Titanic (1996) Review

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(More customer reviews)The 1996 Hallmark miniseries of TITANIC was unfortunate in that it ended up being largely overshadowed by James Cameron's 1997 big-screen blockbuster (by the time the miniseries was aired in the UK and Australia, James Cameron's version had well and truly exploded onto the scene). This was a pity, as the Hallmark version has many things in it's favour.
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Peter Gallagher head a star-studded international cast, and the adaptation succeeds in blending five different stories into the narrative. Perhaps most importantly this version depicts a real-life passenger called Alice Cleaver (played by Felicity Waterman) who attempted to kidnap the baby of her employers when the boat began to sink (leaving the family to search for the child until all the lifeboats had departed, thus sealing their fate).
At the time of this miniseries, Catherine Zeta-Jones was at the cusp of Hollywood superstardom. She looks ravishing as Isabella Paradine, who rekindles an affair with her first beau Wynn Park (Peter Gallagher). Also in this miniseries, we meet in greater detail John Jacob Astor (Scott Hylands) and his pregnant young second wife Madeline (Janne Mortil). The affair of Astor and Madeline was one of the biggest scandals of the period and it's great to have them as prominent characters in this version. The younger romance is provided by thief Jamie (Mike Doyle) and Danish convert Aase (Sonsee Neu-Ahray).
No version of TITANIC would be complete without the ebullient and "unsinkable" Molly Brown (Marilu Henner plays her with enough spirit and spunk to make Debbie Reynolds proud and Kathy Bates pale). And the villain of the piece is thieving steward Simon Doonan (performed with oily relish by Tim Curry). A flavour of classic Hollywood is provided by George C. Scott as the Captain and Eva Marie Saint as the selfish Hazel Foley.
The romance of Bella (Zeta-Jones) and Wynn (Gallagher) is a captivating and moving one, played with style and elegance, and I consider it far more effective than the romance in the James Cameron spectacle. True, the special effects are lacking in this version but the dramatics and acting more than compensate. A fantastic production and one I revisit often. Originally shown in two parts. With Tamsin Kelsey, Eric Keenleyside, Malcolm Stewart, Roger Rees, Harley Jane Kozak, Kevin Conway, Matt Hill and Barry Pepper.

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Just Desserts (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are in search of a little light escapism to take your mind off the stress of the day, you won't find a more fun outlet than Just Desserts. The characters are adorable, there's a great love story, and the villains are sometimes laughable.
Will the boy and girl be united? Who planted the chocolate at the competition? Who does she really, really love? You won't lose any sleep pondering the answers to these questions, but you will have a very good time on the way.
There's also enough tension generated with the secondary characters' story to keep the whole family watching this old-fashioned, frothy romance!

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A Farewell to Arms (1957) Review

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(More customer reviews)When David O. Selznick undertook to remake "A Farewell to Arms" he was hoping to top Gone With the Wind. Needless to say, every movie he made after GWTW would be compared to it and deemed inferior. Most of his films have merit. However, "A Farewell to Arms" is a bona-fide disaster on most counts. David O. Selznick, who broke up Jennifer Jones and Robert Walker, was only concerned with Jones and her portrayal. Unfortunately, Jennifer Jones with her distracting facial contortions (which the director should have kept in check) is terrible in this film right down to the last reel where we have to endure an interminable child birth scene and her subsequent death. "A Farewell to Arms" could have been a superb film. Instead, it is an overlong, talky, mishmash of romanticism between two characters who are portrayed by good actors who have no chemistry between them. Hudson was perfect. He did the best he could under less than ideal circumstances. But Jones is the flaw in this film. A fine actress if directed properly and that twisted mouth and deep voice inflection distracting kept in check, Jones is horribly miscast. At the age of 38 she is certainly too old to be playing Catherine, a 23 year old nurse. She is supposed to be british but her playing is stilted and forced, not to mention over-intense. Even the musical score is unmemorable. No wonder this film failed at the box office. And no wonder David O. Selznick never made another film. He was an anachronism by this time. Skip this one folks unless you are a die hard JOnes and Hudson fan. I recommend "Song of Bernadette", "Portait of Jennie" or "Love Letters" if you want to see Jones at her best!

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Lucky Seven (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)This movie is an incredible story about a woman who learns to follow her heart. The story starts out with Amy Meyer, (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) at age seven with her dying mother making a timeline for Amy's life. Amy takes the timeline and follows through with everything on it, right down to her mother's prediction that she will have six boyfriends and that number seven will be "the one." The trouble is, Amy finds who she thinks is Mr. Right is Daniel (Brad Rowe) who is only number six! So Amy must find a substitute boyfriend to stand in as number six so Daniel will be her seventh boyfriend. Talk about confusing!!! Amy gets Peter, (Patrick Dempsey) her "bagel man", to play the part of boyfriend number six, only to find herself falling for Peter. Now, with her heart being pulled in both directions, she must make a decision that will change the course of her life forever. Peter tries to convince Amy to let go of the timeline and just do what her heart truly desires. Daniel just wants her to focus on her career as a lawyer. The movie leaves to wandering until the very end, which one she will choose. This movie is also the ultimate Romantic Comedy! I loved it and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves to see, love-always-wins-out-in-the-end, and having-the-girl-wind-up-with-the-perfect-guy! I hope you enjoy this movie as much as I did!

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