Maid of Honor

MAID OF HONOR (2006 TV movie) 2.5 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 2:30min

BASIC PLOT: Laci Collins (Linda Purl) has given up everything to take care of her brother-in-law, Richard Wynn (Linden Ashby), after the tragic death of her sister. She sold her house, moved in, and became maid, and caregiver to her niece Mollie (Dani Kind), and nephew Danny (Steven McPhail). After a year and half of this arrangement, Richard has decided to marry Nicole (Shannon Sturges), a woman from work. She's younger, they've only met her a couple of times, but he's ready to push Laci out the door, and force Nicole on his children as their new "Mom". Unbeknownst to everyone, Laci is secretly in love with Richard, and will do whatever it takes to keep him, including exposing Nicole's dark past. Will she succeed? Or will we find out how all consuming her passion for Richard really is?

WHAT WORKS: *LINDA PURL IS THE ONLY THING WORKING IN THIS MOVIE She knows her way around a melodrama, no matter what role she's playing. Too bad there's nothing here to work with.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *INCREDIBLY SELFISH PROTAGONIST After having his sister-in-law move in, sell everything she owns, so she can become his maid, and the caretaker of his children, he kicks her out for some woman at work he suddenly wants to marry (it smells like he might have been interested in this woman while his wife was still alive). It's less than two years after his wife's death, and he expects his children to just accept his girlfriend, a woman they barely know, and have only met a few times. He wants to move her into their house, and they're supposed to call her mom, no matter their feelings. These reckless, selfish decisions do NOT make a sympathetic protagonist. He doesn't even discuss with Laci her moving out, or where she's supposed to go, but in front of her he talks about making her room his fiancee's office. WOW! WHAT AN A-HOLE! So, once again, I sympathize more with the "villainess" than I do with the "family man" (who seems to have little regard for his family). EPIC FAIL.

*THIS MOVIE IS TOO HARD ON MEN Men can be selfish, vain and weak, but this is ridiculous! Richard Wynn (Linden Ashby) is oblivious to everyone around him, only cares about his wants and needs, and is blind to everything and everyone else. He is so self consumed, he's ready to bring a woman who lied about felony drug possession charges, around his children! It's insulting, and not believable. It's written by men (nn0006438 & Ken Sanders) for women, and that's never a good thing. Women don't want weak men, even if it's what we often have to put up with. Show us the best of what we want, not the lowest of what we have deal with on a daily basis. (Side note: I think their choice of name for this character (Richard) was an inside joke - we all know what the nickname for Richard it's - D*ck.)

*AFTER TWO YEARS, THE TEENAGE DAUGHTER WOULDN'T SUDDENLY BECOME SUSPICIOUS BECAUSE HER AUNT WAS LOOKING AT A RING STRANGELY Give me a break, either these people are the stupidest walking the earth, or the most perceptive, but you can't have it both ways.

*ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE ONE DIMENSIONAL All of the characters are so flat, you don't care what happens to any of them. I know this is a melodrama, but that doesn't excuse bad writing, and selfish protagonists. The only one who does a decent job is Linda Purl, and she can't carry the whole movie.

*THE PACING IS OFF The first act of violence doesn't come till the 1:23 mark, that means there's only 36 min left, and all you've done with the time so far is make the antagonist sympathetic. So, when she finally does commit violence, you understand and empathize with her reasons. EPIC FAIL.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *Unless you're just a fan of Linda Purl, I'd give this a pass. There's no one sympathetic enough for you to care about, not one plotline that's believable, just a bunch of selfish people concerned with themselves, who you rather see die in a house fire than be happy at the end. HARD PASS

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a made-for-tv movie, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.