Ordinary Miracles

Back when I was younger I knew a street kid who told me once if not a hundred times that all he ever wanted in life was a family. He and his sister were taken away as toddlers by the state who declared the parents unfit. He died at the age of 26 so the state did a remarkable job at raising him, he died of AIDS.

I'd like to think that somewhere somehow that there was a father like C. Thomas Howell who grieved for his absence or a ghost mother like Sarah Aldrich who materialized at a critical moment in Lyndsy Fonseca's life. Most of all I'd like to think that judge like Jaclyn Smith came into his life as she did in Fonseca's life in Ordinary Miracles. That never happened though.

Both Smith and Fonseca are having a lot of family issues. Smith is such a hardnosed judge that she nearly reported her old man who was a lawyer for asking an out of channels favor. But she takes a personal interest in Fonseca's situation and what happens is nothing less than your garden variety Ordinary Miracle.

This is a nice well done film shot on location in San Diego with some sincere performances all around. Good Hallmark production.

I was rather pleased with this film which simply details the trials and tribulations of growing up without stability in a family home. When Judge Kay Woodbury takes in troubled 16-year-old Sally Powell, they get off to a bad start, but gradually start to respect one another....

Young actress Lyndsy Fonseca is very convincing as Sally, an understandably angry (and also sad) teenager who finds it difficult to fit in. Jaclyn Smith also makes light of her role as caring Judge Woodbury, who apart for upholding the law, is a woman who leads a solitary existence....

Ordinary Miracles is not a unique story in any way, but the taut direction and beautiful settings make it more than just a typical television film. The attention to detail is immense, and viewers can certainly imagine the emotions of the characters. Great interaction between Jaclyn and C. Thomas Howell too, who portrays a seemingly ordinary man who must face up to his past. It was a pleasure to watch them together, and Jaclyn has certainly kept her beauty - hard to believe she was pushing 60 at the time!

This is a fine film and certainly one of Jaclyn's best TVMs in recent years (indeed, her first tele-movie since 2000's Navigating the Heart), even if the ending is pretty predictable. A good effort from all concerned.

This is a movie about family issues and not a romance. A San Diego judge, Kay, is forced by an overcrowded and overworked system to send a foster child, Sally, to juvenile detention instead of a foster home. The teenage girl has problems with authority and her boyfriend is a bad influence, but Kay realizes that she doesn't merit juvie and after some pressure decides to foster the girl herself temporarily. Kay is not one to leave almost-ok alone and starts digging into Sally's background and even does a little more than dig.

The movie is about pretty mild confrontations between Kay and Sally and where all these things lead. Sally has been known to steal from the home she's in, and quickly repeats that behavior. The movie, mostly in the person of Kay, is very generous in excusing Sally's behavior because she lost her mom early and her dad gave her up. On the one hand there is a well played exchange where Sally is hung over and Kay's response is that said hangover is an appropriate consequence and she hopes Sally learns from it. No lecturing. But Kay is also pretty soft of Sally's involvement in outright thefts. She literally says "It's OK" after one such episode that even got a little wild. Interestingly, Sally is the one who acknowledges that it's not OK.

There's a nice subplot with Kay's father where Kay's behavior is a little hypocritical considering the hurt Sally experiences when unfairly judged.

While the ending is predictable in a general sense, it was also nice to see that it didn't tie up every little loose end HEA as is so often the case in this kind of movie.

Kay Woodbury (Jaclyn Smith) is a no nonsense workaholic San Diego judge. Troubled foster kid Sally Powell (Lyndsy Fonseca) comes before her court. Her foster parents terminate foster care. With nowhere to go, Kay sends her to juvenile corrections facility. Kay's ex-husband David Woodbury (Corbin Bernsen) is getting remarried. She's estranged from her father over a case she presided over. Case worker Miranda (Sarah Aldrich) pleads for Sally. Kay decides to be her temporary guardian while she's on her yearly three weeks recess. Sally is having nightmares and Kay asks her neighbor psychiatrist Dr. Michael Katsu for help. Sally steals Kay's jewelry and plans to runaway with her boyfriend Pete Smalling to San Francisco. It's not enough and he tells her to steal more. Kay discovers the identity of Sally's father James Powell (C. Thomas Howell) and hires him for landscaping.

This is a Hallmark movie. The story is pretty much lots of personal melodrama. The production is mostly TV movie level. The most compelling aspect in this is Jaclyn Smith. It's always nice to see this TV legend. She has aged very well. There's a younger Lyndsy Fonseca doing a good job as the moody troubled teen. This is basically what you expect from a Hallmark TV movie and nothing more than that.

Is it really possible that someone, anyone, can find this movie ok? I don't understand why people are filming such a worthless trash. It is so prosaic and not real that I can't believe that someone is payed to have that kind of job. It is such a terrible, unrealistic cliche that I am amazed!