Reviews

A rare depiction of successful, young Blacks (like The Best Man 20 years later, although the 35-ish/40-ish characters in this film are somewhat older than those in that later film...note that Morgan Freeman's character is supposed to look older than he is because of heroin addiction). I was 22 years old when I saw this on TV and enjoyed it very much. Upon seeing it again on YouTube, I had a number of questions: Where were the parents of these people (Danny was said to be living in the same apartment but apparently it's his now). These characters are supposed to be 30 years old. Are all their parents dead? Why was it uncertain that Sweet Talk could get into a rehab facility that day, when the young girl that came in after him was told the bus would come for her in 20 minutes? It's also hard to believe that Ivy wouldn't have mentioned to Harriet at all that their mutual friend had been murdered. But a good story nonetheless.

Best line in all the show's 23 seasons...a good episode. Too bad we didn't get to see the outcome of the trial, but the ending did feel complete nevertheless.

The story is (repeated here by Martin's daughter Deana) that Dean Martin didn't attend JFK's inauguration out of support for Sammy Davis. I personally don't believe it. My suspicion is that Dean just didn't like JFK (I've never seen him in the celebrity campaigns for JFK, either, and THAT wasn't done out of support for Sammy, who was present). He seemed to be a pretty astute fellow...sold his interest in the Cal-Neva casino before the feds stripped Sinatra of his co-interest (and we know what happened between Sinatra and JFK). Not trusting JFK was a wise move on his part...

I chuckled...laughed out loud...felt touched...and shed a tear or two. The screenplay had it all. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, even if it was impossible to give all of them the screen time they deserved. The closing shot was wonderful. Only two things bothered me: 1) The absence of a character who really should have been present, at least for the family events at the beginning and the end of the film, even if absent for everything in between--a real plot hole IMO, and 2) the overdone makeup on two of the male leads that made their complexions unnaturally ruddy. With most of the characters' stories tied up or easily imagined, I'd be content if the series ends with this, but hope Julian Fellowes creates another one!

A marvelous episode, cleverly written (winner of an Emmy for camera work) as memories of past hospital experiences of the cast are reflected in brief segments, plus one peek into the future. Brought a tear to my eye when I remember my own family's experiences.

Cute movie, if you can overlook a couple of things: a wedding venue that's not booked for Valentine's weekend because about 5 couples booked the previous weekend (yeah, right), and that Vermont in February is green with flowers growing in the garden and people outside in shirtsleeves (and sleeveless tops)...

Charming movie with more than capable leads (Jennie Garth and Ethan Erickson), as well as secondary characters (Marilu Henner and Fred Willard, plus the little boy on the Mulligan TV show and his stage mother and especially the hero's red-headed, no-talent roommate), but a few things that worked against it.

The very first scene features the heroine's young daughter wearing expensive-looking sunglasses, and the mother asks where they came from. The child is about 6; it's not like she went out and bought them herself. Not believable. Also, this same woman is a struggling single mother (her husband died without life insurance) who works as a waitress at a rather tacky restaurant and drives what looks like a 35-year-old AMC compact station wagon, but can nonetheless afford to live in a lovely house with an in-ground pool in the backyard in expensive Los Angeles (I felt the only purpose of this was to have a fight scene where two characters fall in).

This movie is too well written to rely upon contrived situations. Still, it's one of my favorites.

Cute movie. I did pick up on two lines very similar to those used in Michael Douglas romantic comedies: A comment about expensive shoes now being practical after they're ruined (from Romancing the Stone), and a daughter telling her dad to compliment the leading lady on her shoes (The American President). But I enjoyed it. Would like to see Barbara Niven in a sympathetic role for once, though.

I've seen numerous episodes where both Lt. Van Buren and Detective Green promised family members and officials that they would close the case (especially when the deceased is a fellow police officer), yet both of them jumped on Nina Cassidy for doing the same thing. This change in personality is a little more than Lt. Van Buren saying she was from Brooklyn in one episode and Washington Heights in another. A good episode (obviously based on that singer and her wannabe rapper husband) marred by manufactured conflict that, given past behavior, doesn't ring true.