Stream It Or Skip It: ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’ on The Hallmark Channel, A Feel-Good Road Trip Comedy That Will Make You Want to Seize The Day

A work-obsessed young woman’s visit to her grandmother’s retirement home is cut short when a work assignment unexpectedly sends her on a road trip to California in the new Hallmark Channel rom-com I’ll Be Seeing You, starring Stacey Farber, Tyler Hynes and Christine Ebersole. Luckily, the woman’s grandmother, her grandmother’s best friend, and the activities director at the retirement home are all down for an adventure and they head out with her. I’ll Be Seeing You is unexpectedly sentimental and genuinely funny and it’s the perfect weekend adventure.

The Gist: Stacey Farber plays Amy, a workaholic hoping for a promotion at her patent acquisitions firm. (It’s a type of work that sounds so boring, no one can ever fully remember what it is Amy does.) Amy has carved out time to spend a long weekend visiting her grandmother’s retirement facility (which, to be honest, looks incredible, they drag race golf carts and have casino night) somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, but when her office calls and tells her the only way she’ll get her promotion is to drop her weekend plans and track down a client’s signature – in California. Amy tells her grandmother Vivien (Christine Ebersole) they need to adjust their plans, but Vivien, the type of woman whose life consists solely of “yes days” is down for an adventure and suggests they take a road trip, along with another retiree, Sue (B.J. Harrison), to get that signature and make some detours along the way.

On their way out of town, Amy’s car busts a tire, so Viv calls Mark (Tyler Hynes), the charming, happy-go-lucky activities director at the retirement home, to help. Mark declares Amy’s car unfixable, so he offers to drive them all to California in his VW bus. This all seems wild to straight-laced Amy, that Mark would just pivot his plans and fly by the seat of his joggers, but that’s the kinda guy he is, human tumbleweed, just blowing wherever the wind takes him. (He even refers to himself as “discount Jack Reacher” which is pretty hilarious.)

So the four of them head out on a road trip that features more stops than Amy is comfortable with – Mark’s the kind of guy who gets jazzed to see roadside attractions like the world’s largest ball of twine – while Amy stresses about getting her work stuff done. They do take an enjoyable detour at Vivien’s request so she can visit the spot where she met her first love. Vivien regales everyone with the story of how she met a man named Teddy the summer before college whom she shared a brief, passionate fling with (a tender story but also one that she uses to teach both Amy and Mark about the importance of GOING FOR IT when love is presented to you).

Eventually, Vivian and Sue end up on a mission to find Teddy, while Amy and Mark stay the course so Amy can get the client’s signature she needs, but in doing so, Amy realizes that her work has prevented her from living her best life. Eventually the foursome meets back up – at Teddy’s cabin in the woods! – and Amy and Mark do take Vivien and Sue’s life advice to heart, realizing that they should focus on what makes them happiest and that’s being together.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? I’ll Be Seeing You is like if the characters on The Golden Girls were matchmakers who set up their grandkids. (Is there a dating show where young couples are set up by their grandmas? Because I’d watch that.)

Performance Worth Watching: Christine Ebersole is a Broadway and TV legend, and in the role of Vivien, she turns out a performance that’s equal parts comedic and sensitive. We even get to hear her sing a rendition of the standard “I’ll Be Seeing You” (of course), which is an emotional high point of the film. The woman is a gift!

Sex And Skin: None.

Our Take: Do you have a friend that’s the kind of person who can get along with anyone, that can charm restaurant servers into giving you free refills or can become instant friends with a subway car full of strangers? I know a couple of people with that sparkling likability factor, and that’s how I think of Tyler Hynes, too. This guy is in, what, at least 4 Hallmark movies a year? And he is so dang charming in all of them, including this one. Having one incredibly charismatic star in the film would have made it a success, but to add in the talents of Ebersole and B.J. Harrison, well that’s just stacking the deck. (No shade to Stacey Farber, but she’s the one character forced to play things uptight, which she does well, but the other three, who all play some variation of the free spirit archetype, steal the show.)

I’ll Be Seeing You weaves together the stories of Amy, who is on her important work trip, Mark, who is trying to make a new career move, and Viv and Sue, who have both led rich and fulfilling lives and are trying to show these young folks what’s really important. Forging real relationships, finding love, prioritizing those things over work are themes that are central so many other movies and songs (cue “Cat’s in the Cradle”), but here, it doesn’t become cloying or preachy. Sue and Viv simply live their best lives with gusto and in doing so, they become the example for Amy and Mark to follow. All four characters are central to the story and necessary to the plot, and the movie is a great success because of how great each of the actors is.

Our Call: I’ll Be Seeing You is an intergenerational road trip rom-com with four sparkling, fun personalities, what’s not to love? STREAM IT!

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.