Le droit à l'amour

As a girl who's seen pretty much every happy made-for-TV movie, all I have to say is: who cares if the plot's a bit predictable or the characters are a bit stereotypical? Sometimes nice is just that.

This was better than most happy Hallmark movies, for a number of reasons. In general, the characters were much more appealing than you sometimes find in these movies. The kid was less saccharine-y than normal. And, most importantly (in my opinion), there was far more chemistry between Boy and Girl than you normally find.

I thought it was lovely. A thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.

Hallmark gives its audience what it wants by repackaging its single-mom- meets-guy-who-she-thinks-is-a-jerk-but-he-turns-out-to-be Mr.-Right patented approach in as many different ways as they can think of. They please their audiences even if the leads are generally plug-and-play, the plots predictable, and the production values threadbare.

Class qualifies for all of the above. But it's one of the best applications of the formula. The writing and dialog are a bit tighter and sharper than usual. The supporting acting including wonderful performances by Catherine Mary Stewart and Eric Roberts as the male lead's parents. The sick son is quite good as is the actress playing the Law School Professor (I remember her from My Family and Tortilla Soup) and the actor playing the male lead's best friend also give excellent performances elevating their characters above the norm. Ms. O'Rourke's sister is also well played.

But what elevates this the most is the eye-opening performance by Jody Lyn O'Keefe. Her interpretation of the very unglamorous and emotionally damaged underprivileged single Mom who never caught a break in life seemed totally and completely real. She was so good she could have been such a person in a documentary. Her transformation is never too easy or forced by the script. We feel her painfully and reluctantly experiencing rejection, then having to mask her scars and learn to hope and expect, then demand, better for herself. In most Hallmark movies, it's just part of the back story, here it actually seems real. Her eyes tell the saga of a woman who has experienced more than a more merciful God would allow. And when her son's needs make her put aside her skepticism to anyone willing to help even though she doubts at first his sincerity (with good reason), then later his ability to stand up to his father (with better reason), you feel these hard trade-offs and what they are doing to her.

Class is a classy effort by all and gets an A from me on the basis of a stellar performance by Jody Lyn O'Keefe.

To sum up this film is easy in a few words, looks like a college student film. The director did a horrible job at containing and catching the mistakes made by the camera department. Horrible acting and horrible techniques. Don't waist your time on watching this film.

The only way I can see to improve this movie is to make it an hour longer. Every part was played perfectly. Other movies will have a hard time beating this one. I loved everything about it.

Points for a different approach to the story even though once we get into it, things are a little predictable.

Most of the acting was good. Justin Bruening was just about right in his role as Whitt. His character is supposed to be reserved and controlled and yet with hints of passion. Jodi Lyn O'Keefe plays Kylie as pretty much the same kind of characters, even at the end when there should be more excitement. I would have liked to see some more pronounced positive emotions. Even so there is a quiet chemistry there. Eric Roberts, as Whitt's father is the cliché domineering and slightly neglectful father. I thought this was too one dimensional.

There are two far larger issues than any romance in this movie. One is the whole inconsistency of healthcare for Medicaid and other lower income patients and there is another related social issue that comes up later. Any resolution to these is personal and not general.

The second is the role of God and faith. The preachy factor is low to mid-range. It is a nice sub-plot.

Later in the movie, we start get a flavor similar to one of the "royal" stories. Whitt is almost a kind of American royalty. The movie title is a double entrendre without any risque innuendo. There are definite class differences between Whitt and Kylie which are just as prominent as almost any of the usual "royal" movies.

There's more than one conflict issue. One is obviously predictable and the other is a bit of a surprise even though it is foreshadowed. They work together to bring about the resolution which is predictable yet it does provide an interesting and reasonable climax. The different subplots and themes are woven together pretty well.

Side observations: There is a variation on one of my favorite jokes - what is a sweater? What your mom gives you when she is cold.

The story suffers from what a lot of these stories do - the character with all of her personality quirks (flaws?) could not have gotten to where she is at the beginning with all of those personality traits. It's like her existence began at the beginning of the movie despite efforts to provide a touching backstory. This is a proud and intelligent woman. These things don't come without any of the confidence her head hunter claims she needs. The lack of confidence would make sense. This woman should be a beaten down person and ready to compromise far more than she is. She's intelligent, so she has to know that she needs to do certain things to survive. A perfect example of this lack is her quitting the job Whitt's friend's dad got her just because that's the way she got it. And if the kid's dad left before he was born, how did Kylie and Shane survive the amount of time reflected by Shane's age? Her attitude is deep seated and her employment issues have to go back a long way. The movie picks up like this problem has only just now come to a head.

The next mistake in the story is that even a high school kid would have known the Whitt should have started out with some coaching for things like interviews. Admittedly, Whitt didn't realize it yet, but she also needed some coaching on employee/boss relationships. Again, the woman is intelligent and she is desperate for her kid. These two things mean her attitude may be understandable, but not her predilection for showing it so brazenly.

But this is a rom/dram. Often reality has nothing to do with this genre. So I will have to disregard all that. All that stuff was just a vehicle to give the two principles time together. Once they get past the obligatory antagonism, they have a nice relationship. Another common deficiency in this type of movie is how quickly that antagonism passes. This movie was especially short in explanation as to why this happened.