Dying to Live

Rachel Linden (Hayley Du Mond) and Matt Jannett (Gabriel Mann) are sweathearts in a deep love for each other. Leslie Chambers (Linda Cardellini) likes Matt, but he refuses her. In a party, the evil Leslie puts some drugs in Rachel's drink, but Matt drinks it, causing an accident with Rachel. She dies, and the angel Will (Jonathan Frakes) takes care of her. This movie is an enjoyable story of angel and spirit. Although being a television movie, it was released on VHS in Brazil and it is indeed a nice story. I did not like the conclusion of the plot, but it is a film good to see. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): `Morrendo Para Viver' (`Dying to Live')

Was up late one night, channel hopping and this just started and missed the beginning credits, so I did not really have a clue what it was about.

Started of as the usual teen flick, with a guy having a psycho for an ex-girlfriend who now has a problem adjusting to the fact that he has found someone new. The new girlfriend gets murdered with the boyfriend as chief suspect and surprise, surprise the psychopath being everyones Miss Innocent, well apart from one lady detective. The murder victim becomes an angel and Johnathan Frakes is her guide who helps her to prove to the world what really happened. Mr Frakes seems to have the same wardrobe as in that paranormal/weird happenings show he does. Throughout the film I felt he had ulterior motives, I was wondering is he a good angel or a baddie.

The film itself has that made for TV feel about it, however its very well acted by all. Special mention must be for the three main females who play each of their parts well. The script throughout is never too slushy or biblical. A sort of mixture between Ghost and an episode of Highway to Heaven. All in all a very good film for its genre and worth watching. Nice little twist at the end, which I was not expecting.

Dying to Live was really a good movie! Considering most TV fare, this film came through for me, unlike most teen films made for the small screen. Acting was generally good, but not much depth was required of the actors. Little was asked of Jonathan Frakes who was not much more than a narrator. Gabriel Mann was very good as Matthew, but I think he fell short when true depth and emotion was needed. Linda Cardellini was convincing as the cute Leslie, as was Shannon Elizabeth as the pathetic Vanessa, but it was Hayley DuMond who really put effort and heart into her roll. DuMond really shone. She was adorable as Rachel. She brought emotion and depth to the part and credibility to the story. Her torment and hurt when her father rejected her boyfriends plea for forgiveness was so believable, I believe there were actually tears on viewers cheeks, and this was only one of several scenes where she pulled us totally into her character and she actually moved us.

The story was small and perhaps cliche, but it held my interest from beginning to end and the little twist in the end worked. I liked this film.

This movie, blended a mixture of ghost and the 1999 Hollywood craze of teenage movies. The plot is simple, but the movie is well acted and also very interesting. Although it is a TV movie, it is better than most of this year's cinema releases. This movie shows a great improvement in the making of television movies this decade. WELL DONE PARAMOUNT!!!!

I saw this movie on lifetime and ever since then i look all over for the movie on DVD or VHS and i have not been able to find it anywhere! i love it so much... it is my all time favorite movie.. if anyone knows where to find it.. please tell me I most definitely recommend this movie to anybody.. there is something in it for everyone... there is also and important lesson for everyone to learn.... everyone of all ages should see this movie... it is not something you should protect your child from seeing because this movie is truly fantastic.. i love it so much and if i owned it i would watch it every day of my life all of the time. it is so good... go buy it... if you find it tell me where you got it please i have been looking for over a year