Moving performances from two veterans of the small screen elevate The Second Time Around, a Toronto-set drama that will have its local premiere on Dec. 18.

Linda Thorson, a fixture of 1960s television due to her role on The Avengers, and two-time Emmy winner Stuart Margolin (The Rockford Files) have undeniable chemistry as two seniors given another chance at love when they meet at a retirement home.

Thorson plays Katherine Mitchell, a passionate opera lover who ends up recovering from a broken hip at an upscale senior’s home. There, Katherine meets Isaac Shapiro (Margolin), a tailor with a stubborn streak but also a fondness for classical music.

Although both are starkly independent, the two quickly become an item. The new couple bonds over opera, dancing and the chance to live the dreams they had been denied.

The romantic drama premieres as part of the Chai Tea series, presented by the Toronto Jewish Film Foundation, at the Empress Walk cinemas. It will screen at 12:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., with each showing culminating with a Q&A with director Leon Marr and various cast members.

Beyond Thorson and Margolin, The Second Time Around benefits from an eclectic Canadian ensemble – including some more familiar faces from television.

Laura de Carteret (Seed) plays Katherine’s ill-tempered daughter, Helen, while Seeing Things star Louis Del Grande is Charlie, Isaac’s charming companion at the retirement home. Character actor Jayne Eastwood, known for her role on the classic King of Kensington, also appears in a small role.

The wealth of small-screen stars fits a low-budget drama with esthetics that may play better at home than at the cinema. This drama marks Marr’s first time behind the camera in nearly 25 years – and in some parts, it shows.

Marr films many of the scenes in one long take. Although this may have been an economic, time-saving decision for the production, the approach doesn’t always work.

When Katherine and Isaac are reminiscing about old times or getting to know each other, the actors’ electric chemistry makes one forget that the scene is a single take. An opening shot of Katherine at the opera, as she mouths along to the lyrics in the audience, is a masterwork of acting and lighting.

Yet, more lighthearted moments would have benefited from close-ups on the characters as they react to the wry story turns.

Meanwhile, the film’s first 15 minutes feature some clumsy exposition about the characters, which also telegraph the story’s eventual plot turns.

These storytelling qualms aside, Marr and co-writer Sherry Soules eventually settle into a more relaxed rhythm.

A pivotal sequence at the retirement home dance – complete with an amusing getting-ready montage – shows off the ensemble of seniors through minimizing the dialogue and letting the characters’ excitement and anxiety steer the direction of the scene.

The Second Time Around also does not shy away from the side effects of aging, which give the drama jolts of emotional power.

The film also features a tender relationship between Katherine and her granddaughter Sarah (played by newcomer Alexis Harrison), which resists some of the more obvious tropes related to the generational gap.

In one lovely scene, when Katherine and Isaac listen to Mozart on her MP3 player, his affected response to the music surprises her. She asks if he could understand any of the singing.

“Not the words, but the feeling,” Isaac replies.

Audiences may find that The Second Time Around works for a similar reason: although sometimes overwritten, the poignancy of the central relationship is one that should resonate.

And, whether you go to the film’s December premiere or not, make sure to sit through the credits for a lovely closing scene.