Best of Both Worlds

A liar, or a bigamist, in this case, ought to remember his or her lies because there is a big chance that somehow, somewhere along the line, he or she will forget something that appears obvious and the secrecy will be revealed, which is almost what happens to the heroine of "Best of Both Worlds", shown recently by the Sundance cable channel.

"Best of Both Worlds" directed with great style by David Richards, and based on a screen play by Paul Abbott, reverses roles. The person at the center of the plot is an English flight attendant, based in London who works the London-Bologna route and appears to have a great life. If you haven't watched the film, please stop reading.

Diane is on one hand happily married to Martin, a chef at a fashionable restaurant in London, and is having an affair with Mark in Bologna. Neither Martin, nor Mark, has an inkling of what beautiful Diane is doing behind their backs. In fact, she seems to function perfectly in both situations and is having a great time with both men.

This is a twist in what is always perceived as what a man would do, but not a woman. Diane is bold in her pursuit of two different lives, never taking into consideration who she might hurt if the truth is known. Also, while the screen direction makes us believe this flight attendant has a lot of free time in both London, and Bologna, it's not realistic, since most of those routes will be done as turn around flights, in which the crew always returns to the home base and there is no possibility of a layover in Italy, as is the case here.

The gorgeous Alice Evans makes an excellent and convincing Diane, the flight attendant who is deceiving both men in her life without any scruples, whatsoever. In a way, this could well be the case. After all, why not? The film makers are trying to convince that it is entirely possible to live in this situation, but common sense tells us it's not so. Mark is played by Cal Macaninch and Martin by Jo Stone-Ewings with great style. Carol Starks is Karen, Alice's co-worker and confident.

The film is fun to watch. Some interesting sights of Bologna and of the Emilia-Romagna area are seen in the film.

Delicious Diane Sullivan (Alice Evans) has a loving husband and a great kid, but she's feeling a bit cornered. She's being badgered into selling her house, spied on by the inlaws, and smothered by her nice, normal life.

Along comes an alternative to all that, a more exciting life as the wife of a successful Italian architect. Well, of course, it eventually unravels and this is the story of that drama.

The first husband is a bit selfish, and is too wrapped up in his crappy little restaurant. The wife sees this as her excuse to start a whole new second life in Bologna!

In this world, airline dollies almost never work! They sit around in hotel rooms drinking wine, go to the opera and become bigamists for the sheer hell of it.

It's a pretty good drama, there's some nice scenery and if you're a bit older, there's some nostalgia value, too. I stuck with it, and enjoyed the ride but the ending is a bit of a let down.

I really enjoyed Best of Both Worlds! To the best of my knowledge it was only ever televised once in Australia, as I've been trying ever since to see it again. Although I've contacted BBC and never received a reply, I understand it is unlikely ever to be broadcast again. It is not available on video/CD (does anyone know differently?)so I'm disappointed as I would love to see it again. There was just something about it; it was compelling viewing as it swept you along with the unbelievable twists and turns. It was interesting, visually attractive and had an unusual story line - with an ending no-one could've guessed. Very well acted and typecast.

It is available to watch on Hulu (IMDB used to provide this information before Amazon bought it), where I've been enjoying it.