Guilty Hearts

My husband and I both loved this movie and especially the characters Jenny Moran and her husband. Never a big fan of Williams, but felt he was adequate to this role. He did a good job as the minister, and is actually at his best in some parts of this film, especially the prison scenes.

This movie had a good moral compass, and was, in the end, surprisingly uplifting. I would love to buy it, but cannot find it, and suppose it must not be for sale in a DVD as it was made for TV. It hasn't been on TV for a while, and I was hoping that this Christmas season it would be.

There are so few good movies today which have a comforting, moral ending and we both felt that the way Jenny's husband stood by her was beautiful and inspiring.

In summary, I would give this movie a nine out of ten rating, in part because of the fine acting and in part because it was such an interesting story. Olympia Dukakis had only a small part, but was just wonderful as Jenny's mother.

I hope to be able to buy it if it is available on a DVD. The editing may be off a bit, and it seemed choppy in parts, but that may have been due to the commercials.

I am enjoying this movie very much. I am particularly touched by the performance of the jilted husband. His actions are a model in forgiveness. This was a beautiful aspect of the story line IMHO. What I find especially enlightening is that the husband's character was not particularly religious. He did not attend church with his wife regularly, and he was openly hostile toward the pastor of the church (whom he viewed as mercenary). This is an example of how goodness and godness are not necessarily interchangeable terms. Some people just have an innate sense of right and wrong. When I saw the faithful hubby coming to his philandering wife's rescue again and again, I was truly moved.

This 2002 mini series was shown tonight and I wanted to watch because I like the work of Treat Williams. It was directed fairly well by Marcus Cole and written by JB White ("The Beast") and Steven Siegel ("K-9" series). I found the mistake was in the casting of Marcia Gay Harden as "the other woman". First of all she's totally unattractive as to woo the likes of Mr. Williams, who remains one of today's hunks. Someone should have cut those bangs. She looked like Morticia from The Adams Family. And to top that she walks around with one expression on her face. For Treat to reject Jennifer Dale, his lovely wife, for the likes of the plain jane looks of Harden was hard to swallow.

If you put aside Harden's performance, which is hard to do, as she monopolizes most of the film, with close-ups, mind you. Gary Bassaraba was very good as the husband of Harden and you wanted to tell him to tell her to "get lost". He keeps forgiving her. Why? She was cheating on him. Then she walks out on him. And we're supposed to have sympathy for her? Please.

Add that talented lady, Olympia Dukakis as Harden's mother, John Bourgeous, the Reverend who kicks Harden out of the church (don't blame him) and Lawrence Dane, another fine actor, wasted in this flick.

All in all, a boring film saved by the presence of Williams, Dukakis, Dale and Basaraba.

In feeling this film to be "average," I mean it is exactly that -- not great, but good enough to be interesting, and with two attractive leads in Williams and Harden, who probably deserve a higher standing in film than they've been accorded.

Treat Williams has become masterful in portraying the type of "horse's ass" character here (Stephen) - smarmy, manipulative, cold, and (of course) murderous as well.

He played this same type, although in entirely different characterizations, as the Irish thug in "The Devil's Own," and the devious colonel in "Mulholland Falls." An excellent actor, he has also portrayed his share of good guys and strong/tough characters as well.

His character in this film was so thoroughly devious, at every turn, with everyone (including his children), in every way, and at all times, that it was impossible not to feel as much fascination as dislike for him.

Harden's husband was likable and sympathetic, even if a bit oafish "around the edges." And while the Harden's character's (Jenny) dilemmas, for which she couldn't claim an absence of responsibility, warranted her laconic demeanor to a point -- perhaps if she had displayed a bit more energy and thought (both before and after the tragedy and Williams' subsequent chicanery) her marriage problems, and the subsequent added problems which beset her, might have been avoided to a major extent. (Towards the end of the flick, during Christmas holidays, she wandered around in a trance-like manner, seeming naíve about what was going on. In this portion of the story, I found her "creepy," even more than Williams' - no mean feat.) Also, at about this time, every character in the presentation seemed as if the water supply of the community had been laced with massive quantities of Xanax, Valium, or perhaps both.

Finally, I wonder??? Are there ever ANY of these TV flicks of this genre which AREN'T made these days in Canada, or (occasionally) in Seattle?

I thought that Treat Williams was a poor choice as the philandering doctor but Marcia Gay Harden was good as his love interest, Jenny Moran. The movie deals with a woman in a mid life crisis who leaves her husband and gets involved with a manipulative doctor who takes advantage of her vulnerability. I was impressed with the acting of Neally Glenn who plays the part of the doctors eldest daughter and Katie Boland, the young daughter of Jenny. They were both very convincing in their roles. The movie was poorly put together as it seemed to skip about and show snippets of scenes without fully developing them. However, I did enjoy it and would give it a rating of seven of ten.