Late night TV, flipping channels and was a fan of Yes, Dear...well kinda and saw that Jean Louisa Kelly was in this, who was in Uncle Buck as the super bitchy teen and I got sucked in.
Why reviews dumping on Sammi Hanratty--she is supposed to be a clueless teen that got pregnant and has co-dependent tendencies. This was a big role for a young actress. The low was when Jean Louisa Kelly enters as tough street cop (agent calls and says you want to work, well, better take this gig). Then the mother, Alexandra Holden, yeah, overacting, annoyingly so.
Here is a tip for the budding director of TV movies--keep all the actors on screen in character, like Jennifer's cute friend in the park after the baby is abducted--try not to look like "she is remembering her lines or what to do when I don't have any lines." I get it, you're on a tight budget, but the AD needs to keep this train rolling on track. That one scene can ruin a dramatic moment.
What Jean Louisa Kelly does best is empathize. She does not do tough, but let her develop emotion and she can carry a scene well.
Yes, it's a TV movie, but Lifetime can crank out some winners because the expectation isn't high, so the audience relaxes with more acceptance. I think these are more difficult to do well than higher budget movies--the acting skill isn't as developed, tight budget, easy to lose focus and over-develop a special effect, your main star probably wishes their career went in another direction...hard to hold that together.
Bottom line--the main target audience should like this movie. Good movie to show a youth group and have a discussion.
