Are you ready for some Lifetime holiday movie goodness?
Scroll down to find out which movies will be a part of It's a Wonderful Lifetime this holiday season.
There are plenty of festive treats on the way.
1. Merry Swissmas November 5 at 8/7c Alex (Jodie Sweetin) has wonderful memories of Christmas with her best friend Beth (Mikaela Lily Davies), until Beth starts dating Alex’s ex, Jesse (David Pinard). Because she has missed the last few Christmases with family due to her demanding job as an architect, Alex is excited to spend the holidays with her mother, Caroline (Jane Wheeler), who is opening an inn in Switzerland. Much to her dismay, she learns that Jesse and Beth are also visiting for the inn’s opening. When Alex meets Liam (Tim Rozon), a single father and the manager of her mother’s inn, Liam attempts to show her all the Christmas traditions...
Scroll down to find out which movies will be a part of It's a Wonderful Lifetime this holiday season.
There are plenty of festive treats on the way.
1. Merry Swissmas November 5 at 8/7c Alex (Jodie Sweetin) has wonderful memories of Christmas with her best friend Beth (Mikaela Lily Davies), until Beth starts dating Alex’s ex, Jesse (David Pinard). Because she has missed the last few Christmases with family due to her demanding job as an architect, Alex is excited to spend the holidays with her mother, Caroline (Jane Wheeler), who is opening an inn in Switzerland. Much to her dismay, she learns that Jesse and Beth are also visiting for the inn’s opening. When Alex meets Liam (Tim Rozon), a single father and the manager of her mother’s inn, Liam attempts to show her all the Christmas traditions...
- 10/11/2022
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
If The Perfect Man were a sitcom pilot, you could see the possibilities: A desperately single mom with an understanding but exasperated pair of high-energy daughters zeroes in on a new guy each episode as her elder daughter often manipulates events behind the scenes even while coping with homework and boys. But as a movie, the film never quite lives up to its potential.
Many in its core audience of young women and maybe a few lonely single moms will respond to the message of female empowerment and positive self-image. It's a chick flick with a vengeance but even in its most sentimental moments, stars Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear make this feel-good-about-yourself movie feel ... well, good. Boxoffice for this counter programming effort should be at or above average with perhaps greater prospects in home entertainment.
The premise itself is weak. An audience has to buy that Locklear's character, Jean Hamilton, gets dumped by every guy she dates. And whenever this happens, she immediately moves her family to another part of the continent. An opening sequence, which sets up their nomadic lifestyle, takes Jean, a pastry chef, along with her teenage daughter Holly (Duff) and her adolescent sibling Zoe (Aria Wallace) from Wichita, Kan., to Brooklyn. (It's actually Toronto and doesn't much resemble Brooklyn.) Given the spacious apartment she lands, Jean is at least moving up in the world real estate-wise.
On her first day in the new high school, Holly meets Amy (Vanessa Lengies) and Adam (Ben Feldman). Both figure prominently in Holly's improbable scheme to cheer up her mom. Because Jean is only happy when she is dating, Holly decides to invent a mysterious suitor. The guy sends her mom flowers and romantic e-mails but doesn't in fact exist. Well, actually he sort of does because he is a carbon copy of Amy's restaurateur uncle Ben (Chris Noth), who is both handsome and an expert in what women want.
Gina Wendkos' screenplay (based on a story by Michael McQuown, Heather Robinson and Katherine Torpey) dives into sitcom quickly enough, but at least it attempts to explore a few feminine issues along the way. The tack taken is too on-the-money, but the film does demonstrate the pitfalls of arranging one's life to attract the opposite sex.
As mother and daughter, Locklear and Duff bring plenty of vivacity to their roles. Duff conveys the vexation of a teen whose mom flirts far too often with far too many men as well as the genuine love she bears this woman. Locklear can't make you forget she is beautiful, but she does persuade a viewer that this is a woman who sees flaws in herself that no one else does.
Noth and Feldman are able to rise above the blandness of their roles occasionally, and Lengies shows spunk and charm as Holly's best gal pal. Mike O'Malley has a few inspired moments as a well-meaning but Wrong-with-a-capital-W suitor for Mom. Of course, in a different kind of a movie, he might be mistaken for a stalker. Carson Kressley has fun with a gay waiter in Ben's bistro despite rampant gay cliches.
Mark Rosman's direction lacks imagination, veering into the predictability and colorlessness one finds in TV comedies. Similarly, tech credits are routine.
THE PERFECT MAN
Universal Pictures
A Marc Platt production
Credits:
Director: Mark Rosman
Screenwriter: Gina Wendkos
Story by: Michael McQuown, Heather Robinson, Katherine Torpey
Producers: Marc Platt, Dawn Wolfrom, Susan Duff
Executive producers: Billy Higgins, Adam Siegel
Director of photography: John R. Leonetti
Production designer: Jasna Stefanovich
Music: Christophe Beck
Costumes: Marie Sylvie Deveau
Editor: Cara Silverman
Cast:
Holly: Hilary Duff
Jean: Heather Locklear
Ben: Chris Noth
Lenny: Mike O'Malley
Adam: Ben Feldman
Amy: Vanessa Lengies
Gloria: Caroline Rhea
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Many in its core audience of young women and maybe a few lonely single moms will respond to the message of female empowerment and positive self-image. It's a chick flick with a vengeance but even in its most sentimental moments, stars Hilary Duff and Heather Locklear make this feel-good-about-yourself movie feel ... well, good. Boxoffice for this counter programming effort should be at or above average with perhaps greater prospects in home entertainment.
The premise itself is weak. An audience has to buy that Locklear's character, Jean Hamilton, gets dumped by every guy she dates. And whenever this happens, she immediately moves her family to another part of the continent. An opening sequence, which sets up their nomadic lifestyle, takes Jean, a pastry chef, along with her teenage daughter Holly (Duff) and her adolescent sibling Zoe (Aria Wallace) from Wichita, Kan., to Brooklyn. (It's actually Toronto and doesn't much resemble Brooklyn.) Given the spacious apartment she lands, Jean is at least moving up in the world real estate-wise.
On her first day in the new high school, Holly meets Amy (Vanessa Lengies) and Adam (Ben Feldman). Both figure prominently in Holly's improbable scheme to cheer up her mom. Because Jean is only happy when she is dating, Holly decides to invent a mysterious suitor. The guy sends her mom flowers and romantic e-mails but doesn't in fact exist. Well, actually he sort of does because he is a carbon copy of Amy's restaurateur uncle Ben (Chris Noth), who is both handsome and an expert in what women want.
Gina Wendkos' screenplay (based on a story by Michael McQuown, Heather Robinson and Katherine Torpey) dives into sitcom quickly enough, but at least it attempts to explore a few feminine issues along the way. The tack taken is too on-the-money, but the film does demonstrate the pitfalls of arranging one's life to attract the opposite sex.
As mother and daughter, Locklear and Duff bring plenty of vivacity to their roles. Duff conveys the vexation of a teen whose mom flirts far too often with far too many men as well as the genuine love she bears this woman. Locklear can't make you forget she is beautiful, but she does persuade a viewer that this is a woman who sees flaws in herself that no one else does.
Noth and Feldman are able to rise above the blandness of their roles occasionally, and Lengies shows spunk and charm as Holly's best gal pal. Mike O'Malley has a few inspired moments as a well-meaning but Wrong-with-a-capital-W suitor for Mom. Of course, in a different kind of a movie, he might be mistaken for a stalker. Carson Kressley has fun with a gay waiter in Ben's bistro despite rampant gay cliches.
Mark Rosman's direction lacks imagination, veering into the predictability and colorlessness one finds in TV comedies. Similarly, tech credits are routine.
THE PERFECT MAN
Universal Pictures
A Marc Platt production
Credits:
Director: Mark Rosman
Screenwriter: Gina Wendkos
Story by: Michael McQuown, Heather Robinson, Katherine Torpey
Producers: Marc Platt, Dawn Wolfrom, Susan Duff
Executive producers: Billy Higgins, Adam Siegel
Director of photography: John R. Leonetti
Production designer: Jasna Stefanovich
Music: Christophe Beck
Costumes: Marie Sylvie Deveau
Editor: Cara Silverman
Cast:
Holly: Hilary Duff
Jean: Heather Locklear
Ben: Chris Noth
Lenny: Mike O'Malley
Adam: Ben Feldman
Amy: Vanessa Lengies
Gloria: Caroline Rhea
Running time -- 101 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Heather Locklear is set to star opposite Hilary Duff in The Perfect Man, which Mark Rosman is directing for Universal Pictures. The story centers on a teenager (Duff) who is trying to find the best mate for her single, romantically challenged mom (Locklear). Chris Noth and Mike O'Malley also have been cast. Marc Platt, Susan Duff and Dawn Wolfrom are producing. Holly Bario and Drew Crevello are overseeing for the studio. Production starts April 29 in Toronto. Locklear starred on the TV series Spin City and Melrose Place as well as T.J. Hooker and Dynasty. Her recent feature film credits include Uptown Girls and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. She is repped by ICM.
- 4/26/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chris Noth and Mike O'Malley are set to play opposite Hilary Duff in The Perfect Man, which Mark Rosman is directing for Universal Pictures. The story centers on a teenager (Duff) who is trying to find the best mate for her single mom. Noth plays a friend of the family who, unbeknownst to the women, just might have all the qualities they are looking for. O'Malley is one of the potential suitors. The role of the mother has yet to be cast. Marc Platt, Susan Duff and Dawn Wolfrom are producing. Holly Bario and Drew Crevello are overseeing for the studio. Production starts April 29 in Toronto. Noth is best known for playing Mr. Big on HBO's Sex and the City and Detective Mike Logan on Law & Order. The UTA-repped actor recently starred in the TV movie Bad Apple. O'Malley stars on CBS' Yes, Dear and has appeared in such features as Pushing Tin and Deep Impact. He is repped by CAA.
- 4/20/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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