My Daughter's Secret Life (2001 TV Movie) User Reviews

very special episode

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 11 September 2016]

Katlin Palmerston (Elisha Cuthbert) is a math-whiz high school student from a middle class home. She starts gambling to save up for an European trip with best friend Cheryl. She takes money from the girls at poker and the boys with football. She even sets up her own betting pool. With a run of bad luck and bad bets, she is in deep trouble. Popular girl Janice's sketchy brother Ron Lunderman sets up a poker game. Katlin wins big and starts dating Ron. The computer gambling continues and everything spirals out of control. She borrows from the wrong couple and they have a creepy way to settle the debt. Her mother (Sherry Miller) rides to the rescue.

This is very much a lesson-filled movie of the week. It's basic and overtly dramatic. There is an inevitability to the plot. Elisha Cuthbert is what shines in this movie. She shows her beauty and her charisma. She's also young enough and pretty close to the 17 year old character. It helps to make it more real and visceral. The last act is quite creepy and unforgettable. It would help to have more original twists but this is strictly a "very special episode" of whatever teen soap.

a cut above

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 3 March 2005]

This is a very good TV movie about the perils of gambling and the addiction of compulsive gambling, especially if you happen to be a teenager.

The main character in this film starts out (as they usually do in these things) as a winner at gambling on the Internet and at school, where she gambles on sports. She runs into difficulty (as they usually do in these things) when she starts losing. In one disturbing scene - the best scene in the film - she winds up at the home of a very strange couple. Without much dialogue, there is a very real sense of impending danger and sleaze. Truly excellent.

Elisha Cuthbert does a great job as the losing teen who just can't quit. The rest of the cast is very strong as well. The lovely Sherry Miller, who plays Cuthbert's mother, always reminds me of a blond Mary Tyler Moore.

The prequel to every porn movie you have ever seen.

[theguy · 6/10 · 11 January 2020]

I watched this movie thinking it was going to be a classic story of a gambler who takes apart the casinos in Las Vegas. Boy, was I wrong!

What a downer movie this was. And I kept watching, thinking there would be vindication at the end - but instead of getting better, it was worse!

And strangely, I liked the ending - which, made me feel that much worse about myself.

On the other hand, I believe when art invokes strong emotion, good or bad, that art must be very good. So, I suppose this movie is good for making me feel like a terrible dirty old man...

Great, Cynical, Dark, Sometimes Funny Lifetime Fare

[frostedpinkcupcake · 4 April 2004]

Well, I guess that the opinions of this film vary so much because it all depends on whether or not the viewer was able to relate the content and the film overall. Personally, I thought the film was incredible and was one of the more realistic films I've seen in a long time. However, like I said, if someone can't relate to a lot of it, I can see how the movie would just be considered 'so-so' or worse by them. I am 18 years old so I was 17 not that long ago. In having a young person write dialog for the script, I thought it enhanced the film greatly because certain things that the girls do and especially say are so realistic amongst teenagers these days, and yes I have known eighteen/seventeen year olds who got addicted to gambling, which leads to drugs,smoking and alcohol that are so extremely close to what is portrayed in the film. In my opinion, I thought the camera gave it a documentary like feel that made it even more realistic and it wouldn't have had the same effect shot any other way. Also, the way the film changed into dreary color schemes during Kaitlin's (Elisha Cuthbert) downward spiral was also a nice touch. I'm aware it won for some awards (to all the people who say the direction, editing etc. was awful, I mean come on how bad could it be getting nominated for best editing at eh?) and I was glad to see it up for some DGC Craft Awards as well. I'm not positive if it was up for any Geminis, but it was deserving of nomination(s) without a doubt. Acting was amazing all around, Sherry Miller was outstanding as the mother, Elisha Cuthbert was so realistic and reminded me exactly of a girl that I knew growing up.Charlotte Sulivan didn't have many lines but had a great presence nonetheless, and I believe the most incredible performance of the entire film was delivered by Evan Sabba.This movie is simply wonderful! Elisha Cuthbert is a terrific actress, and I have a feeling that her career is just going to take off! This film is a great, depressing gambling flick. It's not one of those ordinary, could-never-happen-in-a-million-years stories, because stranger things have happened. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who's in a too-happy mood.

Excellent Film, I look forward to seeing John Fawcett's next project...

Reminds me of a young missy monroe

[shaffrc · 7/10 · 9 December 2019]

Title says it all. Watching gambling films for inspiration. Not bad movie. Recommend Mississippi Grind and Cincinnati Kid but this does show the compulsive nature of gamblers and casting oddly makes the story more believable. Worth the watch.

***SPOILERS***Good performances. Good story.

[refdan · 7/10 · 19 November 2008]

I have to say that I did enjoy this movie. I have only seen Elisha Cuthbert in one other role which didn't impress me. Here, she was stellar. Her performance carried this movie with ample assistance from her wise and loving mother, Sherrie Miller (Valerie).

It seemed credible that this gifted and intelligent "teenager" was drawn to gambling as a way to use her gifts to acquire (I won't say earn) money for her European adventure. As she gradually became obsessed with the next big payoff, it became clear that this was more than an obsession: it was a disease.

My issue with the denouement was that Katlin (Cuthbert) received a very light sentence for her transgressions (rehab and return to school and no European trip). Wow, that was painful! She harmed a LOT of people in addition to harming herself. It is, of course, necessary to receive treatment for this addiction as it is for drug, alcohol, or any other addiction.

It is also necessary to perform restitution for all the harm that she has engendered. The very end of the film shows that not only did she escape any serious punishment, but she apparently is going to "game the system" and use her intelligence to indulge her passion, regardless of any consequences (there may be none). Rather than being a sympathetic character, she becomes someone you might like to smack in the face a couple of times and then walk away. And I believe that this is exactly what the film makers wished to say.

Good, but wanted more.

[latinachick1202 · 7/10 · 4 February 2007]

I just finished watching it for my 7th time or so. Now I've got to say, I was tuned in to the movie the entire time.

But!..I would have liked to see something still happen with her boyfriend because I think he's gorgeous and it seemed --with the whole getting her more hooked on gambling and her getting involved with the loan shark put aside-- like he cared about her. I thought it was absolutely adorable.

And I wasn't to crazy about the ending, I mean yeah, it's so real and what not, but rehab is supposed to be helping her, and her friend would kill her because she didn't get the scooter that was supposed to be from both of them.

And when her mom went into Blaire's house and beat his ass with that car thing, that was priceless ha ha, I loved it.

But yea I still think Ron((her boyfriend, if you haven't seen it)), is absolutely gorgeous. =]

a flatly realistic portrayal of gambling addiction and smart kids' vulnerability

[craighubleyca · 9/10 · 1 April 2006]

I don't see how you could like Elisha Cuthbert and not want to see this.

Don't read any further unless you hate Cuthbert and wouldn't see it if you didn't like great stories. "Cuthbert won the 2001 Gemini (Canadian television awards) for best actress in a dramatic program or mini-series and Sherry Miller, who plays her mother, won the Gemini for best supporting actress." Both well deserved. This was among the best Canadian made-for-TV movies I've seen - up there with "Human Cargo", "Prairie Giant", "Trudeau", all of which had big budgets and over four hours to tell their great stories, and drew on true life stranger than fiction).

This movie had a small budget. What it did have, was Elisha Cuthbert, whose expressive face dominates the film, and rightfully so, since it's the ebbs and flows of her optimism and despair that we're following as she (spoiler follows!) becomes a gambling addict. The vulnerability of smart kids who think they're invulnerable, the easy links from mildly illegal football pools to more illegal organized house poker parties to taking pills and then hanging out in quite illegal after-hours casinos, were all made without preaching. At each stage you want her to get out and it's hard not to yell "get out!" at the screen, because Cuthbert is never unsympathetic or stupid. She's always almost out of the situation and trying to get wholly out of it, is what gets her in deeper trouble.

I found her parents' behaviour especially effective dramatically and believable. Not only Sherry Miller, who gets the best "mom" part I've seen in any TV movie, and who deals with each situation appropriately and decisively, but the hedge-fund-manager Dad who understands gambling as a process intellectually but isn't there emotionally enough to help his daughter deal with its psychological effects. These are believable suburban parents for a character like Cuthbert's Kaitlin, who's not at all "spoiled" but does feel she's got a lot of rope before she hangs... all of which she uses. The affair with her 22-year-old boyfriend also makes perfect sense - he's a coward when dealing with the loan shark, and also with her, and even with her mother - though he obviously is the one who makes the whole house of cards fall in on the shark in the end.

It's real hard not to cheer when Mom takes down the creepy pornographer who's threatening to "tear her family apart". I like that she goes back specifically to do it. You get a real sense of the mama-bear pushed to the edge to protect her cub. Though technically the loan shark Blair is not the guy who caused her daughter's dilemma (she owns it, completely), he does make a nice side character demonstrating how awful it is to live in Toronto suburbs. Yup, those are your neighbours in Markham, folks. I liked how ordinary the couple was, and how they were obviously turned on by the power they gained over young girls with the loan shark game - obvious sociopaths who make your skin crawl. Just like real suburbs! I rate this a 9 because of what it managed to do on such a low budget - you get RIGHT into the head of a gambling addict and you're THERE with her through the worst of it - becoming a slave of sociopaths in Markham or Surrey or wherever that was.

Amazing acting

[ebach · 10/10 · 14 June 2002]

I just saw this movie yesterday and I've been wanting to see it for a long time now. I didn't have any high expectations since lots of made-for-tv movies are lame, but this movie was really good. The story line was great and extremely dark. The most brilliant part is the acting. Elisha Cuthbert is simply amazing in this movie. I haven't seen her on anything else than '24' where she also does a great job, but she is so fantastic in this movie. Also the other actors and actresses are doing a really excellent job. I've never heard anything about teenagers gambling and this movie left me thinking if this really exist and how horrible it is. The scene in the end with Blair, his wife and Katlin is so dark and deep and it's so well performed by Elisha. If one of your tv-channels are showing this movie then it's a must see. I'll give it a 9,5 out of 10...

One of the best drama I've ever seen...

[Dungur · 10/10 · 28 April 2005]

I happened to watch this TV movie when I surfed my cable TV and I saw Elisha Cuthbert starred the screen.As I recognized her from Popular Mechanics series,I decided to watch the movie.It was one of the righteous moves I had ever made in term of watching movies.The quality surpasses some of the dramas produced in Tinseltown.The plot is though simple,but the mood and feel will haunt you right into your mind.Being a girl who was addicted to gambling and gone spiraling downwards,Elisha has proved to me that she is a great actress and worth to be given credits.The supporting casts are just amazing and credible,it seems that they lived just next door of your home for some reason.The ending is just captivating in my opinion,it is just.Sadly,I have only seen it once and would like to have a copy of the movie.A haunting movie that was beautifully made.Being in my list of THE movie to watch before you die.Two words,brilliant,wonderful 10.5/10

high school for hotties

[tracyfigueira · 8/10 · 22 September 2008]

This 2001 Canadian made-for-TV movie has been airing on the Lifetime Movie Network under the title "My Daughter's Secret Life," leading one to expect another cheesy, moralistic "Moment of Truth" type chick flick. "Lucky Girl" is anything but. It's a flawed but relentlessly absorbing character study that keeps the suspense flowing until the end. There's literally not a dull moment. The exquisite Elisha Cuthbert, Canada's answer to Marilyn Monroe, gives a strong performance as a high school honors student who develops an addiction to gambling. The movie is anything but a case study, though: it's almost a worse-case scenario of just how much trouble teenage girls are capable of getting into, almost a cross between "thirteen" and "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me." Though not as troubled, Cuthbert's character does bear a certain resemblance to the late lamented Laura Palmer as played by Sheryl Lee. She's a gorgeous high school girl who goes to a school where all the girls are gorgeous . . . literally! There's not a single ugly girl or even a respectable plain Jane on site! This is a high school where everybody is rich, good-looking, and spends all their money on football pools and poker. Besides Ms. Cuthbert, my favorite was Charlotte Sullivan as the decadent rich girl whose older brother becomes the heroine's partner in crime. All Cuthbert wants to do is earn money for a post-graduation trip to Europe with her BFF, but what starts with scratch-offs rapidly escalates into football pools, poker, after-hour casinos run by Asian gangsters featuring truly bad lounge singers, drugs, pornography, and the burglarizing of her own house. Cuthbert and Sherry Miller (as her mom) won the Canadian equivalent of Emmys, but the whole cast is excellent. This film is so melodramatic and over-the-top as to defy plausibility, but its relentlessly grim tone at least has the virtue of making viewers feel better about their own boring lives. As teenage bad-girl movies go, this one is one of the best, and is miles above such pathetic Hollywood drivel as "Freeway," despite the latter having Reese Witherspoon as its star.

Better than your average TV movie.

[sarazarr · 10/10 · 6 November 2001]

Great made-for-TV fun. A little edgier than your typical Lifetime fare and not nearly as cheesy (but cheesy enough to satisfy that cheese-jones). More realistic high school setting than one usually sees in these things, and the actors actually looked the ages they were supposed to portray. Good performances, good writing, and gotta love the not-so-happy ending.

Non verbal communication at its best!

[sabrositopapito · 10 October 2002]

This movie proves an old and wasted theory. A good cast promises a great movie. Hollywood always tries to do such thing like in Ocean's Eleven. Put every actor in it and you have a 100 million dollar movie. Lets put Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts (The Mexican) in a flick and its guaranteed. Well, both of those movies are not good, they are what I like to call COMMERCIAL MOVIES. The Lucky Girl was shot in Canada with low budget for T.V . It has an amazing cast that don't need to say cheasy lines to get a reaction. Their non - verbal communication, (faces and gestures they make) is breathtaking. You can sense the desperation Elisha Cutbeth feels, is is IS........SO GOOD! It truly was a wonderful experience that made me stay up till 4 in the morning.

It's good to see a T.V movie that has plot and great GREAT GREAT ACTING_!

Surprisingly wonderful

[puckterberg · 10/10 · 9 April 2002]

First of all, let me just say that if you are a fan of Elisha Cuthbert, like I am, then "Lucky Girl" is a must-see movie. Although I have not seen a whole lot of her work ("Mail to the Chief" and "24") I cannot imagine it getting any better than this. However, even if this movie had not been blessed with her presence, it would still be a very fine piece of work. Because it is a Canadian made-for-tv movie, I did not expect anything special, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is very well put together and the acting is top-notch. Cuthbert won the 2001 Gemini (Canadian television awards) for best actress in a dramatic program or mini-series and Sherry Miller, who plays her mother, won the Gemini for best supporting actress. The movie premiered in Canada on 4/8/01 on CTV and 'lucky' for those of us in the US, it was picked up by Lifetime, who changed the title to "My Daughter's Secret Life." But whatever it is called, do yourself a favor and see this movie.

If this is Canada's equivalent of a Lifetime movie...spoiler alert

[smoke0 · 6 May 2005]

If this is Canada's equivalent of a Lifetime movie......then the USA is in big trouble.

You have to see this one to believe it, and love it - possibly the best good girl gone bad flick I have seen since Showgirls.

Yes, it is just that cheesy.

As for the acting, it's all good, believable, maybe a bit too much so for American viewers used to seeing Valerie Bertinelli or Jaclyn Smith heaving heavy remorseful sighs for their sins and/or more likely role decisions, but a hell of a lot better than that McCleod's Brood crap or made for Lifetime garbage that is shown daily on those wimmin's pics channels of late.

And above all, this one has something no other movie of this genre has had now or since, so don't read on if you don't want the best part spoiled!

SPOILER coming!

Mom beats up the bad guy - You got to love it.

Cuthbert emerges triumphant!

[djtcsrg · 9/10 · 21 January 2023]

I've been averaging a movie a day for years (I'm retired) and this has got to be one of the most underrated and bypassed movies I have encountered. Not only does it star a young (19) and very beautiful Elisha Cuthbert; the acting, writing, and direction are top-notch, with possibly one minor exception. I enjoyed Elisa in "The Girl Next Door," but she really shines in this, her first major role. She is convincing, powerful, and sexy. Not all that common a mix, but she nails all three!

The movie was riveting, and intense. The actors playing high school students came across as authentic and natural: not hokey or contrived.

Surprisingly well done

[charles000 · 8/10 · 1 July 2019]

Some aspects of this reminded me of the film "21", but this is very much its own story. Of course, I have to admit watching Elisha in this production was its own entertainment, but beyond that this was a reasonably realistic look at the dark side of gambling among highschool kids in the proverbial affluent neighborhood . . . an all too real dilemma that many have faced in real life.

For some, at least, gambling really is an addiction, just as powerful as any drug. I've never been afflicted with it myself, so for quite some time I had difficulty understanding or believing this. But then I saw this happening, witnessed first hand how compelling the grip of this addiction really can be.

Given that background, I could actually watch this production and had no trouble at all believing the story and characters portrayed. For an obscure made for TV Canadian film, this was surprisingly well done.

Other gambling themed films have mostly been over the top, absurdly over done portrayals of this life, but Lucky Girl was pretty much spot on, perhaps the best yet bringing this concept to life. Of course, I'm not going to hint at how this ends, but it's not what most viewers would probably expect, it's a bit closer to actual reality.

Sometimes the best dramas with a message get hidden away in obscurity, this may be just such an example. I can be good with 8 stars.

great story acted simply but beautifully

[eyalbenmo · 10/10 · 31 July 2016]

i saw this movie by accident, just cause i knew the lead actress like anybody else from the series 24 , and it surprised me for the best cause you don't think a low budget movie with mostly unknown actors to shine i can say its a great story that can happen in any family Elisha is acting amazing and although her young age its her best performance all the other actors are great too and make you believe them, this is a life lesson on how easily life can go wrong when you are sucked into gambling , something that is sadly becoming more and more common in our world with online gambling becoming easier to use, i really recommend this movie and think it should be seen in schools at least one time in order to warn other children of the danger in gambling acted

this is a thrilling show

[tatyana_sosolid · 9 February 2002]

i watched this programme from start to finish i think its good acting but the plot line is quite scary actually at the end it was scary when katlin couldn't pay the money . what they did to katlin was scary and it's not like other movies/programmes.

the acting was good so i give it a 10

Disturbing

[david_barnett1 · 9/10 · 5 March 2019]

Having seen Elisha Cuthbert in "The Girl Next Door", I was anxious to see more of her work.

Where the other film was a happy fairy tale love story, this is a far more realistic depiction of a clever, pretty girl's growing addiction to gambling and her ruination.

It's not a film I shall watch again. The experience was too painful. Miss Cuthbert is certainly an accomplished actress.

Lucky Girl

[ingbri9-63-209570 · 6 August 2021]

Suspense drama about a young innocent high school girl (though she still tends to be a rather smart-a$$ throughout the whole film) from a middle-class family, who causes friction for the rest of her family and classmates by developing an increasingly obsessive gambling habit, and eventually winds up in the clutches of a rather sadistic loan shark....not bad for a made-for-T. V., which was produced in Canada.