Life on Liberty Street

Denise oversteps her authority as an ER nurse and finds herself working at a mental facilities halfway house called Liberty Street. Reluctant about working at what she feels is a convalescent center, she nevertheless finds herself helping Rick who was involved in a car accident when he was 16 and now at 25 is struggling to become independent. The strength of this movie is the realistic dialog and slice-of-life characters. Denise is both strong and vulnerable, and very likable in her roles as nurse, mother, and life coach. Rick plays his part admirably, yet the time element given seems his growth was rushed. Jake, the on-call facilities doctor, is a great touch of warmth to the script,and Lucy the director of Liberty Street, lends her strength and compassion for working with "damaged" people. Some of the plot is formula driven--overbearing, protective father who hinders the recovery of his son, a crisis between patient and nurse, a faltering relationship, a misunderstanding that gets resolved--but it's how it all works together that makes this another notable Hallmark production. Annabeth Gish, as Denise, really pulls this all together. Definitely keep this one in mind for family viewing, as it combines humor, poignancy, and discussion possibilities.

Maybe the idea was to make this into a TV series? As is, we have hints of an interesting, unusual female lead. Her marriage has broken up and she doesn't know why. She is sensitive and headstrong. Annabeth Gish lends her radiance and believability to the role, but the script does not find the time to develop it much. The other characters are even sketchier. The standard precocious kid, the standard Mister Right, and the standard wise and avuncular nestor figure.

Gish's character goes to work in a halfway house with seven patients, but somehow she seems to have all her time free for a certain one of them. His mental state is unpredictable but always conveniently suitable for the demands of the plot. Similarly, the kid is mature or immature as the script demands. Both of them come out with sudden bursts of wisdom that haven't had time to develop. With more length, the plot and characters could have been presented more realistically. But Gish in particular sells the movie anyway. Ethan Embry as the patient plays the part well moment by moment, but he can't bring consistency to the patient's inconsistently written condition.

If ever you wanted to watch a movie without the words and scenes that make it a "better film," Life on Liberty Street is one. Not only does it have a start, middle and end, the actors play their parts fully and in tune with each other. Beyond these comments, Life on Liberty Street presents a meaningful accounts of relationships, love, and interaction between those who may not be fully accepted by society, let alone their own family friends. While it also shows how a few people, and sometimes just one person, can change a person's life, the film also shows boundaries that must be seen and acted upon within a relationship. The movie can be seen by the whole family.