Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This one's a mixed bag--but Sela Ward and Michael Woods are AWESOME in every scene they have together. I wouldn't spend the money that this website is charging for the video, however. Seventy bucks for a made-for-TV movie? Come on. Even the hot, hot theatrical releases don't cost that much on DVD when they first come out. That's gotta be a typo. . .but I digress.
I caught this one on ABCFamily Channel the other night, and while the setting is beautiful and the actors do a great job with the material they're given, something about the whole thing was just. . .off.
Sela Ward--who stands with Jennifer Aniston and Susan Sarandon as one of the most beautiful women in show biz today--has the title role. We also see Roscoe Born--who played Joe Novak in "Ryan's Hope"--as the childhood friend who's always been in love with Sarah and still is, even though she's chosen another man to marry. And Morgan Fairchild--another beautiful lady who, alas, always gets stuck with the second banana, duplicitous friend role. Michael Woods--a man with a very familiar face, maybe from print or TV ads--is Sarah's sexy new husband. (Someone give this man a starring role of his own--he's worth watching!!) Veteran actress and former cosmetics executive Polly Bergen is almost unrecognizable here as a longtime secretary/housekeeper to Sarah's family.
This film is lovely to look at. Most of the action takes place at the mansion where Sarah grew up and has now returned to live as a newlywed. Both Sela and Morgan are elegantly dressed--although Morgan's clothing is always flashier, where Sela's is more understated and everyday elegant. And don't get me started on Michael Woods again--the man is a hunk:)
The problems with this film begin in about the last half-hour to 45 minutes. It seems as though the directors took too much time setting things up, and then had to race to the finish, leaving out some things in the process. At the end of the film, you realize that there are two main characters who simply vanished from the storyline--and this would have been out of character for them, given the established plot. This is a real problem in the final scene, when it's implied that the previous scene happened early in the day and now it's night-time. The character who does not show up in the last scene would have definitely had time to get there and possibly change the outcome. Hello? What happened? Is there something we didn't see on the cutting room floor?
This needs a sequel or to be re-released with the Director's cut. Like I said, it's just out of whack in some way. Again, I wouldn't pay anything to buy or rent it. But next time it's rerun on TV, I would watch that first half-hour or so again just to watch Sela Ward and Michael Woods in the wedding and newlywed scenes. Someone give that man a show of his own!!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Haunting of Sarah Hardy (1989)
Click here for more information about Haunting of Sarah Hardy (1989)
No comments:
Post a Comment