Unexpected Grace

I think Erica Durance is one of the most beautiful and talented actresses working in television. And lately she's been popping up in Hallmark movies that have more depth than the standard rom-com. This is NOT a rom-com.

This is a lovely and profoundly moving story of people recovering from the loss of loved ones and finding a way to move on. I can't imagine how a parent survives the loss of a child, but Durance's Noelle is plodding forward as best she can 2 years later. As she tells a colleague: "grief makes one hour ten." There are many other great Shakespearean lines in this movie (Ashland is famous for its Shakespeare Festival and Noelle is a college professor who teaches Shakespeare).

The plot device that starts the movie is a message, tied to a balloon, that Noelle and her daughter Toni released into the air. The message has the uplifting ending couplet from Shakespeare's otherwise very depressing Sonnet 30 that expresses the painful "remembrance of things past". I love the idea of a "message in a bottle" (Bottled With Love is one of my favorite Hallmark movies ) and this is a fun and eventually poignant variation of that.

Erica Tremblay is perfect in the well written role of 13 year old Grace. Hallmark should use her more often. Michael Rady is good and steady as Grace's father Jack ("I can't always relate to the struggles of a teenage girl but I'm trying"). But, c'mon dad, use Grace's phone as leverage. If she's not going to answer it when you call, or text you where she is, and her grades drop, the ultimate behavior modification strategy is phone access. Whenever I threatened to call the phone company to put my kids' lines on hold, they got with the program, fast. My daughter is now about to graduate Berkeley and my son graduated UCSB.

Kudos to the writers Mark Hefti and Eugenia Zukerman for a script that gave us some really beautiful and heartfelt moments, and some important conversations between Noelle and her colleague Chris played by the dependable Hallmark vet Vincent Gale ("Being young isn't easy. All those hormones and wide-open future, it's scary and exhilarating all at the same time."). Mark Hefti wrote 2 other very good Hallmark movies (A Dickens of a Holiday and My Family Christmas Tree).

Grace's interactions with her father and with Noelle were extraordinarily realistic and the tone and pacing of the movie was just right. And I could listen to Erica Durance read me Shakespeare all night, especially if she looked at me the way she looked at Jack. But I didn't like having her read an edited version of an already short but beautiful Sonnet 18 ("thy eternal summer shall not fade").

I also appreciated the well timed use of these 2 lines by Grace:

"Sometimes a girl just needs her Mom"

"Sometimes a girl just needs her Daddy"

Noelle and Jack had great chemistry, which was essential given the focus on Grace. But Noelle really needed a hug. She broke my heart when she talked about how she missed being part of a family and missed having Toni hold on to her. That's why I loved it when she told Jack:

"Thank you for this. I don't know what this is, but it's nice."

And I LOVED the scene where Grace eavesdropped on her father talking about all the things he loved doing with Grace.

In fact, the first 75% of the movie was a solid 10 stars. I didn't even mind the horrible dad jokes. But the basketball tryout was cringeworthy. And the plot conflict about a contract termination was unrealistic. Jack supposedly had a signed written 2 year contract to build a campus science center and moved from Colorado to Oregon for that contract. The plot suggests a new Governor could just terminate that contract. I've drafted construction contracts. They can't just be unilaterally terminated without severe penalties.

And I didn't buy the coincidence that was nearly 300 miles away in Portland. And that guy would have to have been extremely wealthy in order to agree to fund and do what happens at the end of the movie.

I also had a very small pet peeve about the Petition for Dissolution that appears on the screen for a few seconds. First, that document was "served" on her, which means it was filed with the Court; but it didn't even have her name on it, or anything essential filled out. And although the first page referred to Oregon, the second page referred to the State of Washington. And even though Noelle is shown to have been very friendly and cordial with her ex, he apparently felt it necessary to serve her with the Petition, when they could have worked out a stipulation without her being served.

But, otherwise, the movie was so extraordinarily moving, well acted, and very well done, that I think of it as being one of the best Hallmark movies that I've ever seen. Because I grade Hallmark movies on a curve, I'm giving this a 10, despite a few relatively minor flaws.

I am not sure one could adequately review this movie without including "spoilers". Thus said, I do feel it deserves to be recognized with, at least, some comments.

Recent Hallmark productions have taught me to markedly lower my expectations and it is a pleasant surprise to find that somebody there has not lost the touch.

This film deals with losses and grief with straightforward simplicity and honest emotions, devoid of intrusive messages or added intentions. There are no petty rivalries, nor abusive personalities to create drama. Good people sharing similar pain are brought together finding hope and healing. All is delivered with gentleness, grace, and moving credibility.

Erica Durance is emerging as a top star for Hallmark serious productions and, once more, does not fail in her role. Michael Rady is at his best and the young Erica Tremble, whom I remember from a few previous appearances, delivers a mature, convincing performance.

In the, regretfully rare, instances where people at Hallmark are able to focus , and keep their attention, on valid objectives, they can still create family entertainment with real value.

Hallmark's Movies and Mysteries network often goes beyond the rom/com formula and this is a good example. There is a romance story squeezed in, but the movie is more a story of recovery from tragic loss. I find it interesting that one of my most memorable movies with Michael Rady is Two Turtle Doves which has some similarities to this one.

The approach taken here to the grief theme seems to me that it is a pretty sure way to grab the heartstrings. Two teenage girls dealing with loneliness are at the center of the story. Tragedy and grief are prominent in both of the central families.

There is sadness in the story yet hope outweighs the sadness.

I think all of the 3 main actors did a fine job with their parts. (I started to say 4 main actors and realized the Toni's character was ever present despite only the briefest snippet of screen time.) I don't think I need to say that they captured the emotions felt by their characters.

Side observation - in today's world of antagonism and blame everywhere you look, it was nice to see a father be open minded and not jump too quickly to accuse Noelle of impropriety in the early stages and dismiss her.

I think there is probably much to absorb in a repeated viewing that I missed the first time through.

7.7 stars.

This is the story of a woman named Noelle who loses her 14 year old daughter Maya, we don't know how, but it's probably cancer. A man named Jack comes to town with his young daughter Grace, and they find something in their tree that was left behind from Maya, and that something is a letter written to the world and attached to a balloon. Jack and Noelle almost run into each other twice not realizing Grace has Maya's lost letter. Eventually the coincidence connections are realized. Noelle does not believe in coincidence. The letter transforms Grace's life and soon Jack and Noelle grow fond of each other. The story goes deeper and deeper into their relationship as they all are still healing the loss of Maya and Jack's wife too, who also died some years ago. It's a very touching movie mainly about recovering from pain and sadness on losing a loved one. Noelle's ex-husband is still having a hard time getting over the loss of their daughter, and coincidentally meets Jack in another city, and there are too many coincidences in this film. I recommend it.

Great acting and heartwarming scenes make this a must see tearful and 'Unexpected Grace'.

Wasn't sure whether I would like this one but gave it a shot and glad I did! After the wedding veil second trilogy, the new year movies have been such a disappointment with bad plots and bad acting. This one broke the streak and was heartwarming with great acting. There's lots of gaps in the story and it really is a mystery of what will happen next. Adults and kids with grief, finding a glimmer of hope, only for it to be taken away, and then left to decide what will be the next step. All the characters saw "signs" from loved ones no longer here and then needed to make their own path, take control of their future, and decide what they want to do and how they would make their lives and the world better. I loved this message and how it wasn't all about fate or destiny telling you what to do but it brought everyone to a crossroad and they made the choice of moving forward and celebrating their loved ones rather than be burdened by their loss. Other than the one jealous bratty teen, there were no "villains" and this was very refreshing. It was a bit slow and the first 20 min felt like an hour and you want to scream just tell them the whole truth! But would you actually do that in that situation? Probably not. It was realistic, beautifully told, and I hope more movies are just as heartwarming!