A Husband, a Wife and a Lover (1996 TV Movie) User Reviews

Not bad

[tlharrison-59546 · 6/10 · 18 August 2022]

Hokey, hard to believe, and downright laughable at times but I found myself enjoying it. Judith Light is an underrated treasure of our time. She does an amazing job (as usual). I'll watch anything with her. This story did not go the direction I expected, which was somewhat a pleasant surprise.

Some scenes felt very repetitive and unnecessary, while it would have been nice to see other elements added. Disappointing to include some characters early on in the movie, then just have them drop off with only a mere suggestion of why. Still, I'd recommend.

"The Popular Mechanics version of Jules and Jim"

[petershelleyau · 25 August 2003]

This made-for-TV movie, inspired by actual events, has a teleplay by Danial Freudenberger that avoids most of the cliches of the romantic triangle, and features an understated performance by Judith Light, who co-executive produces.

Light is caterer Lisa McKeever, who is on the verge of leaving her gambling cheating husband documentarian Eric (Jay Thomas) when he has a stroke. Although his speech is not affected, Eric is still immobilised, and Lisa feels obliged to stay in a loveless marriage. However romantic interest from her mechanic Art (William Russ) brings a complication.

Freudenberger makes Art so amenable, that Art's empathy with Eric subverts all Eric's anger and jealousy, though amusingly Lisa objects to Art's sensitive new age man routine when she snaps "Just love me. Don't try to understand me". We get doses of melodrama in a heart attack, the disapproval of the McKeever daughter ("There's a word for women who love two men"), and an air vent in Eric's room that allows him to overhear Lisa and Art having sex - though the latter is acknowledged by Lisa as a deliberate act of cruelty. Freudenberger's dialogue has the wit to have Eric describe the set-up as "the Popular Mechanics version of Jules and Jim", and has one of Eric's jokes repeated, though we also get "Why are you doing this?". Given that Lisa is a caterer and Art also a good cook, we also get a lunch where their food is eroticised as they eat chocolate.

Given that both Lisa and Art have good intentions, it's a shame that more is not made of Eric's anger, since these moments give Thomas his best moments. He is styled with a grey streak in his hair, but then both Light and Russ are also photographed with lines under their eyes.

Director Ted Kotchef creates a very clean atmosphere, with only one subjective camera angle and one expressionist shot, only one badly staged scene where Lisa eyeballs her daughter, and the sentimental music of Jonathan Goldsmith is tolerable.

not my cup of tea

[sandcrab277 · 3/10 · 25 November 2019]

Both the male leads, jay thomas and william russ are obnoxious and full of themselves, not endearing to a real woman of strength like the role judith light plays ... the film is made in toronto so there is basically no scenery worth watching ... i suppose most chick flick writers think its more romantic to have one's own catering business rather than toiling away for someone else in a high class restaurant .. judith is a very capable actress and does her roll well

A sick affair, save yourself the pain

[Iluvcleanfunnymovies · 1/10 · 23 July 2023]

It was aired on prime time NBC in the late 90s as "A strange affair". The network marketed it as a damsel in distress who found true love.

I'll watch, sure!

I started watching this also because I really like Jay Thomas and I've always liked Judith Light.

I suspect the actors played the characters as they were supposed to be. Needless to say, those characters are morally corrupt. ALL OF THEM!

This was a tit-for-tat marriage. "You wronged me so I'm gonna show you and wrong you back" that doesn't make you right, it debases you down to their level. And that's what Judith's character does.

She doesn't take the highroad by taking care of her husband, no, she sees it as a way to get him back. That's narcissistic manipulation, dare I say abuse?!. She gets a boyfriend and uses him to get back at her husband. Their argument, when she's cutting Jay's hair, is proof she's a narcissist user abuser. She gets him to apologize for her cruelty. Narcissist.

Her husband cheated on her. Not a good quality man, for sure, but he never brought those women home to *live* with them.

But she goes to find a boyfriend and convinces him to move it with her and her husband. Sick boyfriend with no morals. Who can even think of doing such a thing?

That makes her the heroine? That makes her the victim?

In this twisted movie, that's the claim

This is one of those movies that I just had to see to the end! It was like watching a car accident.

Unfortunately the ending was so bad! Such a gag reflex! Her husband dies, she starts necking her boyfriend, and they leave a picture up in the house of him. Focus on picture of Jay Thomas. End scene.

So cringe.

This has a mark of a lifetime movie, but this was not a lifetime movie. I'm sure the people involved with it may have a part in the lifetime network now, as this movie appears to be their moral compass.

Other title "A Strange Affair"...Judith Light and Jay Thomas...

[MarieGabrielle · 9/10 · 9 May 2006]

Good combination- and an odd story based on fact.

The title- "A Strange Affair" is a bit more intriguing.This is an interesting story, well-acted by Judith Light and Jay Thomas.

When Light's husband (Jay Thomas) has a stroke, she decides to attempt a catering business, at first it is very uncertain, but she encounters a sympathetic auto mechanic who helps her out.

If this was fiction, it would be boring. But somehow, Light draws in the audience, makes us care. She is after all, doing the right thing, caring for a selfish husband, and trying to make things work. The children are on the periphery.

There are some beautiful winter scenes of Horseshoe Falls and the Seattle coastline, flying at 14,000 feet. This is a good film- give it a chance. Light always rises to the occasion, and makes us care about the characters involved. Jay Thomas is also believable,and sympathetic. Hope to see him in more family drama. 9/10.

And then there was Light

[dedeurs · 9/10 · 22 August 2017]

For the first fifteen minutes of The Strange Affair I thought, "Men like Eric should get a marriage restraint, and for life." I hate such guys, but I kept watching. Because Judith Light is in it. And the Bad Husband & Pitiful Wife story - so often exploited in LifeTime TV films - appeared to be a lot more complicated than I expected. Light is a fascinating woman. She's blessed with a long face, big hair and heavy Catherine Deneuve eyelids that make her cool, regal and tragic all at once. According to the laws of the Hollywood Beauty Norm she isn't a beauty, but she is, she is! She's absolutely gorgeous. petershelleyau wrote a much better review than me, so all I further have to say: wonderful movie. And viewers will be a Judith Light fan forever.

"The Popular Mechanic's version of Jules and Jim."

[dloebe · 10/10 · 2 July 2017]

A Strange Affair indeed! What a film! Judith Light shines in this made-for- Lifetime(?) drama based on "real events". Lisa (Light), a proud graduate of Betty Crocker U, her husband Eric (the ubiquitous Jay Thomas) and a greasy-nailed poor mans' Colin Firth (Russ) offer an, um, interesting(?) dynamic.