What Matters Most

I loved this movie so much because it makes other people see how it is to live and grow up in a small town with all the pressures and things of life. I'm so glad the Cusumanos chose Vega to film there movie there. I got to be a part of it and I think that the movie is wonderful!

I taped this movie from Lifetime and my wife and I watched this movie together on December 19, 2005. It was good to see two good actors we were familiar with, Chad Allen and Marshall Teague giving believable performances to difficult parts. As a former counselor in one of my jobs prior to retirement, I met young people in love with parents of one or both not approving. My wife's parents did not approve of me at first. With this background we could feel the emotions of the two young people in love. The accident, the period of recovery, all the way to the conclusion kept us both glued to the TV set until the end although we felt some of it toward the end was contrived but we enjoyed the ending. We recommend the movie to anyone whose hearts go out to others in time of need.

This Lifetime film involves the richest kid in a small Texas town who falls for a girl from the other side of the tracks. Much is made of the lack of identity of the girl's father, but in the end that turns out to be quite irrelevant to the proceedings.

There's no anonymity in a small town like this. Maybe if young Polly Cusumanno had grown up in a big city, her past might have disappeared, but in a place like this everyone knows everyone's business.

Including Marshall Teague, the richest guy in town. He wants son Chad Allen to marry the banker's daughter in fact he insists on Chad standing up Polly and taking Shonda Farr to the senior prom. They do have a rendezvous after the prom though.

Teague and his wife Gretchen German are an interesting pair though, a bit freaky. They are also single minded in training Chad's younger sister Kaitlyn Lewis to be a new Miss Junior Texas. Seeing her in that pageant reminded me of Jon Benet Ramsey and what her parents must have been like.

A serious crisis brings the parties together though not quite all at once.

What Matters Most is not bad for a Lifetime Channel production. Viewers from Texas seem to think it captured the culture very well and who am I to argue?

This is a movie that touches your heart as well as your mind. As I was watching this movie I couldn't help but think how much time we waste looking at the world through our own personal tunnel. That the things that truly matter, which are there all around us, seem to get lost. From things as simple as the smile on the faces of the people we love, to seeing the sadness in their eyes, to being able to really listen. Because in the end what really matters most, is the life and love we share, and the love we leave behind. I highly recommend this film.

A domineering father tries to prevent his son from being with his true love with disastrous consequences. Overcoming prejudice and learning "what matters most" is the central theme. Plus a really unique surprise ending made for an overall good movie...