The Pilot's Wife (2002) (TV)

Director:

Robert Markowitz

Writers (WGA):

Anita Shreve (novel)
Anita Shreve (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

14 April 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

What would you do if you learned your husband had a secret life?

Plot:

Kathryn is distraught at the news of her husband's death delivered by a stranger from the airline for whom he was a pilot...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Christine Lahti	...	Kathryn Lyons
Campbell Scott	...	Robert Hart
Alison Pill	...	Mattie Lyons
Kirsty Mitchell	...	Muire Boland
John Heard	...	Jack Lyons
Nigel Bennett	...	Dick Somers
Rick Burchill	...	Tierney
David Christoffel	...	Sullivan
Christopher Shore	...	Martin (as Chris Shore)
Richard Donat	...	Father Paul
Bruce McAllister	...	News anchor
Joseph Rutten	...	Old fisherman
Mike Clattenburg	...	Television reporter
Gary Levert	...	Pilot
Daniel Lillford	...	Dermot Baldwin

Also Known As:

La femme du pilote (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some sensuality.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Lions Gate Films

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The helicopter recovering wreckage appears to be registered in Canada, as the registration begins with the letter C.

Movie Connections:

Edited from Airport 1975 (1974)

Christine Lahti excels here....

in the title role of a pilot's wife who must contend with his sudden mysterious death overseas. His plane went down, and she is besieged by officials and airline PR executives, all anxious to learn the truth, for their own varied interests. Campbell Scott is also very good as airline company man who follows Lahti to London. She hopes to clear her husband's name, but what she finds there only creates even greater turmoil.

Without giving away the twist, suffice to say her family in Massachusetts, her daughter, and her perceptions that her marriage was a happy one are challenged, and met with adversity. She handles this at first, incredulously (an amazingly underplayed performance by Lahti, reflecting shock and betrayal).

Written by Anita Shreve, the story takes the twist of the storyteller, (in this case Lahti) and her own personal story. She does not care about terrorism or what the peripheral facts of the case were. She lost her husband, and the facade she thought was her family. 8/10.