Reviews

I suppose I approached the material from the angle of a WW2 buff instead of a romance/drama. The script would flow along well enough for a while and then some ridiculous plot development came along and spoiled the whole process.

The attack on the Yank airfield was ridiculous. The ME110 that roared in dropped its bombs on a shed instead of hitting some far more lucrative target such as a fuel depot or ammunition dump. Then the pilot proceeds to attack a lone cyclist and a group of women farmworkers. The Yanks seem remarkably unconcerned by the attack and no attempt to intercept the intruder is even considered. A wandering Yank in a Jeep blunders on to the farmland attack scene with no apparent reason why he should be wandering about on remote farmland except to allow him to meet his future wife.

The remarkable stupidity of the Letty character really stood out. She was so eager to get away from her stifling home life that she deliberately got pregnant with her Yank boyfriend to lock in his commitment. When the first boyfriend died, she latched onto the first new Yank that showed any interest.

The romance between the Yank major and the British doctor really lacked any force. Especially considering the risk the Yank was taking in his pursuit of a locally prominent married woman. The quite attractive daughter of the doctor would have eagerly welcomed any interest on the major's part. Her rejection in order to allow the major to concentrate on her mother would have likely led to her drawing the attention of the Major's commanding officer to the sordid conduct of the major.

The invincible composure of the injured husband of the doctor was astounding. He was content to allow another man to break up his family in order to avoid a confrontation. His wife's betrayal was not worthy of challenge.

The fact that Susannah York was about 50 years old in this production was too much to overlook. She was too far past her prime to be convincing as a woman who could arouse such passion in a much younger man. In all the closeups, we see that all the foundation is loosing the battle with the set lighting.

Well, this is not the worst historical drama ever, but it will never take top honors in my book.

I watched this film because of Melissa Gilbert's presence. I have liked her since her "Little House On The Prarie" days. I must say I concur with other reviews regarding the weak French accent she was able to muster.

The best performances were from Liana Liberato (Pip) and Brad Johnson (Matt). They had an actual chemistry that made watching their interactions interesting.

I always have problems with films, they simplify lives to fit the time limits available. Take lonely divorcée Matt. Somehow he is able to afford to paint on the beach all day and never worry about earning a living. When his ex-wife moves his daughter to New Zealand with her new husband, he apparently makes no legal effort to prevent a move that will effectively deny any custody rights. His lonely bachelor pad on the beach somehow is always orderly with no housework.

When Ophelie (Gilbert) and Pip move back to their main house, it is in perfect order inside and out despite a three-month absence and no visible domestic help.

The biggest sticking point is the horrible CGI explosion of the jet carrying Ophelie's husband and son, shown in a flashback. It would require a nuclear explosion to vaporize an aircraft this way. A little creativity could have produced a more reasonable crash that would serve the plot line.

The Wexler Center where Ophelie volunteered was obviously not in the San Francisco Bay area. The Palm trees in front of the building are not found that far north. The exteriors were all filmed in the Los Angeles area, except for the Hillsborough location shots for the main house.

One minor point I noticed was that the dead son "Chad" was portrayed by Gilbert's real-life son Dakota Brinkman. He had no speaking part, but this may be an attempt to launch him in an acting career.

I concur in the other reviews that mention how weak the romance seemed to be. The chemistry was hardly convincing between the two leads. It seems that Melissa Gilbert will be forever condemned to these made-for-TV efforts. That is too bad. She is really a competent actress who is pushing the age limit for lead roles.

Leigh Anne Tuohy (Bullock) was a force of nature in this film. Her husband and family tread very warily in her presence. You could see her husband, Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw), carefully considering what supportive position would earn the most favor before he dared give it utterance. Only her son S J was able to bend her will to his by the most artful of manipulation. That boy had her down cold, after mastering his mother, college football coaches were putty in his hands.

Michael Oher was a homeless black teenager barely coping with survival. He was a very sensitive young man despite his enormous size and strength. He only kept his sanity by blocking out almost all the horrid things in his past. This withdrawal made him very difficult to read by everyone he encountered. Strangers seeing his great physical prowess and knowing something of his past assumed the worst about his character.

Leigh Anne had no clue about the nature of the strange young man she gave shelter one night. Since he was so different, she decided to let him reveal his character by asking him how he felt about his situation and how he wanted to be treated. Michael slowly started coming out of his shell under Leigh Anne's relentless questioning.

S J was the first family member to bond with Michael. That was enough to encourage Leigh Anne to make the effort for the rest of the family. Once Leigh Anne had accepted Michael, no force on Earth was going to prevent her success in turning his life around. Michael really would have been destroyed by his awful situation if not for the intervention of Leigh Anne!

I have not felt so uplifted by a film in ages. There really are some very wonderful people in this world. Once in a while the forces of darkness are cheated of a victim. I know, I know, the film glosses over or ignores a great deal to fit its time frame. Still, the effort is superb and well worth watching again and again.

I purchased the DVD to see more Michelle Pfeiffer. Well, she carries the film on her lovely shoulders. Even with her hair in a rumpled mess, she is stunningly beautiful at 49.

Rosie (Michelle Pfeiffer) is a television writer/producer struggling valiantly to remain hip and relevant in a teen culture that has long passed her by. She reads all the teen magazines and annoys her daughter with her attempts to decode the evolving teen speech patterns to remain employable in a youth-obsessed television industry.

I enjoyed watching Rosie attempting to smooth the path for daughter Izzie just starting to deal with the complexities of puberty and dating. Rosie's ex-husband adds to her difficulties by acting less mature than his barely teen-aged daughter.

Paul Rudd was effective as the younger man (Adam) who falls for the beautiful older woman. He apparently was not simply the young stud looking to advance his career by romancing his lonely boss. This being Hollywood, the assumption about the insincerity of his motives is widespread. Adam is perceived as attractive by many of the young women his age, especially after his growing career success. Adam finds no attraction for these young women and remains devoted to Rosie.

I found the closing musical number quite offensive. The Hollywood animus to George Bush (president at the time of filming) was over the top. Supposedly, Bush would stab his mother for a gallon of gas. Well, I have never seen any account of Bush where he actually demonstrated anything less than devotion to his mother.

Oh well, despite this attitude I found this a better effort than many others out there.

This film seemed to me a decent effort. Bridget Fonda did well as the resentful sister not aware that she had many fine qualities of her own. The plot suffered from the necessity to cram all the characters and plot lines into 53 minutes. So much of the story line just fell away without resolution.

Something bothered me about the Mr. Rice music teacher character. I knew he was familiar from somewhere. Then it hit me, this was Lonny Price, the smarmy grandson Neil from Dirty Dancing.

The musical score will never win any awards. The cheesy lightning special effects during the storm illustrated how low the budget for this effort really was. Still, I have watched much less entertaining fare with higher budgets.

All in all, this is a film well worth watching.

I never watched the program while it aired. I just happened to buy the first season on DVD while looking for something desirable to watch. I was hooked before the end of the first episode. I watched the whole season in one glorious marathon. I suppose that I fall far outside the parameters of a typical viewer of a WB program. The other shows out there are pitiful in comparison.

Well, I have watched all the seasons now. The seventh season was markedly inferior to the previous ones, but still head and shoulders above everything else. Lauren Graham is just overwhelming in her role as Lorelai Gilmore. She brings such life to her character that you feel like you have known Lorelai for years.

Alexis Bledel is great as Rory Gilmore. She loves her Mother greatly, but has to sometimes fight to maintain some of her personal space. She is coping gamely with growing up without a Father, but several episodes show how deep her longing for a real Father really is. I kept hoping that Rory's Father Christopher would finish growing up and act like a real man. Christopher did mature somewhat in the run of the program, but still fell short of success.

The Lorelai character also was less than mature in many ways. She seemed unable to overcome her fear of commitment and establish a solid relationship with any man. The series ended with a hesitant repair of Lorelai's relationship with Luke. I suppose life is like that so many times. The neat wrapping up of all the plot lines only happens in fictional accounts.

Some things kept bugging me along with the good points. We are bombarded with the producer's political views on abortion in every episode showing Rory's college dorm room. The 'Stop The War On Choice' poster on the wall was especially ironic. Mother Lorelai was an unmarried teenager who could have had easy access to an abortion, but chose to carry Rory to term. Did Rory really believe it would have been a good thing for her life to end before it had a chance to begin? How many Rorys faced this gruesome fate?

There were several continuity problems on the series that are glaring for someone who has watched these episodes several times. The 'Kirk' character was named 'Mick' in his first appearance on the program. 'Kirk' seems unfamiliar with 'Miss Patty' in their first encounter, but later he he has been her student in his childhood years. Lorelai's Grandmother was deceased in her first mention on the series only to be shown very much alive a few episodes later. Lane Kim has both parents early in the series. We never see her father and in later episodes, he is never even mentioned.

Oh well, I suppose that I am reverting to my 'Trekkie' period when every episode is examined to death. I was sad to see the last episode, but the series had reached the point where it had to end. I hope this program will inspire some the networks to produce some comparable programming.

I had to look around the internet to find a VHS tape of this movie. I don't believe this film has ever been issued on DVD. Mostly, I wanted to see more of CMS in this obscure film. Well, she has the looks and sings fairly well here, but the rest of this movie is just a mess.

CMS is fairly successful portraying a rock singer/keyboardist on stage. She sang her own material and seemed to actually play a keyboard as far as my limited musical knowledge could determine. CMS has never been noted for her musical talents, but she didn't fall on her face either.

A minor point that bugged me was who is the woman on the cover of the film? She doesn't look at all like CMS to my eye.

The Dana D'Angelo character (CMS) has to be really dense not to notice what a sleaze bag her lover 'Miles Dresden' really is. She relies on his help to gain recognition as a singer/songwriter until she is forced to accept the fact that she will never succeed as long as she remains in his ensemble.

Once the break is made, it turns out that Dana has other contacts in the music business that will work with her to advance her career. Why she did not take this route from the beginning of their film is never made clear.

The rest of the film is occupied with two subplots; one involving Dana's brother and the other her roommate that never really integrate with the main plot.

In summary, this film is obscure for good reason. Really only die-hard fans of CMS will find much value here.

This film was low budget and it showed. If you look at the top of the screen, the boom mike is clearly evident in at least two scenes. The plot was rather far fetched too. You can tell the production didn't take itself too seriously, there is a movie poster for 'Flashdance" clearly evident in an early scene of the film.

What saved this film from total failure was the huge effort by the star Cynthia Dale. She just about killed herself in her exercise scenes. You could see what terrific physical condition she was in and that she was no stranger to dance training. The fact that she is stunningly good looking didn't hurt either.

The climax of the film, the exercise marathon, really came alive with the absolutely compelling effort Cynthia put forth. I know it was only a performance, but the level of her exertion is still clearly enormous.

I could only find this film on VHS, but it is worth the effort to catch this great performance in an obscure film.

I have watched this movie three times and still don't get the opening scene. Patti (Selma Blair) is wandering about the beach front property of Brian (Patrick Wilson). The only problem is that she has been out of touch with Brian for about 12 years and has never been to this house until somewhat later in the film. Am I missing something here?

The film itself is mildly interesting for its character study of four thirty somethings coming reluctantly to embrace adulthood. The main character Patti is hiding from life. She is a literary woman who has married a decidedly non-literary oaf who wears rings on his thumbs. Her husband never does anything to remind her of her love of letters. Her hibernation ends when she accidentally encounters her lost love in a restaurant.

The musical choices were strange in this film. I wanted to choke whoever inflicted their dreary selections on the audience. I suppose this is where some of the limited film budget was conserved.

Well, the former college lovers all reunite and since they are more mature and even sober; the relationships may last. I could at least stand to watch this film entirely. One of Edward Burn's other films 'The Groomsmen' was so awful I couldn't stand more than 20 minutes.

I have watched this movie three times. The last time, I kept skipping around confusing scenes to find resolution for the plot. Perhaps the plot is not intended to hang together logically. Or perhaps these rough spots are in the plot because Ann's recall of distant events is rather faulty.

Take the young Ann Grant (Claire Danes). Here is a young woman who has attended an unnamed college with the scions of a rich family. She must have had help to afford this very expensive education, but never seems to have any family ties at all. She never seems to have any relatives she can turn to when the consequences of one of her disastrous decisions take effect.

Ann shares an evening of passion with her great love Harris Arden (Patrick Wilson). Then, when Harris comforts Lila after the tragic death of her brother Buddy, Ann suddenly finds him repulsive and is disgusted with her own behavior. I must have missed something significant here. Ann's behavior seems totally inexplicable. Ann abandons her relationship with Harris and eventually marries one of the groomsmen at Lila's wedding. Despite Ann's rejection of Harris, she continues to hold deep feelings for him on her deathbed.

It was obvious from his behavior that Harris was deeply smitten with Ann and would have gladly married her. A scene showing their chance meeting years after Lila's wedding showed that Harris still had deep feelings for Ann.

The film showed a pattern for Ann's romantic relationships. She always had a falling out with her men and she rejected them. This pattern held with Harris and two husbands. In contrast, Lila married a man she did not love and she remained with her husband until he died. Perhaps Lila was able to build a relationship because she refused to let her marriage fail.

Then came the too convenient reappearance of Lila Ross at Ann's bedside. Apparently Ann's nurse was able to extract enough information from Ann's last few lucid moments to identify and contact Lila. None of this communication appeared on the film.

I kept wondering about the house Ann was living in during her final days. How did she afford to buy such a house on the meager earnings of her singing career? Ann always seemed one step ahead of financial disaster while raising her two daughters.

On another level, I enjoyed the film's setting and music immensely. The seaside mansion was just so heartbreakingly beautiful. Claire Danes was luminous as the young Ann Grant. She is really quite a talented singer. I much prefer her natural brunette to the bottle blonde look she had in the film extras. If only those pesky CGI fireflies would go away, I could raise the movie a whole point in my vote!

I loved this film! It captures perfectly the daily struggle of single parents coping imperfectly with the demands of raising their children. The background of a rainy springtime New York fit the mood perfectly.

Melanie Parker (Michelle Pfeiffer) opens the film dejectedly sitting at her desk writing checks to pay the many pressing bills. Her ex-husband is far more involved in his own pursuits than concern for his son. I suspect that Melanie is getting little financial support from a musician who works only intermittently. The blues really hit home when you get to the late hours and the distractions of earning a living are on temporary hold. It gets really hard not to dump on the absent spouse to preserve a child's relationship to the missing parent.

Jack Taylor (George Clooney) lives in a wreck of an apartment that he has no ambition to repair. He has custody of his daughter every other weekend and he is able to get back at his ex-wife by forcing her to leave her daughter in a environment that totally offends her sense of order without being so ramshackle that she can get the courts to intervene. Lots of childish bickering between the parents accompany every custody weekend. Total realism in that scene where the daughter Maggie (Mae Whitman) is dropped off.

Melanie is a woman who has been forced to become much more forceful than her nature would prefer. She has enrolled her son Sammy (Alex D. Linz) in a prestigious private school rather than the far inferior public school. That schooling demands the income of a professional woman. She must function in a competitive professional environment. She cannot afford to allow sentiment to hinder her career if she is to provide for her son. But her career is balanced on a knife edge. When Sammy and Maggie miss their school's field trip, due to Jack's cavalier attitude toward the school schedule, the children wind up complicating their parent's already hectic schedule.

Jack Taylor definitely has some childlike qualities that both intrigue and annoy Melanie. These traits are what doomed her marriage and she cannot afford to fall for the same irresponsible type of man. She takes a while to realize that when the chips are down, Jack can bring considerable resources to bear on a problem. Jack adores his daughter but is ill equipped to provide a suitable home environment for a girl. Deep down, he realizes he desperately needs a good wife. This awareness makes Jack resist the allure of his coworker Celia, who would enjoy getting much closer to him.

It was touching to watch the two children start to bond during their enforced togetherness at the day care center. Sammy starts to look after the welfare of Maggie when it would be easy to just consider himself. Melanie starts to apply her maternal care to Maggie as well as to her son. Jack starts to take an interest in Sammy, a boy who is desperate to have a father in his life. The bond between the parents grows in large measure from their growing attachment to each other's children.

The unruly behavior of the two children was very realistic. Children in broken homes often develop such problems. A divorce impacts every aspect of a child's development.

The film compresses the development of the romance into a single day. That is somewhat forced and unrealistic. Otherwise, this film is spot on and a joy to watch.

Katherine Heigl seems to have fallen into a rut. Both in '27 Dresses' and 'Knocked Up' her character indulges in too much alcohol and winds up having sex with someone she would otherwise never consider suitable for such intimacy.

As a veteran of this kind of films, I instantly realized that Heigl (Jane) would wind up falling for James Marsden (Kevin) who appears about 10 minutes into the run time. Well, the ride was mostly fun as Heigl was able to gain the audience sympathy as a woman of strong character and weak assertiveness. Marsden played a character who has lost at love and is determined not to allow himself to be hurt that way again.

The film shows Jane starting to face the true character of herself and her sister and breaking out of the emotional rut that has trapped her into a hopeless infatuation with a man who will never see her with a romantic interest.

We see Jane indulging in some very uncharacteristic spiteful behavior, a release of 20 years of resentment toward her younger sister. Kevin eventually realizes that Jane is a tremendous woman and he would most fortunate if she would see him as marriage material.

Judy Greer is marvelous as best friend Casey. She seems to lack any discretion about her remarks, but has a laser insight into the character of both Jane and her younger sister Tess. Judy stole every scene she was in and was one of the high points of the film.

In summary, the film never drags beyond a few stray places. Katherine Heigl is always delightful to watch and helps maintain interest. I will enjoy watching this film many more times.

I vaguely remembered seeing this film somewhere years ago. I had really remembered Kathleen Beller's gratuitous nude scene, included when such scenes were quite rare in a major theatrical release. When I found the DVD in the remainder bin, I grabbed the last copy left in the pile.

I can't say that I enjoyed the plot, given that the plot was very thin underfoot. Other comments have noted the parallels to some of the trashy night time TV soap operas of that period. Really, this film could have been a pilot episode for a big-budget TV soap opera. If only they hadn't prematurely rolled up a lot of the potential plot themes.

No, this was a nostalgia trip back to the excesses of the '70s. I got to see all those non-stellar styling exercises Detroit was foisting off on the American public, in the face of their increasing buying resistance. Here indeed was an early stage in the downfall of Detroit.

Then we had that ridiculously disguised Mercedes limousine wearing an outlandish grille to conceal its origin. I don't think a New Orleans pimp would feel comfortable driving such a monstrosity.

The real high point was the ridiculously hammy performance of Lawrence Olivier. He really got to let loose in a role that set no limit on how outlandish and trashy his portrayal would get. What unknown director would have the nerve to tell Sir Larry he was chewing too much on the scenery? That scene showing Olivier on top of the maid was a real hoot, a high point in a stellar career! On further viewing of this film, it became apparent to me that a stand-in for Olivier actually was filming this scene.

Then there was a brash young Texan Tommy Lee Jones trying to pass himself off as a third-generation Italian-American. Tommy, somehow I can't see you growing up Italian.

Then there was a much thinner Edward Herrman. He is now best known for flogging Dodge trucks and cars and voice overs on public TV nature programs. Oh well, a guy has to make a living.

I believe the film did tone down some of the original plot in the novel. As I recall Loren Hardeman not only had an incestuous relationship with his daughter-in-law, but fathered her child. So he was not the boy's grandfather, but actually his father.

Well, I am glad I have the DVD in the collection. It is a great antidote for pretentious films that take themselves too seriously. It made me want to look up Kathleen Beller on the IMDb and maybe catch some of her other efforts.

I know, I know, this plot is just a rehash of a lot of other film plots. But they didn't have Jennifer Garner in the leading role. Everything is suddenly vibrant and new with her performance, as indicated in other comments, I can't imagine any other actress succeeding in this role.

Jenna has suddenly morphed from a 13 year old girl to a 30 year old woman. She is clumsy and awkward adjusting to her new body. She is still a mental child striving to function as an adult in a demanding position. She is still more put off as she steadily discovers what a horrible human being she has become. Jennifer Garner perfectly captures the anguish and distaste of the inner child encountering her own perverse adult self.

The supporting cast was great as well. Mark Ruffalo just nailed the part of Matt. Jenna has treated Matt horribly in Junior High School. She threw his love back in his face to gain acceptance with the in crowd six chick girl gang. Now, when Jenna looks up Matt 17 years later he is still smarting from his wounds. Matt is too decent a man to lash out at Jenna, but the revelations of what Jenna did are even more painful as he reluctantly reveals what happened.

Judy Greer was perfect as the snarky Lucy Wyman (Tom Tom) who was always out for herself, whatever the cost to others. Jenna hangs out with Tom Tom because these two bad eggs have no other friends. Lucy has always resented Jenna for displacing her as the dominant member of the six chick girl gang and will not hesitate to turn on Jenna when it will advance her prospects.

It was great to watch Jenna approach life with such enjoyment of the most simple things as a walk in the park or a rainy day. Jenna was going to overcome her past and become the better person she so wanted to be. It was great to see Jenna bonding with real 13 year old girls and helping them to see that they too could have a bright future if they held on to their ideals.

Well, Jenna gets to do it all over. She reverts to being a 13 year old girl. She spurns the six chicks and builds her relationship with Matt. Life is great as she grows up and marries her true love.

I purchased this DVD because it had Leslie Hope in the cast. She always brightens up an otherwise lackluster film. Well, it happens here too. I thought the film held together until about the halfway point. Then the whole effort collapsed.

Architect Paul Stewart (James McCaffrey) has lost his beloved wife in an automobile accident. He has just received a substantial check from the wife's life insurance policy. His close friend and coworker Evelyn Hayes (Polly Draper) has been a comforting presence at work and socially. When Laura Pierce (Leslie Hope) rings Paul's doorbell and claims to be an acquaintance of his dead wife, sparks start to fly.

Evelyn invites Paul and his new lady friend to visit her and her boyfriend Arthur Martin (John DeLancie) on the boat where they both live. Evelyn is very protective of Paul and starts to suspect that there is something very phony about Laura Pierce. Evelyn gets into Laura's purse and finds out her real name is Laura Steele. Evelyn does some background checking into Laura and confronts her with the discrepancies in Laura's claimed identity.

It turns out that Laura is working a con on Paul under the direction of Victor Kraft (John Glover). Apparently, the goal is to separate Paul from his insurance check. Paul has fallen hard for Laura and is outraged when Evelyn presents him with evidence that Laura has been stringing him along. Paul breaks off his relationship with Laura and Evelyn takes the opportunity to dump her old lover Arthur and move in with emotionally devastated Paul.

Into this straightforward story, the plot suddenly takes a twist (surprise, surprise). It turns out that Evelyn and Victor have been working together to stage a fatal automobile accident for Paul's wife. Evelyn wants to hook up romantically with Paul and help spend the life insurance check. Given this scenario, why is Evelyn unaware of Laura's relationship with Victor?

The life insurance company is suspiciously weak in paying out a huge settlement with no apparent attempt to determine if Paul's wife was really murdered. A staged crash will unavoidably leave clues to its real nature under a detailed examination. The workers at the two wrecking yards where the two cars involved in Paul's wife's death reside could reap a rich reward from the insurance company if they reveal that the crash was deliberate and thus freeing the company from liability.

Well, true love triumphs again here. Evelyn shoots Victor and collapses in tears when Paul learns the truth about her involvement in his wife's death. Laura and Paul reconcile and live happy lives spending the insurance money.

This truly horrid film is loaded with entertainment value! I have watched it several times and always find new and inventive aspects to offend and amaze me. Obviously the screenplay liberally steals themes from countless bad films and mixes them with themes from scripture. Who else would consider having surgeons break into a dance number in the middle of an operation?

I enjoyed the musical efforts from Catherine Mary Stewart. I was all set to praise her singing talent until I read some external reviews that reveal she merely lip synced her songs. Why am I surprised at that? She does have a fabulous figure here. Those legs are to die for!

The scene where Bibi is tempted to sign the contract with Mr. Boogaloo to enjoy the results of show business success made me consider that Catherine Mary Stewart took a bite of the apple in real life to appear in this movie. I doubt that she wishes anyone to remember this film she made in the early stages of her career.

I was impressed by the linguistic abilities of Vladek Sheybal. He was obviously fluent in at least four languages. He had a sly expression of delight as he portrayed his over-the-top character, Mr. Boogaloo. I remembered him portraying the heavy in 'Shogun' and 'Red Dawn'. I had no idea he was capable of so much more.

I am glad I recently came across this gem from the dark days of Disco. It was truly worth the price of the DVD to see such an appalling piece of crap that nevertheless makes you want to enjoy the guilty pleasure again and again.

Poor neurotic Diana, product of a broken home, is further mangled by the insensitive and abusive husband and in-laws. Prince Charles fares especially poorly in this account of the breakdown of the fairy tale romance. Poor Diana seeks solace in the arms of Major James Hewitt who was assigned to duty in the royal household.

We get glimpses of Queen Elizabeth as she glares at Prince Charles' horrible choice of wife. Prince Philip is somehow never around in this film.

Hewitt seems to be the only functional adult among all the major characters. He is able to bring a bit of sanity and common sense into the life of Diana that she comes to depend on when all else seems to be falling apart. One gets the sense that Diana was too fragile and insecure to survive her life as future Queen of England. She would have been perfectly happy had she married someone as substantial as Hewitt.

Of course, this screenplay is adapted from the book by James Hewitt and naturally tends to portray him in a favorable light. Even so, Hewitt eventually sells out Diana to make ends meet after he is dismissed from the British Army when his relationship with Diana becomes known.

The film ends before Diana gets her divorce and spirals down into her sordid romance and tragic death. I suppose time constraints for this television production had much to do with that situation.

Julie Cox does an appealing performance here, you never notice that she looks nothing like the real Diana. All in all, a reasonably good choice in a romantic tragedy.

The DVD sat in the Wal-Mart remainder bin, so why not give it a shot? I didn't care for Julia Stiles in other efforts, but was willing to try again.

Actually, the film did a good job for the most part. The Paige character was sympathetic and believable. Here was an ambitious Minnesota farm girl willing to do whatever required to transcend her humble beginnings and become the first professional in her family. She was no doubt hugely in debt for the student loans needed to attend college. The plot shows Paige getting an acceptance letter from Johns Hopkins Medical School. This was hard to swallow since the film shows Paige losing her laser focus on her studies due to her growing romance with Prince 'Eddie'. This was bound to reduce her performance during finals week. Paige is shown stumbling around helplessly in her English Literature thesis defense, more focused on Eddie than Othello.

The opening scenes in Denmark with Prince Eddie were strange. Does no one in Denmark speak Danish? It was glaring that Luke Mably made no attempt to speak a little Danish in his brief scenes at the outdoor café and car race. I suppose no attempt to cast a Danish actor in the Prince Eddie role was even attempted.

There were some good scenes showing Prince Eddie maturing as he learns to survive on his own as the monetary support from home is cut off. The scene of the lawn mower race was very good. Eddie is thrown into competition on his own merits and is pleased to find that he is well able to stand as his own man. Eddie returns to Denmark much more mature and aware of life's realities.

I watched the concluding scenes of the film relishing the courage of director Martha Coolidge to end the film in a realistic manner. Paige has realized that she is fundamentally unsuited to be a Queen. She bravely and wisely calls off her engagement to Prince Eddie and returns to her original career path. Then Coolidge loses her nerve. An obviously tacked-on reversal has Eddie appear at Paige's Master's Degree graduation ceremony to announce that whatever delay is required, he will wait for her to complete Medical School and bend royal protocol to allow her to function as a Physician. The romance ends on a high note after all.

Well, I see that the Hollywood formula was too strong; it overcome artistic integrity. This weak-kneed collapse almost ruined whatever merit the film had gained.

I have watched this film several times, it never fails to creep me out. The film explores the lives of two pubescent girls who have never experienced a normal life. As the father of two grown daughters, I squirm at the film's brief glimpses into their demented home life. If the parents had not been killed in a car crash, their children may well have turned on them.

For reasons left unexplained, the two girls determine to leave their unidentified home state for Kentucky; after surviving a car crash that kills their parents.

The two girls are fraternal twins, and could hardly be more different. Rosie is the more aggressive and intelligent of the twins. She is filled with rage at her dead father and that rage is going to find an outlet when some man offends her. Violet is the more passive and naive of the two girls. She is more advanced into puberty than her sister and is really vulnerable to the first man who will treat her better than her abusive father.

When the two girls stow away in the back of a pickup truck, they land in the home of an itinerant grounds keeper on an Army Post. The film was probably using an abandoned Army Post for these location shots. No operational Army Post would become so decrepit if the commanding officer hoped to have a successful career. The supposedly authentic military vehicles were really a hoot to see. I doubt that many of them would even run.

The film soldiers on this Post are really homo erotic in their behavior. I suppose this tendency would pass muster in Hollywood, but never in the real Army. There is only one officer on this post and only one mid-level NCO. The budget limitations on this film really showed in the lack of anything resembling a real command structure.

The two girls set up what passes for housekeeping in their limited experience. They sleep in their undies on sofa cushions on the living room floor of the shack that serves as living quarters for the grounds keeper. It took no mental giant to see that eventually the grounds keeper would wind up sleeping with one or both of these vulnerable young girls.

The two girls start to drift apart when their environment is no longer as hostile as their horrible home life. Violet starts to make friends with the grounds keeper she works with daily. He is obviously responding emotionally to her feminine charms and that is very appealing to her developing sexuality. Rosie is enraged with both the grounds keeper and her sister as the formerly united front breaks down.

The plot has the two girls attending a dance as supposed dates for the grounds keeper. They somehow came up with dresses that could pass muster for this event despite having been out on the road without anything more than the clothes on their backs. Obviously, some shopping never shown in the film would have been necessary to outfit the twins.

Well, the film ends as Rosie maneuvers the grounds keeper into a vulnerable situation where she can murder him. Violet reacts by breaking the last bond with her sister and skipping out with the money stolen from the dead grounds keeper. My skin crawled as the abandoned Rosie hums a little tune as she plays Russian Roulette with the revolver she used to kill the grounds keeper.

I suppose that I wanted to see the twins recover from their damaged childhood and live worthwhile lives. The eventual fate of Violet is left a blank. Rosie most likely commits suicide. Sadly, that happens in real life. This film really got to me despite its production flaws and limited budget. I really was yelling for Rosie to put down the gun as the film credits started rolling. This film would not be a wise choice for young children for obvious reasons.

I really liked Alicia Witt in 'Two Weeks Notice' and decided to get some of her other efforts. This film certainly didn't fall into the enjoyable category.

It may well not be P.C., but I can hardly imagine a less convincing Jewish girl than Alicia Witt. She is obviously from a far different section of the gene pool. It was ridiculous to cast Elliot Gould and Marlo Thomas as her parents.

The plot has 'Claire Goldstein' (Witt) winning a piano competition, but hiding her success from all her competitors when the results are announced. This is so odd as to dampen my acceptance of all the bizarre characters, situations, and behavior encountered later in the film.

When the plot makes 'Claire' a wallflower at a dance, I almost shut off the film in disgust. A beauty like her would have hardly faced rejection from the amorous guys on the dance floor.

I enjoyed the tiny portion of the film that allowed Alicia to actually play the piano. She is obviously a very accomplished pianist. I got the impression that the screenplay was written for another actress and Alicia had to step in when the first choice wasn't cast for the part.

Perhaps I was just vainly hoping for the film plot to take another direction and allow 'Claire' to shine instead being a helpless bystander in her own life.

Otherwise, this film is full of formula characters and situations. Some efforts rise above their limited budgets. This one just plods along.

I purchased this DVD because it featured Greg Kinnear in what appeared to be an attractive role. Well, it quickly hit a rough patch when I started to watch. This film has what is arguably the lamest and weakest theme song ever. It equals the efforts of a first-year college film student on his big project.

Greg Kinnear did a good job portraying the look and mannerisms of Bob Crane. I could see that Greg spent a lot of time reviewing 'Hogan's Heros' episodes to get this aspect of his character down. He darkened his hair and successfully copied a lot of the familiar Bob Crane facial expressions. His efforts to be a convincing drummer were much weaker. Greg obviously has not the slightest musical ability.

The plot of the film followed Bob Crane's plunge to the bottom from his career peak when he was cast for the lead in 'Hogan's Heros'. It became clear that Bob Crane could not handle all that success. He did tolerably well as a moderately-successful DJ and bit-part actor. He had never been the ladies' man of his fantasies and was resigned to being the devoted husband and father. He only occasionally lapsed from rectitude with his stash of porn magazines.

Bob Crane's mismanagement of the tremendous wealth he earned from his salary for the lead role on a hit TV series was astounding. This man need never have worked another day in his life. Instead he was nearly broke when his TV show went out of production.

The dynamics of the 'Hogan's Heros' cast relationships were somewhat interesting. I don't know how accurately the film portrayed the rancor between Bob Crane and Richard Dawson. It seemed to ring true, since we saw how big an ass Richard could be when he hosted 'Family Feud'.

The mutually-destructive relationship between Bob Crane and John Carpenter was so creepy as to make my skin crawl. Carpenter was obviously a closet homosexual getting his gratification filming the sexploits of Crane with a horrid fixation on filming Crane's genitals in action. Crane had to be remarkably dense not to pick up on this motivation of Carpenter.

It was so depressing to see how many women were willing to degrade themselves with this toxic duo in order to associate briefly with a minor celebrity. Crane married two women who really loved him. Unfortunately, he was so depraved that he could never be faithful as long as so many other women were available.

The movie strongly hinted that John Carpenter murdered Bob Crane. When Crane broke off his relationship with Carpenter, it was like a lover's rejection to Carpenter. He was cut off from his vicarious access to his sexual fixation and the access to women that the pitiful dregs of Crane's fame still afforded.

It cannot have been pleasant for Bob Crane's former wives and children for all this dirty laundry to be aired in this film. Perhaps some moral lessons from this film will benefit others with the inclination to follow in Bob Crane's footsteps.

Overall, this film was more a moral lesson than entertainment. It wasn't much fun to watch, it was perhaps too realistic for my comfort. I hope Greg Kinnear chooses some more appealing scripts in future.

I have been looking to find this film, which is out of production, for some time. I finally found it issued under the title 'Stroke of Midnight'. I thought that the film poster featured a rather exquisite leg that attracted Rob Lowe to fit the magic slipper. I somehow doubt that the leg on the poster belongs to Jennifer Grey.

Well, I must say that this film features a rather portly Jennifer Grey. She has obviously gained several pounds and had a nose job since her 'Dirty Dancing' triumph. It takes a lot of confidence to send Jennifer out as a fashion model. She has some good attributes, but not as a glamor queen. I found her 'Prudence' character bizarre but not stunningly beautiful.

Rob Lowe is over the top here in mannerisms and dress. He is just shy of being gay in his performance. That outrageous jacket he wears at the party is just about covered in gold threads and tassels. I break up in giggles whenever I watch that scene. I bet every hotel doorman longs to wear such a jacket.

Anyway, this is a lighthearted bit of fantasy fluff and mostly succeeds on that level. As another comment has noted, this film came at a low point in both these star's careers. It payed the bills and tided the stars over a rough spot, until they could land better projects.

At least that was true for Rob Lowe. Jennifer Grey never really recovered from her slump. She has mostly done bit parts and TV movies ever since her nose job. I did see the two stars together again in the TV movie 'Outrage'. That drama was hardly any quality improvement over this effort.

Well, Jennifer did her best with the thin plot and managed to provide some interesting scenes. Her collisions with the ugly stepsisters were a hoot. It was good to see her character finally make some headway with her boss, the self-absorbed fool Salvitore. This film would make a perfectly acceptable date film to get her into a romantic mood.

I got this DVD after seeing Meg Tilly in 'Masquerade' and wanting to see some of her other efforts. I must say Meg looked very graceful in her opening ballet scene. Meg's IMDb biography mentioned that she started out as a ballet dancer. Her dance training really shone through in this scene.

The film starts out with a mild earthquake in a small rural town. Since the film opened with this incident, I knew that it would figure prominently in the plot. Soon afterward, the town residents start to loose control of their impulses.

The film slowly declined as the plot unfolded. The premise seemed sound enough, but nothing ever really gelled in the film. Bill Paxton was plain weird as Meg's sexually deviant brother. His stash of provocative pictures of his sister really creeped me out, more than the violence in the film.

I never really understood how the vault of toxic chemicals even happened to exist. The remote rural location seemed far from ideal for a chemical weapons production or storage location. If the stored substance was so dangerous, it would eventually escape due to deterioration of its abandoned storage vault, never mind an earthquake. Even the densest bureaucrat would realize the holocaust a leak would produce and have the site cleaned up before the facility was closed. The vault was ideally placed to contaminate the local water table. For all these reasons, the plot failed to maintain credibility.

It was kind of eerie to watch all the old cars and travel back to a pre-internet world. It is sobering to realize how much the world has changed in the last 25 years. For this reason alone, I will return to this film someday.

I enjoyed this film in spots. Keanu and Sandra are both very likable and lonely characters that have never been really content with their innermost lives. This being a romantic movie, it is a safe bet that the two main characters will get together before the closing credits. It is just that such glaring holes in the plot keep poking me in the eye and breaking the story flow.

I don't even mess much with the mail box, except to wonder if the postman ever appears and noticing the raised red flag picks up the mail intended for Alex or Kate? Does Alex even get any regular mail from that box? Did Kate experience anything spooky about the mailbox not related to Alex?

Next, consider Jack the dog. How does Jack know when and where to appear and disappear? She (Jack) shows up out of nowhere and Alex (Keanu Reeves) kindly adopts her instead of calling the pound; which would have put quite a crimp in the plot. Later, Jack runs off from Alex and somehow knows to appear at Morgan's law office, just after Alex has turned over the keys to the Lake House to Morgan.

Then there is the lake house itself. Supposedly there is an attic room there to hold the mysterious box. Looking at the house from the outside, there is nowhere in that roof where there is space enough for an attic. Later, Alex complains to brother Henry that there is no way to have contact with the lake from the house. Well, there is a landing platform under the house with a ladder leading down from the main floor. That platform is clearly visible in several external shots of the house. Finally, Alex clearly mentions that he has purchased the Lake house. He then turns over the keys to the house to Morgan. Does this mean that he has given away the property to Morgan and Kate? Or do the two lovebirds live in the lake house rent free? Or maybe Kate is mailing rent checks to Alex?

Then there is Kate's luxury apartment building. Kate misses the lake house trees and Alex travels to the construction site to plant a tree that suddenly sprouts in a formerly bare courtyard in the future where Kate is living. The painted image on the construction wall showing the future apartment building's appearance clearly shows several trees in the courtyard. Alex's tree was planted well before construction was finished and landscaping begun. His tree would have not survived a week of being in the way and an architect would know this. Kate finds her missing book under a loose floorboard in her apartment. To get that book there, Alex would have to get into the building under construction and cut out the floorboard in the proper apartment to deposit her book. Then, Alex would have to hope that Kate would happen to find the book. Better to just place it in the mailbox.

Then there is the obvious concept of placing photographs of each other in the mailbox to allow the correspondents to know what the other looked like. Somehow, that never occurred to the separated lovers.

Finally, Kate treated Morgan horribly. She never really loved him and broke off their relationship. Then, she renews their relationship only to dump Morgan again without a second thought. Kate was really cruel to a man who probably loved her as much as Alex loved her. What fate would Alex face if Kate met someone else she liked better?

On a subsequent viewing of this film, it dawned on me that the closing scenes were totally illogical. In the Alex time line, he has moved out of the Lake House and turned over the keys to Morgan. Yet he can race back to the house Kate has moved out of and access the box that lay undisturbed in the attic to confirm that Kate will be at Daly Plaza on that day. Kate knows about the box and presumably would have opened the box and read the letters she wrote to Alex from the future. Then the whole delay in getting together would be shortened to days.

Well, the two lovebirds got together at the end. They really don't know each other that well. Will reality be far less enchanting than their dreams? I don't expect a sequel to fill us in.