I bought this movie from a dollar DVD rack, not expecting a whole lot, just basically wanting to see anything with cutie Valerie Bertinelli in it. I was pleasantly surprised to find a serious, well-acted drama about a young girl, fresh out of high school, who finds herself widowed before her 19th birthday. Shelley Long has a very effective supporting role as another Marine officer's wife, raising two kids while her husband is away (presumably in Vietnam). She plays very much against her stuffy nerdette type-cast. The movie is set in 1967, and has a couple of problems (it looks very 1980, not 1967; the ending is a bit pat; the production values are very typically TV-movie); but overall, it was well-written, well-performed, and quite engaging. I definitely got my dollar's worth.
Review of The Promise of Love
