Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman (2004 TV Movie) User Reviews

Don't be disappointed by the title

[veronicammartin · 7/10 · 29 October 2009]

Christine Lahti gives a marvellous performance moving from being unable to cope, to adapting her life and she has the viewer cheering her all the way .

Brian Kerwin as her errant husband is suitably pathetic , dithery, useless and unattractive compared to charismatic Brian Brown.

I watched this film being rather disappointed by the title which seemed to bear little resemblance to it ; but don't be . The final scenes will explain everything that it is about .And her philosophy , at the end , in one sentence sums the film .After questioning the title throughout I found myself smiling at how Id been lead and at the outcome .

Sunday evening movie

[gh-hagi · 27 September 2004]

Enjoyable movie for a quiet Sunday evening. A male confesses to his wife that he's in love with her younger co-worker and protege. Helped by brains, family and friends, the woman copes with the situation and becomes stronger. Good play of Christine Lahti in the leading role, wonderful play of the couple's daughter. We can consider this movie not necessarily a drama, although the basic idea is a couple splitting up, but a comedy, since the puerile dialog between the man and the woman gives us a good laugh. And I'm not really sure if the producers wanted it this way. This isn't a movie to remember, although there are a few memorable quotes, that one cannot find in much higher rated movies.

From 60 MPH to 0 in five minutes

[KingChuckToo · 2/10 · 11 February 2022]

Newspaper book review editor Rose impresses her assistant Mindy in the breakneck early minutes of the film. Rose coordinates at the last minute to change the day's book review to match the today's headline: Governor takes a mistress.

Rose then she goes home to where her husband of 25 years (and her boss) sits her down for the talk: he's leaving her for his mistress (her young assistant). Then she goes to work where she learns that hubby has downsized her, but let's his assistant deliver the news.

The pace of the movie drops dramatically as Rose goes through the seven stages of divorce grief and works with hubby what's-his-name as they cope with a narcissistic daughter, the son (basically an afterthought), and their respective relationships.

Christine Lahti (Rose) does an amazing job with the lead part. However, this is your basic FUBU (for us by us) story from a female standpoint. The male characters are lame, and the female characters don't provide a very optimistic balance for the other half of the human race.

A little too harsh for Hallmark channel, not enough weapons (zero actually) to be a real revenge flick. The film concludes that revenge is an old saw: she reunites with her old boyfriend who is now an author.

Good for Rose that she moved on. Bad for us (my wife of 40 years and me). We dissected the loose threads for 15 minutes after watching and concluded that we want our two hours back.

The best revenge is a life well lived!

[samanthaxx · 10/10 · 19 February 2005]

As a middle aged woman (Ack, really? I don't FEEL middle aged) I could relate too well with this moving poignant film. So maybe it is fiction, but it has a hopeful message. Like "Under A Tuscan Sun" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328589/maindetails) it made me laugh, cry and realize that there is hope in the universe.

Christine Lahti (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001441/) is wonderful in this movie and does a fabulous job of sharing her feelings with the viewer. If you watch this an cannot at least feel something of what she's sharing then you may not have a heart. This really is a wonderful film, and the entire cast does a great job! In some respects this movie is a bit more serious version of the great TV show "Cybil." Regardless of who you are, this is a great chick flick, and like "Under A Tuscan Sun" a great movie to see if you are in her shoes . . .

Sam

Definitely a LIFETIME tv movie

[awilife43 · 2/10 · 5 April 2022]

I didn't enjoy this movie. Nothing really happened after her husband left with mistress. She passed up taking her former husband and old job back. I fast forwarded to see the ending.

Starting Over

[lavatch · 8/10 · 10 February 2022]

"Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman" is not really about revenge. Instead, it is about starting over.

Rose Morrow met Nathan Lloyd on an airplane at a time when she was despondent from a recent romantic breakup with the adventurer Hal Thorne. She and Nathan went on to have a successful marriage and two beautiful children. She had a thriving career as a writer for the Los Angeles Chronicle.

Then, Nathan popped the news that he had fallen in love with Rose's co-worker Mindy. Next, Rose was fired from her job. The balance of the film was in picking up the pieces to start over.

The film falls more within the realm of heartwarming and endearing than heartbreaking and depressing. The dialogue is crisp and lively. After a little moping around, Rose recovers with support from a dear friend and her kids. New job offers are coming in. She even rekindles the romance with her old beau Hal, who is now the author of a successful travel book, "A Thousand Olive Trees." He invites her to his hideaway in lush Umbria in Italy.

The real strength of the film was that it was not about revenge. Rose never became vindictive to either Nathan or Mindy. Her focus was on redefining herself and reclaiming the person she wanted to be in order to truly feel alive.

Title misleading, Lahti still good

[vchimpanzee · 27 September 2004]

At the beginning of the movie, Rose meets Nathan on an airplane. Twenty-five years later, they are married with grown children and she is the book editor of the Los Angeles Chronicle, where he is the editor. Nathan (Brian Kerwin) wants to leave Rose for her assistant Mindy (Abby Brammell). And who can blame him? We get to see what a beautiful body she has. But Rose has so much more to offer, and Nathan can't see it.

Things get worse: Simon tells Rose the newspaper is taking a new direction, emphasizing youth and innovation. She no longer fits in.

At first Rose is too depressed to do very much, but it doesn't take her long to pull herself together and get on with her life. Later, she meets Hal (Bryan Brown), who she loved before Nathan. But he couldn't stay in one place, and she wanted a more stable life. There are flashbacks of their relationship.

This wasn't the zany and outrageous comedy the title led me to expect, but Christine Lahti was great as Rose, going from sarcastic to defeated to confident. We often heard Rose's thoughts, which sometimes conflicted with what other characters heard her say.

Also good was the actress playing Rose's ditzy and selfish daughter Rachel, who married a man her parents didn't seem to approve of.

This was still a pretty good movie.

Infuriating... Until it Improves. Somewhat.

[medobyme · 8/10 · 20 February 2022]

Nathan doesn't get a pass, yet this overall gives him one.

Rose continually lambasts herself and her "misses" in the relationship but he does little introspection at all.

We have to stop allowing cheaters an "out." Or say that they were naively driven into another person's bed without their implicit say-so and cooperation.

Especially an affair that lasts a year.

This is a movie bound to give anyone with trust issues reason to be convinced their distrust is warranted.

Can't trust your friends, can't trust your husband, yet still somewhat yearning for another disappointing love far more wistfully than he deserves.

Rose couldn't have been more classy but today's woman wouldn't have. And, in my opinion, she shouldn't be. No one gets to blow up your life because they can't keep it in their pants.

Full stop.

Witty and Fresh

[captaingsc · 8/10 · 13 February 2022]

This movie is very clever in making light of an ugliness that is all too common.

I can't imagine another actress pulling this off in the roll of Rose. She is perfect!

The only chink (can you still say chink?) in the armor is the actress playing the part of the tart assistant Mindy. She is supposed to be half of Roses' age so she should be around 25. This actress is clearly well north of 35 with all the trimmings, plastic surgery, overly botoxed lips, etc.

The writing is funny and very well timed.

It's payback time for this middle-aged woman..

[sharonjmarcus · 27 September 2004]

Christine Lahti shines as a middle-aged professional woman who feels like she's been hit by a train when her husband announces he's leaving her. Not only that... he's leaving her for the younger, prettier, perkier woman who happens to be her assistant! Lahti is devastated but somehow manages to laugh through her tears as she thinks back on the signs of marital woe that she missed. Thank goodness she has support from her best friend, her 2 kids, and her mother. Things at first go from bad to worse for her, but then there is a silver lining, a wonderful revenge scene involving her boss --- and a man from her past, to help her pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Highly recommended for all gals over 40!!

Disappointing but Lahti is Always a Gem

[jmwpublic · 28 January 2024]

Didn't realize this was supposed to be a light-hearted comedy of sorts and for good reason. Husband says to wife... we've been happy haven't we? Don't know how to tell you this but I've met someone else and I'm in love with her and oh, it's your assistant Mindy.

There was shock, stunned rage, tears and drunken commissary with the best friend, then nothing. Wife had a few choice words for him, the backstabbing mistress and then her boss when she was fired and replaced by the backstabber, and still nothing. I was more livid than she was. I get that the best revenge is a life well lived, but the wife's un-reaction was so disappointing. Somebody needed to be slapped at the very least.