Living in New York there are a few things that I would like to admit I would not do. One of them being answering any sort of ad in any publication, as you never know who is on the other side and I am way too afraid of people and who would be on the other side. It doesn’t matter – missed connections and all of that – sure, I would hope to find love. But you want me to answer a missed connection? Hard pass out of paranoia and fear.
I guess though, that’s part of why I am single.
The Way To You is quite different from most Hallmark movies, but I think that it’s a testament to how the channel continues to evolve. The story is simple – the lights go out on the train, a man named Conrad – he wants to find the woman he thought he had an instant connection with, and places a missed connection. Emma is on the lookout for love and is trying everything to connect with someone. Her sister convinces her to try an early commute and meet a man in finance. She has a missed connection also, but accepts that she’s gotta move on. It’s just when she hears Conrad’s missed connection, she messages him on the app to meet up.
SEARCHING
She’s not the person that he was looking for, but somehow the connection between these two is strong. Conrad and Emma agree that they are going to help each other out to find relationships. Emma’s determined to help him find the woman that he’s smitten with and he’s going to set her up with guys he works with.
But first they are going to make sure that they teach each other about their interests. After all, Conrad’s missed connection seemed to like art (Emma’s an art curator) and Emma isn’t the type to keep up with a finance bro’s schedule.
I’m half expecting to see Patagonia as a sponsor of the movie, because everyone knows that all the fidi bros are really looking forward to wearing their Patagonia. They wear it like a badge of honor. The vest, the jacket, the ¾ zip – they own it all. I get that in movies you can’t flash the tag, but the costume designer at least got the vibe right. Even enough that Emma gets some jabs in there about Conrad’s choice of clothing.
CHALLENGES
What I think that is special about New York is that it is a very hard place to live, but it’s also the easiest place. Once you find your tribe and you find your space, you somehow are left with this will to get past everything that New York has to throw at you. And well, New York can throw a lot. Finding people that you can talk to, celebrate with, and be friends with is something special.
Conrad and Emma can relate to each other. They are opposites, but they somehow bring out things in each other that surprise them. Finding someone that challenges you, but makes you see that you are capable of so many things beyond what you thought your limitations were.
But do you think that it’s that simple? No. Conrad and Emma are not divulging their feelings for each other. They are reading each other – well, wrong. Both of them are thinking that the other person is happy with the person they are dating, but what it keeps coming back to is that they are missing each other. They want to be around each other.
FIGHTING FATE
The woman that Conrad is dating – the one that he thought was the one – is a wet blanket. She’s all about getting ahead and to be honest, I don’t know if she is genuine at all. Just dealing with her seems like a chore and Conrad seems dead in the eyes when he has to do just that. Sure, she checks off boxes, but are those boxes worth it? Are they the ones that matter? I don’t know. But for Conrad, they aren’t that important and he’s realizing that.
Emma has taken a chance on a man named Aaron. He’s legit got to be the most boring person known to man kind, but to each their own. She’s only seeing him though to combat her feelings for Conrad (even if she doesn’t realize that). She is trying to prove that she is not judgemental, but honestly, who cares that she is. She’s cautious of who she lets in and goes by her gut.
It just seems that the only person that she doesn’t want to listen to is herself. It’s her sister that pushes her to face her feelings. Only she may do it too late. You see, Conrad is supposed to be on his way to Tokyo for six months for his job.
CHASE
Only he’s not. He’s making his driver – well drive like they are being chased by the police to get to her house. He doesn’t want to leave without telling her how he feels. I am almost ashamed that there wasn’t a police chase with how he was driving – but here we are. I cheered when Conrad got to Emma and was able to tell her how he felt.
After she admitted it first.
But even better was watching these two just fall into each other. The way that life just seemed simple with the two of them together. They were each others anchor. He asked her to come to Tokyo and she tells him she’ll be right behind him.
I guess that trains and ads aren’t so bad in the movies. You did really good with this one Hallmark.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Emma makes good pottery
- You know it’s love when you agree to run with someone
- Have to admit that Conrad loving the painting and then buying it was a beautiful thing
- How we see them taking an interest in each others likes even when they are with other people… loved it
- Them admitting that they missed each other – I teared up a bit
- Love Emmas sister and brother-in-law
- The life size puppets crack me up
- The company dinner was painful to watch
- I still won’t answer an ad, but ill believe in love being possible for some
