Perfect Parents

I personally could have done without the thriller part. To me the best parts of the show dealt with the daughter Lucy's religious awakening. Particularly the last scene of the movie. I could see a sequel (or ongoing series) highlighting the increasing conflict between the devout daughter and her atheist father.

You could do a show every Christmas ending in a show where the daughter decides to become a nun or missionary (perhaps in a very dangerous part of the world). There is lots of material for in between episodes also with all the issues there are in the world for a devout girl to reconcile her faith with.

I saw this tonight on ITV1 and loved the story, the acting and the production. Chris Eccleston- always a good, solid actor- was particularly good in this playing the father of a young girl who wants to get her into a good school after a tragic incident at her previous school. The parents have to pretend to be Catholic to get the girl into a prestigious school and all seems well but-this being a thriller- you know things can only go very, very wrong. It was a pure cut-above most TV dramas in that it had an original, cracking script with a good quality cast; Eccleston, David Warner, Lesley Manville and Susannah Harker being the leads. I was enthralled by each new plot twist and the great plot pitting the almost Atheist parents against the good (and bad) aspects of the Catholic church. And the deception has you, weirdly, rooting for them as they have done what they've done for love. Only actors you like can bring this to roles this good. David Warner is a good actor and he brought conflicting aspects to his priest character. An initially warm priest he conveys it well until a revelation about him makes you reconsider how you feel about him. Totally. Highly needed repeat showings in future ITV so more people can see this. This was so good it could have been a film. There's so many rubbish ITV1 thrillers and dramas but this was much better.

Perfect parents, Stewart and Alison have a dilemma regarding their ten year old daughter, Lucy, who has just witnessed a knife fight at her school. They come up with the idea to transfer her to a highly regarded Catholic school in the neighborhood. A priest agrees to assist them in their tale of deception, even to the point of tutoring Lucy on the rituals and many prayers of the ancient Roman religion. Mom and dad must also learn to fake their devotion to the Mother Church, for an impending interview with an intense principal who is in charge of admissions to the school. The problem is that they are atheists. So far, so good, an interesting storyline from writer-director Joe Ahearne. The coaching scenes are hilarious, as the three non adherents learn the can and cannot dos of the one true church of my childhood. The first half is entertaining as hell(pun intended). Unfortunately, Ahearne goes off the rails in the second half, with a complicated, convoluted, and unrealistic plot which killed a promising start. I would have kept it simple, but the filmmaker thought otherwise. 5/10 for the first half.

I don't see a lot of TV and mainly stick to comedy but I have recently got my Daughter into a Secondary School so when I saw it advertised I wanted to see it. It didn't disappoint me. The acting was incredible throughout. It was so realistic. I know several sets of parents who have decided that a Church School would be best for their Child even though they have never practised the faith and some are vehemently against it. This is partly due to the conditions of Schools and the closure of Grammars. Thankfully I have my beliefs and so I wasn't in that position but I can totally sympathise with parents who feel that their only way to get their child into what they view as a good School is to lie. It is actually a compliment to these Schools that parents have gone to this effort to secure a place. One of the best Dramas I have seen, when is it out on DVD?

Perfect parents just won the RomaFictionFest, last week. I was part of the jury and we voted and awarded the movie , the main actor and the screenplay. At the end the movie won the Maximo award above all the other winners. When we viewed the movie for the first time, in the competition, the all jury stood up in front of the director, the actress and the producer, who were present in the theater, and clapped the hands for almost 3 minutes!! Great movie! I am proud of being part of the jury who voted for it. At the end of the award ceremony the actors and the directors were very kind to get back on the stage and take pictures with the jury. I hope this movie will be soon aired in Italy, I am recommending all my friends to watch it and I will buy the DVD as soon as it gets released. In a country like Italy where the Church tries to control everything it could be a lesson.