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Reviews
The Truth About Jane (2000)
Absolutely astounding...
The Truth About Jane is a must see for anyone, whether trying to cope with a newly outed relative or just looking for a new perspective on an alternative lifestyle. Jane, portrayed brilliantly by gifted actress Ellen Muth, is a middle class teenager who meets Taylor, a newcomer to her new school. Friends Taylor and Jane soon move their relationship to the next level as each start falling in love with each other. The movie deals with Jane's parents difficult acceptance of their daughter's new lesbian lifestyle, and perhaps even more heartbreaking, Jane's acceptance of what she has known all along but just realized about herself. Catch it on Lifetime is possible! Great performances also by Stockard Channing as Jane's mother and James Naughton as Jane's father.
Live Through This (2000)
Soap opera on wheels...
The Jackson Decker Band has reunited 15 years after their last go-around as one of the hottest acts. Premiering last Wednesday, Live Through This was chalk full of all the passion and intrigue any good daytime drama worth its spit could offer. Illegitimate children crawling out of the woodwork, bad girls unexpectedly hopping on tour, the rekindling of an old romance- and all in the first episode! The drama primarily deals with the now grown offspring of the seemingly single Jackson Decker Band who have come together after many years apart. We have Lu, taking care of her recovering alcoholic, lead singer mother, who is also dealing with seeing her ex-boyfriend Chase, for the first time in a long time. Then there's Chase, who is serving as tour manager and dealing with his self-involved father. Chase's sister, Olivia, also appears suddenly as Britney Spears gone bad after getting kicked out of her private school. Darby, daughter of the overprotective drummer of Jackson Decker, is looking for experience of ANY kind on this tour. Next, there's Wireless, the unlucky in love goof ball of the group, and Travis, the forsaken unknown son of Jackson Decker's pretty boy who is looking for a little recognition from his father.
This show definitely has promise. Stay tuned 'til next week!
Out of Sync (2000)
It's Milli Vanilli, only sexier...
Because I knew this was a VH1 Original, I knew not to expect much of the movie. I was right. This movie tells the story of washed-up record producer, Deacon. Deacon's jet plane back to the glamour he once knew arrives in the form of Sunni, the new "it" girl of Golden Records with the body of a goddess and voice comparable to nails on a chalkboard. Deacon takes on the project of producing Sunni's record, convinced he can make her voice sound reasonable using studio magic. This plan fails to work. Enter Maggie Stanley, a housewife blessed with a beautiful singing voice while cursed with a severe case of stage fright. Deacon decides to replace Sunni's voice with Maggie's, and chaos ensues from there when Sunni's career rises farther than Deacon ever wanted to. Realizing he is in love with the very married Maggie, Deacon's conscience takes hold of him, instructing him to tell the truth about Sunni, much to the chagrin of Lowell, a record exec at Golden who wants to keep this secret under lock and key.
Peter Outerbridge, an actor I had previously never heard of, shines as Deacon, a down-on-his-luck, believable, and very lovable character, who, despite having experienced the highs of fame and fortune and the lows of bankruptcy and flops on Billboard, still manages to find a kindred soul in the stage fright-stricken Maggie. Kari Wuhrer, as Sunni, brings an extremely annoying sense of innocence to her character, who is supposed to come off as a shrewd businesswoman in a Barbie doll package. Gail O'Grady gives a so-so performance. She has delivered a better performance because she been given better scripts to work with. The whole thing movie is lacking in its sense of direction, especially with the romantic "quadrangle" involving Sidney Golden, Sunni, Deacon, Maggie, and Stan, Maggie's husband. So much more could have been explored between Deacon and Maggie. Perhaps the writer took the route he did to keep Deacon's "good guy" image.
If you happen to catch this movie between back-to-back Behind the Movie marathons (isn't that what they ALWAYS air on VH1?...), go ahead and kill some time, but don't make a point of watching it.