Movie Review :: Hallmark Channel’s Two for Tee

Hallmark Channel

Spring has officially sprung, and that means it’s time for Hallmark Channel’s ‘Spring into Love’ series of films … which really aren’t any different from the romance movies broadcast any other time of the year except for Christmas … and the season kicks off with a pleasant romantic story that brings together two Hallmark favorites, and plays into its female lead’s heritage.

Two for Tee stars Janel Parrish as Tee (given name Ting), a Chinese-American woman who owns a bustling second-hand store with her cousin Theo (David Kaye), and she also conducts a pottery class at the local community center, The Learning Tree. During a class, handsome Will (Chris McNally) finds his way into the studio looking for the center’s manager Liz (although she is listed as Kendra in the film’s credits for some odd reason). Tee gives him directions to her office, and her senior students immediately jump in to matchmaker mode, making the situation awkward for both Tee and Will. But Tee makes him promise that if he gets the handyman job, the first thing on his list will be the fan in the pottery studio, which has not been functional for ages. Will agrees, and upon meeting Liz, he learns that money is tight and she can’t give him full-time hours, but that’s fine with him because he’s a single dad raising his daughter in a new town, and he just started his own handyman business. It’s a deal, and he fulfills his promise by fixing the fan in the studio, surprising Tee the next time she is there. At her store, The Retro Metro, Tee unknowingly meets Will’s daughter, Natalie, and her mother, and then when she sees Natalie at the center with her dad, Tee is a bit taken aback because he never mentioned he was married, or a dad. He assures Tee he is not married, anymore, and her students get on her case about her feelings about the daughter because at no point during their initial conversation was there any reason for him to casually mention he is a father. Tee knows they are right, and the more time she spends with Will at the center, the more their connection grows to the point he invites her to dinner at his place, with Natalie (who wants to show off the dress she bought at the shop for her school dance), and then Tee invites them to her family’s Sunday Dim Sum lunch. So things are definitely heating up.

Hallmark Channel

But Tee could be the biggest obstacle to not only the relationship, but to her own artistic career. At an art opening, her cousin forces her to introduce herself to the gallery owner so she can pitch a possible exhibit of her pottery, but when he sees the pictures he tells her the work is very good but there is nothing special about the pieces, nothing that tells the audience who the artist is. She sees this as a failure, but while having tea with her mother, Leigh Ann, Tee learns all about the special pottery process that created her teapot, and she learns that her great-grandfather actually made the pot her mother uses, and the pots are made of a porous material that retains the flavor of the specific tea, making the flavor better with each use (so you need a different pot for each type of tea). All of this leads Tee to begin learning about this process native to her culture, creating pieces that she feels do now represent herself, and the gallery owner promises her he will take a look at her work before his next exhibit. Meanwhile, Liz has informed Tee and Will that the center is about to run out of money, and the city council has decided to defund the entire program. Tee, Will and her pottery students all come up with ways to bring more people to the center, to change the perception of it being boring and a place for senior citizens, but it appears time has run out just before the planned open house. Tee also presents her new teapots to the gallery owner, which he calls exquisite, but he still does not feel an average consumer would be interested in buying them, and for him art is all about commerce. Tee actually accepts his reasons for not showing her work, happy that he called them ‘exquisite’, but she does not know that her work has made an impression on him enough for him to put in a call to another gallery in San Francisco. Now Tee, Will and friends must try to save The Learning Tree, descending on the city council meeting just before they conduct the vote to end funding, pleading with them to come to the open house, armed with just enough information about three of the members to impress upon them how they and their families can benefit from the center. Another factor comes into play when Natalie’s school dance is cancelled because of a burst water pipe, and if the center remains open, they can host the dance. So will their efforts save The Learning Tree, will Tee’s pottery find a home, and will Tee and Will continue to grow their relationship?

Two for Tee is a very pleasant way to begin the ‘Spring into Love’ theme on Hallmark Channel. It really has nothing to do with Spring, except for perhaps how the romance blossoms, but that doesn’t matter because it’s just so darned enjoyable, breaking the usual template for a Hallmark movie in which the couple meets, falls hard, has a major disagreement about something, and then patches things up to seal it with a kiss before the end credits roll. Here, thankfully, there is no conflict between Tee and Will, and they kiss long before the credits roll. He is arguably the most supportive boyfriend we’ve seen in any Hallmark movie. And Tee does not allow all of her insecurities about her artistic abilities or her concern for the center and the great loss it would be to her students and the community to cloud her feelings for Will. It really is a joy to watch these two just fall into a comfortable relationship, and how Tee also quickly bonds with Natalie. She is even assured by Will’s ex that there is nothing weird between them and she’s happy Will has found someone like her, so it’s joyful all around. As written by Matt Johnson and Justine Wentzell-Chang, Tee has a great relationship with her cousin, and learns more about her culture and family from her mother. Things take a bit of an emotional turn when Leigh Ann reveals that her cousin was her closest friend at home in China, but that relationship ended badly when Leigh Ann decided to stay in America with her husband. Tee manages to track down the long lost cousin and gives Leigh Ann her email address to reach out, but she fears after so many years and the bad blood between them that she won’t respond. Tee is sure that time has healed the wounds and Leigh Ann has to write to her … and it leads to a tearfully happy moment when Leigh Ann gets a call right before going to the open house. The writers really haven’t broken any new ground with this movie, but they have given us wonderful characters, from the leads to the supporting cast, and have avoided the relationship conflicts we’ve come to expect from a Hallmark movie. It may not seem like one of those movies you have to arrange your schedule to watch, but it is delightful and warm and funny and hopeful and romantic, and you really could not ask for anything more, so it truly is worth scheduling the time to watch. Director Michael Robison juggles all of the various storylines, keeping them integral to the plot, but the Tee and Will romance is always front and center.

Hallmark Channel

None of this would work, however, without its excellent cast. Janel Parrish and Chris McNally have wonderful chemistry together, just making the relationship feel so natural. Parrish makes Tee a fully-rounded character, a successful businesswoman, an accomplished artist — even though she is filled with doubt about her skills, someone devoted to her community, always outgoing, but with deep connections to her mother and cousin, inquisitive about her heritage, and a romantic at heart, a woman who has not let a bad relationship from the past inform her relationship in the present. McNally is utterly charming, a man who would likely give you the shirt off his back, a devoted father who showers his daughter with attention, is watchful over her, but also allows her the freedom to be her own person without helicoptering. He eases into his feelings for Tee, building to something that just feels comfortable for them both, always supportive when she doubts herself, ready to step up when needed. You couldn’t ask for a better guy, and McNally brings Will wonderfully to life.

David Kaye brings humor to his role as Tee’s cousin, Theo, always ready with a witty aside or an arched eyebrow, but also supportive of her artistic endeavors, even if they conflict with her business responsibilities, and of her relationship with Will. He even becomes instrumental in digging up the information Tee uses to get the city council to realize what a loss it would be to the community at large if they shut down The Learning Tree. Lillian Lim is wonderful as Leigh Ann, a woman with a penchant for moving things around when told not to — but always making it better — and completely supportive of her daughter. And she really does tug at your heartstrings when she gets that call from her cousin. Tahina Awan, Garry Chalk and Beth Fotheringham are delightful as Tee’s pottery students, each with their own personalities, but all invested not only in getting Tee and Will together, but in saving the community center as well. Alex MacIsaac is wonderful as Natalie, a perfectly well-adjusted girl who just bubbles over with enthusiasm at Tee’s store, and she has a solid relationship with both of her parents and connects well with Tee. She has a nice moment with both McNally and Parrish as she is anxious about the school dance and worried about not knowing how to slow dance … or even if she has to slow dance … and they both step up to give her a lesson. Enid-Raye Adams is also really good as Liz, doing her best to keep the center open, having a real conscience about having to cut things from the budget (including Will, but he steps up to do the work without pay in exchange for giving his new business some publicity), and completely open to everyone’s ideas to save the center without being a Negative Nelly.

Two for Tee certainly isn’t earth-shattering, but it is so darned charming and entertaining, avoiding the traditional pitfalls of the usual Hallmark romance, cast with two extremely likable leads and populated with a delightful supporting cast, portraying the romance, Tee’s heritage, and the quest to save the center to show how important such a thing is to a community, that you just can’t help but fall in love with the movie and the characters. Spring is off to a good start on Hallmark Channel.

Two for Tee has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, is rated TV-G, and is streaming on Hallmark+.

Preview | Two for Tee