Excellent but underrated film

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Having seen the entire movie, which was a struggle for a few scenes, I ended up slightly confused. I figured it was meant to be a parody on a lifetime movie, however, was the content or the waste of time the joke? If the joke of the actors and/or writers was to confuse the audience,it shouldn't have been a mediocre-at-best movie, that just makes the joke very pathetic. From the beginning on the movie didn't pick a side. The sloppy, uninspired writing and ridiculously unoriginal characters could've been used perfectly for a comedy, and for a lousy lifetime movie, but has been used for none. Just a random waste of time, brought forth by the attractive casting. Will Ferrell has proved to be capable of playing a more serious character and pulls it of quite well again, letting one crying scene slide, and Kristen Wiig actually plays her part very smoothly, displaying a credible happy hippie wife. Jessica Lowndes, though I've never seen her in any other movie worth mentioning, is ready for some bigger roles, mainly because she uses her insanely attractive looksperfectly in portraying different sides of her character. Will and Kristen could have turned a story with actually some real potential ina hilarious comedy, however, decided to ignore their instincts and followthe instructions of a few lousy writer and crew members to cash in their pay check.

This TV movie was a bit of a strange one, it was advertised is if it was a serious dramatic film, but you cannot ignore the fact that two comedy stars are in the leading roles, which made you question whether this film is a joke, I had to watch and decide for myself. Basically Sarah Benson (Kristen Wiig) is a successful organic food vendor, her husband Robert (Will Ferrell) is a best-selling author and finance guru, their life was rocked by a tragic accident, Sarah was near an unsafe dock and fell into the water of Storm Lake, the trauma caused her to lose their second child in pregnancy, she is no longer able to bare children. Five years have passed, Robert has become reclusive and recovering alcoholic, he has been sober for six months, he and Sarah are looking to adopt an unwanted child, but have not been satisfied by any suggested birth mothers. Then they meet seemingly sweet and innocent attractive young woman Bridgette Gibson (90210's Jessica Lowndes), in the final months of her pregnancy, she claims to be living in a homeless shelter, Sarah and Robert decide to give her the bedroom their lost child would have slept in, she will stay with them until she gives birth. As time goes by however Bridgette is obviously not all she seems, six-year- old daughter Sully (Dark Skies' Alyvia Alyn Lind), who Robert is over-protective of because of her diabetes, is the first to spot that Bridgette is not pregnant at all, she has been wearing a fake enlarged belly pad, she lies to the girl that she is pregnant, but that she would not be believed. Bridgette has another agenda entirely, she and her tattooed hoodlum boyfriend Dwayne Tisdale (Jake Weary) are scheming to get money from the family, the intend to kidnap Sully perhaps for ransom, but also Bridgette has her own reasons. It is revealed that in the past when he was a writer they encountered each other and he made love to her, but he left her after a short time to be with Sarah, she lost a baby that she was pregnant with, she wants both revenge, and perhaps to try and get closer to Robert again. All the secrets and lies come spilling out from all sides, Robert has to try and protect his family, Bridgette is crazy and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants, and Sarah is caught in the middle, there will be deadly consequences for all involved in the complicated situation. Also starring Mousehunt's Debra Christofferson as Ellen Macy, Bryan Safi as Charlie, Erik Palladino as Sheriff and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machine's Carolyn Hennesy as Debby. Ferrell and Wiig are reasonably good at playing serious, Lowndes is too soapy to be believable as an antagonistic bitch, this apparently is supposed to be a humorous imitation of those late 80s and 90s films with twisted affairs and evil characters playing happy families, it does have moments inspired by Fatal Attraction or The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, but it is not quite executed as well as it could have been, you can see the funny side of it though as it is awash with clichés, not a completely terrible parody psychological thriller. Okay!

Robert Benson (Will Ferrell) is a best selling author and financial guru. His wife Sarah (Kristen Wiig) suffers a miscarriage after a dock accident. Five years later, Robert is a recluse and a recovering alcoholic. Sarah is an organic food vendor. He's overprotective of their diabetic daughter Sully (Alyvia Alyn Lind). They're looking to adopt and they meet expecting mother Bridgette Gibson (Jessica Lowndes). They invite Bridgette to stay with them rather than going back to the women's shelter. The problem is that something ominous about Bridgette.Is it a spoof? Yes, sort of. This is a fascinating odd little Lifetime TV movie. These are great comedians playing it somewhat straight. Yet the dialogue is read with a (pardon the pun) pregnant pause. They are acting sincere but they seem to be doing it with a nudge and a wink. It is serious but it is not at all serious. It opens with a ridiculous dock accident. There's no way this is being treated as a serious drama. Just look at Will Ferrell's hair. That's insanely wrong. But nobody is playing this for easy Wayans brothers' parody laughs. I laugh when Sarah and Bridgette fight but they are not doing a fake comedic fight. This is a fun weird movie.

Anticipated this movie. Very disappointed. If this was intended to be a spoof of Lifetime's melodramas, it failed abysmally. Waaaay too subtle for me.Script - Stunk. Could have been written by a team of 12 year olds, stupified by PopTarts and Dr Pepper. Generic dialogue and plot. A 'thriller' with no thrills. Predictable. Included every stereotype and cliché. All, I assume, intentional to elicit booming laughter. A fail.Note to writer, Andrew Steele (former writer for SNL): If parody was your objective, exaggeration....blowing things out of proportion.... is needed. That was missing....so the viewer was left to make some kind of sense of it, one way or other. Not an enjoyable task. Irritating.Acting - Stunk. Looked forward to seeing Wiig and Ferrel either in a spoof or in serious roles. Still waiting. Robotic acting with painfully slow takes (meant to be funny?) and little emotional range (same reason?) Caricatures? Missed the mark by miles.Directing - Stunk...ie...Closely following the bad guy's car on a dirt road and parking a stone's throw from his cabin...in day light? Really? Really? Kid is missing and Mom is not moved a bit.Neither comedy or drama....though the family's extended 'dance' scene in the end was worthy of a smirk.If the whole thing was a 'gag'...success at last! You made me gag.Could have been a clever parody. Wasn't. A waste of time and talent.