chronicle as a photographer when she meets the hotshot new reporter with an unplaceable accent (South Africa - one of the oddest accents we've ever cooked up). It turns out that Our Hero's family throws a big party every Christmas and for movie reasons, she's ashamed of this party and her family? But not really her family. But maybe a little.
Man is assigned to find and report on this party, and she's to be his Jimmy Olsen. But so deep is her shame about this party that she lies to Man, herself, her family, random ladies she knows... but the lie does not hold, and instead of everyone being very concerned about what seems like a psychotic episode, they all just blow it off.
Truly, this Hero is the absolute worst.
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| how you doin', leads' mom? |
The goal of the movie is to share the Chinese-American experience at Christmas, and who knows if any of this is accurate? Not I. But I am not sure that framing your parents throwing an annual party that raises money for charities you selected as a kid is exactly the framework I'd have selected for sharing something inherently good. But the main character *hates* it.
In the last act we learn, Our Hero, who is 28 if she's a day, is embarrassed that back in middle-school someone shared a video of her singing at her parents' party, and at school people made fun of her for singing Christmas songs in Cantonese. Because middle- schoolers are the worst people on Earth. And, sure, I can maybe understand some trauma, but, girl... singing familiar tunes in Catonese is the least embarrasing thing I can think of happening in middle-school. Get a therapist.
At the film's, they show the party, and I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't "a really nice party I'd be thrilled to attend." Like, it's not crazy at all. It's just a pleasant evening with neighbors and terrific looking good. No one is hanging from chandeliers or wearing lampshades on their heads. It's just adults in jackets milling around and talking.
My theory is that this movie was written to be a lot more complicated and about the complicated life of a first or second genertaion American kid dealing with parents with expectations that are far afield from what they want. I also am going to guess that the party was not intended to look like a church social. There's probably a movie that was in here originally that was a lot less nonsensical and was more on point about the Chinese-American experience. And I'd be happy to watch that movie. But this movie was hellbent on knocking the edges off to the point where this just turned the lead into an asshole for not liking her family, who all seem cool.
I wish I could say this is passable, and I want Hallmark to do more movies like this with, frankly, non-white leads. Christmas is varied from house to house, and that's something that automagically mixes things up a bit. But you also have to be willing to show *some* discomfort and *some* unhappiness in your movie, or you get... whatever this was.
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