Low key misfire of a rom-com-drama suffers from underwritten characters and a story that struggles to scratch and claw its way above the generic.
Magazine arts journalist Michael Block’s (LaKeith Stanfield) latest story concerns a much celebrated – and recently deceased – photographer, Christina Eames (Chante Adams). When he interviews her daughter, Mae Morton (Issa Rae), sparks fly and soon the two are falling for each other.
Meanwhile, a deathbed letter Christina left for Mae sends the narrative skipping back in time to exhume and examine Mae’s mother’s relationship with an ex-boyfriend, Isaac Jefferson – played with stunning emotional intensity by Rob Morgan.
Back and forth we go as the film details the dual romances of mother Christina and daughter Mae taking place some 30+ years apart.
Mixed in with the parallel romances is plenty of mother-daughter tumult – Christina clashes with her mother Violet (Marsha Stephanie Blake) and then puzzles her own daughter, Mae, with her preference for secrecy and distance.
Feeling vague and generic, TP quickly morphs into the movie equivalent of a no-name product.
Stanfield and Rae have chemistry to spare and look great together – too bad all that spark and sizzle dims and fizzles due to a flat script. Why did they fall in love? What does he do for her? What does she do for him? What excites them about each other? What does one have that the other needs? No idea.
Both romances feel blurry and underdeveloped. Neither convinces nor delights. What should feel unique and alive ends up feeling overly familiar, deadening and dull.
Though mother Christina and daughter Mae share commitment issues and a love of creative expression, neither parallel story illuminates much about their respective inner lives.
Photography is clearly a passion for Christina, yet we don’t see why. Why is she a photographer as opposed to a painter? What does photography allow her to do? How does it inform her life and affect her decisions? Again, no idea.
Mae, especially, is a head scratcher. A bit of a blank, Issa Rae struggles to bring her to life. Don’t blame Rae, though – she’s more than capable. Blame writer/director Meghie.
Thankfully, Lil Rey Howery parachutes in to liven things up. As Kyle, Block’s much put upon family man brother, Howery gets off a few funny lines here and there. He is so much of a force that he seems to have landed in the wrong movie. Though we gleefully applaud his arrival, Kyle the character is a walking-talking married man cliche. That Howery comes off so well is a credit to his energy and his talent.
TP has some charm and is not a total misfire. There are reasons to seek it out and give it a look – chief among them are the performances. Problem is, as good as those performances are, they can’t magically turn a bad script into a good one.
