Sexo, mentiras e obsessão

This is actually a pretty good TV movie, based on a true story, starring real life husband and wife, Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna. Hamlin plays a sex addict who gets caught cheating by his wife. It turns out to be a little more than cheating, and Hamlin's chronic problem is ultimately exposed. He basically destroys his marriage, as well as his relationship with his children.

The indication that this film is realistic and based on a true story is the fact that Hamlin's wife keeps taking him back despite his many transgressions.

The movie doesn't pull any punches - it explores treatment options, 12 step programs, problems that Hamlin's own father had, and the difficulty that husband, wife, and family have coming to terms with their difficulties. It also shows the gritty situations that the man gets into, making one realize that only a compulsive personality would put himself through such horror. Hamlin and Rinna do a very good job.

Unfortunately this film made me reflect on a good friend who was married just like Harry Hamlin(Cameron Thomas),"Strange Hearts",'01, and had a nice family, good job and made a nice career for himself and family. However, just like Cameron Thomas, he was not able to stay faithful to his wife and family and ran after every woman he could find. This is a dreadful illness and leads to many other problems which this film portrays. Lisa Rinna,(Joanna Thomas),"Good Advice",'01, finally found out about her husband and went through a living hell. Cameron promised his wife Lisa, he would try to straighten out, but wound up looking at Porno on the Internet and just simply could not do anything else but fill his brain with SEX. If you have a friend or family member like this, get them HELP!

I didn't see a goofs section for this movie. I caught one and came here to see if anyone else had caught this one. But, since I didn't see an area for goofs for this movie, I just thought this would be the best place to put my discovery. Perhaps if someone makes a goofs section, this post would be better suited for that section.

This is toward the first of the movie, but after Joanna begins to suspect her husband. When Joanna was at school talking to the teacher who is her close friend, the friend in whom she often confides throughout the movie, at one emotional point the teacher friend is trying to make Joanna feel better. But, instead of calling her "Joanna", the friend accidentally calls Joanna by her real life name, "Lisa!" I love finding goofs!

This story is supposed to be very engaging and seríous, and the subject and dilemma (sexual addicition) may very well be just one. However, the way the characters are portrayed here is quite strange and too often become ridiculous - perhaps from trying too tell too much in too little time. I suppose the intention is to explain the background of the sex addicts and the way they can be treated (in very much a US-style therapy manner), but it all becomes too shallow and 1-dimensional, almost like a 40s comic book series. And the lie-detector scenes - these could be an insult to anyone intelligence! Albeit the ludicrous dialogue the film is packed with a very much sympathetic intention and that´s why this is such a cute little piece of melodrama.

Cameron Thomas is an orthopedic surgeon who seems to work long hours, to the frustration of his drama teacher wife Joanna. We don't know where they live, but it's far enough from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that Cameron has to fly there.

Cameron sure does seem to be having a good time in the early scenes of the movie, and his blonde wife is hot. Wait ... that's NOT his wife! And she is not the only woman he goes to. In fact, he goes to the bad section of town as often as possible. This man has a serious problem, and Joanna eventually figures it out. He's bored with her, and nothing she could do would help. Therapy might help. Would you believe they have 12-step programs for this sort of thing?

Eventually, the movie does inspire. It takes falling down--a lot--to get addicts of whatever type to really work on their problems. As one might expect, that happens here.

Lisa Rinna does an okay job as Joanna, but nothing really makes this movie any better than the typical Lifetime offering. Or at least what network TV used to do when movies like this were made for broadcast, not cable. Harry Hamlin has a few good scenes, but he's kind of boring. There's a variety among actresses playing Cameron's women. The first one was easy to like (though not in the sense we should be liking her, I suppose) and I could have enjoyed a movie with her as the female lead.

Just another disease of the week, but not that bad.