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Reviews
Playing House (2006)
Not the typical Lifetime pablum
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this little made for Lifetime movie. There is a lot that is entertaining about it. The predictable Lifetime storyline is there of course, but they've dressed it up to go to town. The writing is actually pretty good, the characters are multi-dimensional and not completely inclined to stereotypes. I am writing this under the assumption that the campiness in the script was intentional; heaven help me if I am wrong!
The story revolves around Madeline, a young career woman who has a fling with a hot jazz musician. He goes off on tour and she finds herself pregnant and alone. Somewhat ambivalent and depressed, Madeline goes home to Canada to visit her wacky family (not Coen brothers wacky, but more than you would come to expect from "TV for Women"). On her return home to Manhattan, She has an unfortunate encounter with a Customs officer and an expired passport, which is one of the highlights of the movie. She finds herself stuck in Canada, but her family invite her to stay and have the baby in Canada. This is her idea of hell on earth (I can relate, indeed), but she has no choice as she has been denied re-entry into the US for 1 year. The bulk of the movie finds her adjusting to her new life, and it starts feeling more Lifetimey here. But overall, I was mostly entertained by this movie.