Change Your Image
jm81378
Reviews
Love Lessons (2000)
Patty Duke is the only reason to watch
I watched this because I knew it was based on a novel I liked, "Just Like a Woman" by British actress Jill Gascoine (wife of Alfred Molina, who's better known to Americans than Jill is). Let me tell you, it is *loosely* based on the book and I cannot stress enough the word loosely.
The book takes place in the '70s in Idaho. The movie is set somewhere near the ocean, although I'm not clear where, in the present. The characters' names have all been changed. The main character, played by Duke, is American instead of British. They have completely removed a pivotal mother-in-law character. The couple has 3 adult children in the book, in this movie there is only 1 son, plus a young grandson not in the book. She gives birth to a baby girl at the very end of the book, but in the movie the baby (also a girl) arrives less than halfway through.
In the book, the woman winds up leaving her husband,who never really loved her, to be with her sensitive son-in-law. In the movie --->here comes a big spoiler<--- she gets back together with her husband after a brief separation because they love each other so much. The fact that that Duke's character Sunny's, husband's best friend has been in love with her for years is alluded to when he makes an overture toward her while she and husband Mick are separated. It comes out of nowhere and is dropped as soon as she rebuffs him.
Duke is doing the best she can here, but this story is too full of holes. We are supposed to understand that Mick is mad at Sunny because she's always given in and done things his way (also a theme in Gascoine's novel) and now she is insisting on having the baby against his wishes. However, there is no way you would pick up on this important aspect of the story if they weren't telling you straight out. You do, at least, get the sense that Sunny, in addition to running her own business, has been pulling more than her share of the weight in the marriage.
They discuss having undergone fertility treatments for 10 years, wanting another child. But, when Sunny gets pregnant accidentally at 50, she sees it as a blessing. Mick sees it as a burden. Eventually, he goes along with it, but rather halfheartedly. He goes with her when she has an ultrasound and tells her he'd forgotten how beautiful she was when she was pregnant. In the meantime, he's clearly less than enthusiastic and expresses his uncertainty about the situation. He's in the OR when she has a c-section, but doesn't come back to the hospital to visit until late the next day. Once they bring the baby home, Mick does everything to avoid being at home and refuses to keep her on his own when Sunny has to work. None of this is done very convincingly, due to the poor writing.
Supposedly they are so wonderfully happy that they are looking forward to retiring and buying a boat to sail around the world (definitely NOT in the book). But, there is really no chemistry between the two and you find yourself surprised that she could bear the idea of being alone on a boat with him for months on end. They seem like they would rather spend less time together instead of more.
The subplot with Sunny's business partner's marital problems is unnecessary. The time spent on that should have been used to explore Sunny and Mick's marriage a little more. The other subplot of Mick wanting to sell his business and their son wanting to buy it, in spite of years of tension between father and son, is pretty well done.
The baby (or babies) is beautiful and lights up any scene she's in. Donna Hanover is a nice addition as a new "older mom" friend Sunny meets in the park. If you like Patty Duke, watch it. She gives as good a performance as you could expect. Otherwise, don't waste your time. If you've read the book, don't expect this film to resemble it at all.
And Baby Makes Six (1979)
Old style TV flick
This is a very good TV-movie by late 70s/early 80s standards and a popular one. It came along before fertility treatments became commonplace and when pregnancies in middle aged women were usually "accidents." We are told through dialogue that Michael and Anna Kramer are a great couple who fell madly in love (bells went off and all that) and still aren't averse to a quickie before he leaves for work in the morning. However, the way Michael speaks to and interacts with Anna throughout the movie doesn't really convince you of that. He is very abrasive and rarely seems to be able to speak at anything other than top volume. He's like a totally different person in the sequel, much more likable.
Colleen Dewhurst is good in this role, as always. She manages to make Anna strong, vulnerable, smart, self absorbed, flaky, sensitive, stubborn, devoted and witty all at the same time. Anna finds out she is pregnant and you know immediately that, even though she is stunned, she wants to have it. After all, how much of a film would it be if she had a quick abortion? The rest of the piece is mostly about how she gets the rest of her family on board. Michael is wholeheartedly against it. He has plans for his early retirement and they do not involve raising another kid.
Maggie Cooper is appropriately shrewish as the oldest offspring, Elizabeth, who is vehemently against her mother having the baby. She is having issues with her husband over when they will have a child of their own and the idea that her 46-year-old mother might have a baby is horrific and terribly embarrassing to her. Hunky Al Corley does fine as the older son, Franklin, who has dropped out of college and moved in with a girlfriend they've never met (although Anna quickly forms a tentative friendship with her). His strained relationship with dad Michael doesn't help the already tense situation in the Kramer household, but they do agree that it is a bad idea for Anna to have the baby. Younger son Jason, perfectly played by the super talented Timothy Hutton, is the only one who listens to Anna and supports her choice.
Anna has a tenuous relationship with her mother Serena (the excellent Mildred Dunnock) is a difficult one. There is clearly love and respect between the two. However, what Anna has chosen to do with her life (raise a family and not work outside the home) is a major disappointment to Serena, who holds advanced degrees and is a school principal. Anna, who is very happy with her life and passionate about her family, is quite sick of her mother judging her, but craves her approval. Serena does not appreciate Anna's criticism of the cold, detached way Serena brought her up.
This is definitely a family drama. Learning who each person is and what motivates them and watching them interact is absorbing. There is really no suspense as to whether or not the baby will be born. It's more about them coming to grips with the situation, working out their own issues and giving to Anna rather than expecting her to constantly be the one who gives.
Baby Comes Home (1980)
The sequel trap
Since the cable and premium channels have started producing so many original movies, higher quality ones that the major networks would never take the risk on, the Big Three don't have as many made-for-TV movies as they used to in the past. You only have to look at the miniseries/TV-movie categories at awards shows to see that most of the TV-movies are either on PBS or cable.
Baby Comes Home, and its predecessor And Baby Makes Six, hearken back to the good old days when the major networks regularly showed original movies with mass appeal. Sometimes they tackled an issue, sometimes they featured a topnotch cast like you would rarely see on TV, sometimes they were just fluff. I would say this one is some of all three.
First off, this is a good cast. You have to love Colleen Dewhurst in this role and she was just such a gifted actress. Mildred Dunnock is also good as her mother, as is Warren Oates as her husband. The performances are all way above the average in a TV-movie from this era. The 3 actors playing their older daughter and sons are all fine, although I preferred the ones (particularly Timothy Hutton) from the original.
It covers some issues that TV people would usually steer away from, particularly in combination. Colleen Dewhurst's character, Anna Kramer, is almost 48 and has just had a baby. To her surprise, it has thrown her life into a tailspin. She clearly has some form of postpartum depression. It manifests itself as a sort of terror about getting older, as well as a paralyzing fear of leaving the house.
She is embarrassed about her body and doesn't want her husband to touch her. Nowadays, TV seems to be afraid to acknowledge that married, middle-aged people can actually still be attracted to each other and have sexual desires. But Anna brings up the valid point that women her age often feel invisible because of the youth-oriented nature of our culture (which is even worse today).
There's a lot to like here. However, it is predictable, trite at times and too warm and fuzzy. We get a nauseating scene early on where there is a closeup of each family member's face as Anna breastfeeds the baby during the weekly "music night." The facial expressions vary from disapproving to sappy.
The baby was born at the end of And Baby Makes Six. I guess since this sequel was shown on a different network, they wanted this one to be able to stand alone. Therefore, a stupid birth scene was included at the beginning. That was happily skipped in the first movie. Birth scenes never add much to films, from my perspective. The one here was a lowlight. Did they really need to make Colleen crack jokes in a breathy voice while her character is supposed to be pushing a baby out?
The family dynamics do ultimately prove satisfying to watch, as they deal with Anna's issues and the changes the new baby has created in their lives. The kids all have problems of their own and with each other, as well. The characters are likable and relatable. I wish the script was better written and didn't go so corny at times.