Her Best Friend's Husband

Still not over the death of her husband a couple of years earlier, a widow by the name of "Jane Thornton" (Cheryl Ladd) takes a flight from New York to attend a surprise birthday party for her best friend "Mandy Roberts" (Bess Armstrong) in Seattle. Naturally, Mandy is delighted to see her best friend but later turns the tables on Jane by confiding that she is terribly unhappy in her marriage and is going to file for divorce from her husband, "Will Roberts" (William R. Moses) in the near future. This unexpected news not only shocks Jane, but it completely devastates Will who realized Mandy had been rather cold and aloof lately but never suspected how unhappy she really was. Be that as it may, as Will drives her to the airport for her return flight back to New York, she is taken by complete surprise when Will reaches out and kisses her in an extremely passionate manner. But it's only when she returns to Seattle several months later that she discovers that Will isn't the only one starved for affection. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be a better romantic-drama than I initially expected with both Cheryl Ladd and Bess Armstrong performing quite well in their respective roles. Admittedly, the made-for-television format may have lessened the overall impact but even so I enjoyed this film for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Jane is a busy New York attorney who did not have time to come to the funeral when her best friend Mandy lost her father. But for Mandy's birthday, she is flying to Seattle and taking some time off.

Mandy is not happy. She never sees her architect husband Will except when they are in bed. She wants a divorce. And she wants to start her own design business, to be located in a building owned by furniture designer Elliott. Mandy also thinks that two years after Peter died, Jane needs to start dating again, and Jane and Elliott seem to get along.

Mandy and Will have a daughter Kelly who is in college and dating Sam, a rock musician. Kelly doesn't think her parents will approve. Jane has connections that might help Sam's career.

From the movie's title, you can probably guess what will happen. I won't give too much away, but I will say characters have mature reactions to the events that take place ... eventually. They set examples for people who might behave otherwise in the real world, because situations like this happen all the time.

Lindy Booth was absolutely adorable as Kelly. I hated to see her sad, but Booth handled both perky and depressed well.

Cheryl Ladd looks cute with short hair. And, at least when this movie was made, she had nice legs for tennis and ... other activities.

Bess Armstrong wasn't much to look at and all her character seemed to do was complain, and yet I didn't find her unpleasant. It has been a lot of years since she was so cute in "On Our Own", and I would say she looks her age. But she must have done a good job with this role, because a guy should automatically run and hide on hearing the first words in this paragraph.

If you cry during movies, make sure to stock an ample supply of Kleenex.

This made for tv-movie tells the story of best friends Mandy Roberts (Bess Armstrong) and Jane Thornten (Cheryl Ladd) who find themselves at a crossroads. Mandy is the stifled wife of Will (William R. Moses) and mother to college student daughter, Kelly (Lindy Booth), but she longs to be more. When Mandy gets the nerve to ask for a divorce and open her own business she asks Jane for support. The widowed Jane obliges begrudgingly, but feels for the wounded Will and Kelly. Naturally (and predictably) Will and Jane fall in love. How will Mandy react? Will Jane's conscience let her love Will? What will Kelly do when she finds out? We know the answers already, but it's still fun to watch. A standout in this cast is up-and-coming Canadian actress Lindy Booth as Kelly. She is a joy to watch in anything, but it is especially exciting to see her featured so prominently here.

In terms of story, everyone is wrong here, except maybe the daughter. Mandy - where did she get the idea that she wanted out? Jane - she was part of that family. You don't do that to family, not to your best friend, not to her mom, not to her daughter who is like a daughter to you. But people seldom do what is right full across the board. People do what pleases them most at the time. Sometimes they also repent. Sometimes they forgive.

The main actors feel like they are trying to hard. They feel like they are acting. Like they bear down on each line. Strangely, relative newcomer Lindy Booth seems the most natural.

The story is pure hype, pure sensational, dare a say pure cliché.

I was very excited about seeing commercials for this movie because amongst all the repeats, it was refreshing to see a new movie on cable. Being on Lifetime I also thought I would have to bring the kleenex. In the end it wasn't that bad of a movie.

In the beginning you can see the wife/ex-wife distancing herself from the husband and one might think she's having an affair, but she's just really "re-evalutating" her life, blah blah blah. So now the husband is confused and here comes the best friend. This movie is predictable and the actors/actresses in it did a really good job. Cheryl Ladd, Bess Armstrong, Lindy Booth, and William R. Moses were all well chosen for the parts. Cheryl Ladd and William R. Moses are 2 of my favorite actors.

However, the movie soon started dragging on and on and I found that the only good roll was the boyfriend of the daughter who didn't have that many speaking parts. Watch this movie for yourself. I would have liked it if there was some more fighting like from that imfamous scene from the soap opera "Dynasty". Yea, note the "nasty" in there. Anyway, watch this movie. You might like it. I give is 3 our of 5 stars.

Just watch this and form your own opinion. It's not as cheesey as most of the movies on Lifetime. Give it a chance. If you don't like it, that's okay. If you like it, that's cool!