While channel-surfing last night I thought I recognized Piper Laurie, one of my favorites (looking a bit plump, rather becomingly), in a TV movie (identified by the title: "The Devil's Bed") being shown on the Lifetime ("Television for Women"[!]) cable network.
The story was a rather sad one, set in a small town in the contemporary American West, that has a Cain and Abel theme. Two brothers, ably played by Adrian Pasdar and Joe Lando, under the firm matriarchal control of Ms. Laurie, enact an updated parallel of one of the Bible's more difficult morality tales. Lando is quite convincing as a randy ne'er-do-well, contrasted by a sensitively melancholy portrayal by Pasdar (Man! What eyebrows!) as his younger, nose-to-the-grindstone brother. I thought Nicolette Sheridan, as their shared love/lust interest, was a bit granitic (What a jawline!) but Ms. Laurie, as usual, brought her solid professionalism to a role that did not descend to any sentimental softening of her character's less sympathetic side. The alternate title, used by Lifetime, seemed to me to be more apt than the original one. In most respects the production was quite well-crafted, however my patience was sorely tried by a stream of commercials of Biblical proportions (the equivalent of Noah's flood, shall we say?) Worth a look if Lifetime schedules it again.
