Romancey Pants

Duck: Friends, when yours truly sat down to watch Away & Back, I was in a state of open-beaked amazement. Because there, on the screen, was a beautiful story of folks who DUCKING LOVE WATERFOWL. Bird representation was at such an ALL TIME HIGH that my duck-heart hammered with gusto throughout! I was doing so many flipper dances that I knocked over Star’s wine. Not that they minded!

Star: Hmm, well, anyway … Away & Back was also a beautiful story of a dad and three kids who are recovering from losing mom. The dad, Jack (played by Jason Lee) misses his late wife, as does his youngest kid Frankie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones). Mom adored wildlife and was a specialist in trumpeter swans. So when a family of these endangered birds arrive on a pond on their farm, the kids—especially Frankie—are fiercely protective of the creatures.

But the arrival of wildlife biologist Ginny Newsom, (performed beautifully by Minka Kelly) whose life mission is tracking trumpeter swans, proves both a swan-shaped blessing and a challenge—not only because she knows a safer way to take care of the swans, but also because Jack might not be ready to risk his heart by getting close ….

Duck: Or his corndogs.

Star: Duck, is it possible you missed the ENTIRE MOVIE because you were busy taking selfies with trumpeter swans?

Duck: No, I watched the WHOLE MOVIE! It was super-ducking awesome!!! IT HAD SWANS IN IT!!!

Star: Hmm. Something tells me you might not be the most balanced reviewer for this movie?

Duck: Forget balance!!! Can I just QUACKER-DANCE, share selfies I took with the swans, and make an OCCASIONAL QUACK-HAPPY comment? Here I go! Raising my flippers high in the air ….!

Star: And there goes my tea …. Anyway, while Duck excitedly shows you the selfies he took with the famed swans during a post-screening cocktail party …

Photo of swans: skyF from Getty Images via Canva

In some ways, the relationship between Frankie (the youngest girl) and Ginny (the wildlife expert) was the duck-heart of the film for me because Ginny let Frankie into her own ducking world, allowing Frankie to fully express her love of the swans her mother had adored. Super-ducking lovely, and very activist in many ways.

Swan photo: photosbyjimn from Getty Images via Canva

Also, not to give any spoilers, but let’s just say that ten-year-old Frankie is very brave and strong-headed—making mistakes that can be foolhardy but at the same time are authentic and bring her loved ones closer. Plus love of wildlife and birds is at the core of this movie. It had powerful environmental messages too.

Swan photo: photosbyjimn from Getty Images via Canva

Duck: Huge beak-shaped kudos to Maggie Elizabeth Jones who plays Frankie super-ducking awesomely. For such a young performer, Jones did a phenomenal job at portraying a young signet … no, human … who is mature for her age, has suffered deep loss, but also has a fiery heart that no one can stop. It was a beak-to-flippers powerful performance that filled my beak-holes with top-notch meaning.

And the swans all tell me Maggie Elizabeth Jones was very swan-friendly, too, which always tickles my flippers.

Star: How many diversity ducks do we give Away and Back? Hmm. This movie hails from 2015, which might be why the diversity seems to be lacking. But I will say that ten-year-old Frankie wasn’t portrayed as ultra-femme in this movie. She was allowed to be a girl who gets her shoes dirty, takes risks, breaks rules, and survives in the wilds. So we’re going to give a couple of diversity ducks for that in spite of the seeming lack of diversity on the cast.

After all, diversity is also about seeing different types of person/character, and we’ve seldom seen girls like Frankie before in Hallmark movies. They’re pretty rare, we-thinks.

Duck: But aren’t we going to give Away & Back FIVE DIVERSITY DUCKS for all the SWANS we’ve finally seen playing MAJOR ROLES in a Hallmark movie?

Star: I think bird inclusivity needs a separate rating system.

Duck: DONE! Please put your wingtips together for Away and Back—a very waterfowl-inclusive movie! My waterfowl inclusivity rating:

Super-ducking swanky, right, friends? Stay well, and thanks for reading!

At the time of writing, you can watch Away and Back here:

Amazon Prime (via Hallmark Movies Now subscription)

Xumo Play (free)

Plex (free)

Google Play (rental)

Apple TV (rental)

The Roku Channel (subscription)

YouTube (subscription)

Fandango at Home (rental)

Redbox ($7.99 rental)

Featured image: Photo courtesy of the Hallmark movie, Away and Back.

All image designs by Star Tavares using Canva.