A Fare to Remember

"A Fare to Remember" is a totally derivative, almost ridiculous movie, but has a warmth about it that makes it a very effective and upbeat holiday movie. It stars a pretty newcomer, Challen Kates, as a high-powered ad executive who, right before her wedding, has to rush from L. A. to Seattle to keep a client who has rejected every presentation.

She has transportation difficulties from the beginning and seemingly no money. This is the first dumb thing - were there no ATMs anywhere? She must make a fortune.

At any rate, she meets a cab driver (Warner) who looks like a homeless man, and he drives her to her presentation. When she emerges with a huge box of beef jerky (the client's product), he's there to take her to the airport. All flights are canceled, so in order to get to L. A. for her wedding, she hires him to take her there.

Along the way, they bond and learn from each other. It's a very sweet movie though there is absolutely nothing new in it - it combines "Six Days and Seven Nights" and a few other films.

But the chemistry between the stars is good, they're likable, and the acting is good. Look for Jerry Springer as the head of the beef jerky company and a cameo by Karl Malden.

This is a nice film to take in over the holiday season. It's on Lifetime.

Challen Cates does a wonderful job depicting a conflicted bride, torn between the challenges that await her professionally, the memories of the freedom she thought she would have when in college (inspired by a famous author) and the safety of her pending marriage to a man she really doesn't love. This movie is definitely worth seeing--- as predictable as it may be, the acting is inspiring and real chemistry exists between Challen Cates and Malcolm Jamaal Warner.

You can tell this is an earlier movie for Malcom Jamal Warner because his acting was not so great but I watch him every week on The Resident and he's a really great anymore so clearly his acting has improved over the years. However, the lead actress in the movie is not great but she's kinda cute. Aside from the bad acting it was a really cute story and I enjoyed it. And Malcom Jamal Warner is beautiful to look at so it's worth it just to look at him lol!

Most Christmas movies have a "redemption" theme but most are a variation on a very similar plot. This movie is wacky and has an unusual plot. You may need to hang in there for the first half where events may seem hard to believe for a movie (but not as unbelievable as real life - Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, says he's never made up anything in any of his cartoons - they're all based on real life stories told to him by his fans). The second half starts to fit the plot together. I enjoyed it.

BTW, one reviewer noted that the idea of someone not having cash available is not credible in these days of ATMs, but it's perfectly credible if you've lost your wallet - who carries ATM cards anywhere else while on a business trip?

This is a light, easy-to-watch film about a lady on her way to her wedding being forced to hire a cab from Seattle to LA. I watched it one morning, as I was just waking up, eating my breakfast. Excellent way to wake up......

We know something will happen between them; we know she is difficult to please; we know she will change before the journey and the film ends.

Along the way, we notice many things:

• Cameo by un-credited Karl Malden as Corporate Vice President

• "The cell-phone can find us" scene from 6 days 7 nights, repeated in a highway setting.

• The highway breakdown scene from Steve Martin's "Planes, Trains, Automobiles" remade.

• Challen Kates, although she has not done many movies so far, is a very energetic player as well as being very cute (we can't say anything else about her real character, can we?). Why doesn't she do more films?

• One would think that to get money, all she needs to do is drive to an ATM so why doesn't she? And do all cabbies give this MUCH credit to clients?

• Although there is plenty of scope to further extend the two main characters, the author doesn't. That's just too bad.

All in all a nice film.....