Overall, I thought the storyline was fine. It was very slightly different from the usual hallmark set ups.
It was nice that the leads had social anxiety, though I don't always know that it was played true. For example, would a socially anxious person willingly draw attention to themselves at a costume-optional event by coming in costume?
I also thought the mother was contributing to her problems. If a daughter calls looking for advice, I don't think it's healthy that the only advice that is offered is to not give up what you want for another person (I'm paraphrasing here, but that was the gist.). Sometimes what someone wants is that other person and deciding to want that doesn't always mean they're giving up everything. Her situation, as she points out, is not just about a guy. It's about her friends, her interns, and the offer of a great job doing what she loved and her mother should have heard all of those pieces before giving her any advice. I thought her father's advice was much healthier - figure out what it is that your gut/heart is telling you. What I liked about this storyline, however, is that it differed from the usual storyline of girl goes to some town, meets guy, falls in love in 5 days, and decides to give up a successful career in the city to stay with small town man not knowing whether they're compatible, where she'd live, or what she'd do for a living. That is a toxic message, the one in this movie wasn't.
Lastly, the thing that bothered me the most is that a big message of the movie is that seals shouldn't be kept in captivity and that humans ruin everything for seals but the movie delivered this message by using multiple captive seals that had been highly trained to do tricks for human enjoyment.
It was nice that the leads had social anxiety, though I don't always know that it was played true. For example, would a socially anxious person willingly draw attention to themselves at a costume-optional event by coming in costume?
I also thought the mother was contributing to her problems. If a daughter calls looking for advice, I don't think it's healthy that the only advice that is offered is to not give up what you want for another person (I'm paraphrasing here, but that was the gist.). Sometimes what someone wants is that other person and deciding to want that doesn't always mean they're giving up everything. Her situation, as she points out, is not just about a guy. It's about her friends, her interns, and the offer of a great job doing what she loved and her mother should have heard all of those pieces before giving her any advice. I thought her father's advice was much healthier - figure out what it is that your gut/heart is telling you. What I liked about this storyline, however, is that it differed from the usual storyline of girl goes to some town, meets guy, falls in love in 5 days, and decides to give up a successful career in the city to stay with small town man not knowing whether they're compatible, where she'd live, or what she'd do for a living. That is a toxic message, the one in this movie wasn't.
Lastly, the thing that bothered me the most is that a big message of the movie is that seals shouldn't be kept in captivity and that humans ruin everything for seals but the movie delivered this message by using multiple captive seals that had been highly trained to do tricks for human enjoyment.