Nola

I just saw this movie on lifetime tonight; before this week seeing all the commercial for it on lifetime I would have never of knew it was out there to be seen. May I say this is one of the few jewels Lifetime has shown in a long time. Not only was the story line interesting enough to keep you watching the acting was great. I though the male lead Ben was great and nice looking in that down to earth boy next door way and not the I'm a male super model worship t my feet way, which is very unique for male role now days that have to be the knight and shinning armer type. Nola she was so much different from many of the charters out there and I loved how her character development through out the story and how she actually learned something in the end.People creating movies think that if th guy is hot or the women is hot and a story is horrible the the movie will still do good and yes that is true but this one had all thing tied in it!

PLus the whole Ideal of a ***** ( not to let any spoilers out) being clean was real nice. I like the movie and the music to the movie it is amazing to see am movie where the actor actually sings their own songs and sounds good doing it. I would love to see this movie another time and I hope you also pick up a copy of it. If you like lifetime movies you will love this one so much better, it wasn't even made by lifetime.

I found the IMDB score of 5.4 way off the mark and distinctly ungenerous. I wonder if it that reflects the film was made in 2003 and went straight to TV?

The actors are not just good (some real stars) but on form. The dialog was never going to win an oscar but is interesting and engaging; it even has some moments of quite pithy intelligence. The plot is nicely paced and well developed, if predictable. I liked the cinderellla formula, a bit idealistic but gritty enough not to seem too easy. The characters are nicely drawn, detailed, varied and each finds their own voice. The production values are good, and beat hallmark standards out of sight.

RECOMMENDED.

Your humble reviewer is supposed to be knowledgeable about what markets films are made for and what the writers were thinking but I confess this one remains a mystery to me.

Unfortunately it is not meant to be a mystery, it is meant to be a light (very light) romcom.

Rossum pretty much carries the film on her back and if you stick it out to the end (a very big "if") you will get a song you will not forget.

The rest of the film you may try to forget. The tone is bizarre. Very odd.

Keep in mind that one of the key themes here is sex and escort services. Somehow, this is not a compliment, the writers manage to tackle that topic without ever leaving the safety zone of a Lifetime movie or, in some scenes, the Disney Channel.

An amazing feat but a feat no one asked for.

I wanted so badly to like this because I love Emmy Rossum, but seeing her prancing around on a bed in her bra and underwear, swinging a sock with a lock in it at a man in his tightly-whities.... it just sort of ruined it for me. The song she sings is beautiful and she looks lovely as ever, but it was just too implausible a storyline and the script was fairly weak, but Ms. Rossum was a delight, even in the midst of such faults from the script and story.

I also am a fan of Mary McDonnell's work from Dances With Wolves, but her smugness her seemed rather 1 dimensional; albeit not a great role to begin with.

I watch movies on Lifetime with some regularity, and this was above-average I'd say, but I can't say I'd watch it again. It's too bad - with this cast it could've been much better.

"Nola" is certainly not a masterpiece. On the other hand, it's not a bad movie.

I watched "Nola" because I am a HUGE Emmy Rossum fan. I think she's brilliant, beautiful and has an outstanding singing voice. In "Nola", Emmy plays an eighteen-year-old named Nola (shocker, right?). Nola moves from an abusive Kansas home to New York City in search of her father and meets some very interesting characters along the way, turning her search for her father into an "adventure".

The first 45 minutes of "Nola" are almost pure romantic comedy. After those first 45 minutes, though, a strange subplot is put into action. The subplot is fairly cheesy and not near as entertaining as I think it was meant to be. But Emmy Rossum's acting saved it. The highlights of the movie were Emmy Rossum's songs. The first was "Street of Dreams" which she sang at the very beginning, and the second was "Don't Break My Heart" which Emmy sang at the end. Her singing voice was amazing and the songs had depth.

On the whole, "Nola" is funny, sweet, and sometimes very much outlandish. I would watch again.