Sealed with a Kiss (1999) (TV)

Director:

Ron Lagomarsino

Writer (WGA):

Jeff Arch (written by)

Release Date:

19 September 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Bennett, who's engaged to his boss's daughter, just lost a major client for his company. When a letter...

Plot Keywords:

Longfellow | Fate | Love Letter | Chance

Cast

John Stamos	...	Bennett Blake
Annabeth Gish	...	Robbie
Jane Sibbett	...	Christina Ethridge
Mitchell Whitfield	...	Larry
Robert Stack	...	Sumner Ethridge
Nell Carter	...	Mrs. Wheatley
Barry Corbin	...	Wink 'Pop' Blake
Angie Dickinson	...	Lucille Ethridge
Kira Clavell	...	Cynthia, Bennett's Assistant
Martin Doyle	...	Rick Avery
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
James Allodi	...	Rebhorn
Walter Alza	...	Arturo
John Bourgeois	...	Cowboy Bob
Donald Burda	...	Smeal
Ian D. Clark	...	Cab Driver
Marc Cohen	...	Protester
Craig Eldridge	...	Father in Park
Matthew Eldridge	...	Son in Park
Frank Falcone	...	Heavy Metal Man
Catherine Glen	...	Mrs. Smeal
Edward Glen	...	Ziggy the Doorman
James Mainprize	...	Airsick Man
Jonathan Malen	...	Boy On Airplane
Nancy McAlear	...	Linda, Larry's Wife
Arlene Meadows	...	Betty Blake
Patrick Patterson	...	Local Businessman
Tony Perri	...	Man In Steamroom
Martin Roach	...	Jerome McAllister
George Sperdakos	...	Mr. Papaportiliou
Maria Vacratsis	...	Mrs. Papaportiliou
Kathryn Zenna	...	Deanna, Robbie's Friend

Also Known As:

First Comes Love (UK)
Longfellow Bridge (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

New Line Television

Movie Connections:

References Toute une vie (1974)

Light predictable comedy with little romance

John Stamos plays Bennett, a financial consultant for a large Boston firm who loses an oddball client for his firm due to an action out his control. Annabeth Gish is Robbie, a curator of the museum home of the poet Longfellow which is desperate for funding.

Robbie needs closure with a previous boyfriend who has dropped out of her life. She writes him a letter asking for closure. The letter, do to a mix-up, is delivered to Bennett's apartment where he and his fiancé read the letter. In returning the letter Bennett meets Robbie.

The movie is mainly about Stamos's character as he is the one who undergoes a transformation in the movie. After losing the client Bennett starts to question his life. He doesn't know what his life is about but he feels what he has is not what he wants. He also decides he wants a child.

Bennett is engaged to be married to Christina, a professional career woman on the verge of getting a great job for Deutsche Bank working in Germany. Bennett and Christina live together but her passion is only for her job, not their relationship or in having a family.

Christina and Robbie represent the two paths in life that Bennett has to decide to follow. Christina represents his career and the pursuit of money and appearances without knowing why. A soulless life.

Robbie represents the stay-at-home mom and a purposeful life. A single woman naturally can't sit around home waiting for her Prince Charming so in this movie she has a job of curator for the museum HOME of Longfellow.

Christina doesn't need Bennett as she is doing quite well without any help or input from him. Robbie, on the other hand, needs Bennett's help as the Park Service has the Longfellow home under review for closure due to lack of money and interest in the home. It would appear Robbie isn't doing an adequate job in manging the home. Bennett helps Robbie and puts a financial plan together for the Longfellow home in an effort to save it.

In working together Bennett and Robbie develop an attraction to one another. But he is engaged. For Bennett and Robbie to be together he would have to break off his engagement to Christina and leave his fancy lifestyle behind.

The movie is amiable, but has problems in areas that could persuade one to overlook its predictability. It has the career woman as being very harsh and passionateless. She is attractive but cold. We are rooting for Bennett to leave her, not because she is mean but because she is too focused on her career.

Gish seems miscast as Robbie. She didn't seem to know what to do with the role, or perhaps didn't believe in the role. She looked the part of an administrator or of a career woman, and certainly seemed good in berating Bennett when she mistook him for someone else, but she didn't seem to know how to portray a woman needing closure or a woman falling in love. Gish fails to provide gestures, or looks, or emotion in her eyes.

Bennett's and Robbie's romance is just as passionateless as his romance with Christina. It is a difficult role as Gish needed to convince the audience of her attraction to Bennett without appearing to be stealing him away from Christina. I thought of Bennett and Robbie more as good friends or brother & sister than I did of them as romantic partners. Stamos looked too young to be having a "mid-life" crisis and Gish looked too old for Stamos.

The movie even realized this problem as Robbie gives an odd "if this were a movie" speech at the end as a way to explain her feelings and thoughts on how their relationship should work.

The movie works better if one focuses on Bennett and his search for a more meaningful life. The movie was written and directed by men and they seemed more comfortable with the Bennett character than the romance. It may be also why the career woman was negative and the non-career woman was shown in a positive manner.

Another problem: references were made to this being in Boston, but I got no flavor of the city. Initially I thought the movie was set in Chicago or some Midwestern city.

I saw this movie on TV with the title of "Love Comes First". A bland title, but one that seems more appropriate than "Sealed With a Kiss". I can't remember anyone in this movie passionately kissing anyone else.