Up until Saturday night, I would’ve said that the 1996 Sharon Lawrence-Brian Austin Green vehicle A Friend’s Betrayal (a.k.a. Stolen Youth) was my favorite Lifetime movie of all time. ("She wanted everything: freedom, friendship, and her best friend’s teenage son.") But now, I’d have to answer Flirting With Forty, the Heather Locklear-Robert Buckley version of How Stella Got Her Groove Back (based on Jane Porter’s novel, actually) that I’ve managed to watch three times.
In case you missed it (watch a trailer after the jump), Locklear plays recent divorcée Jackie, a successful interior designer and mother of two, who receives a trip to Hawaii as a 40th birthday present. There, she meets Kyle (Buckley), a 27-year-old surfing instructor who makes his own organic surf wax. A surfing lesson turns into a drink, which turns into a steamy one-night stand, which turns into Jackie making so many flights from Denver to Hawaii that her married friends stage an intervention.
I know what you’re thinking: You just liked it because Buckley, the man candy on NBC’s Lipstick Jungle, is shirtless approximately 63 percent of his screen time. Not true. Entirely. It’s that occasionally, I like to watch a soft-spoken stud admire a woman who has her s— together (and that woman can be of any age). Also, I was amazed that I didn’t have a problem buying the still-slammin’ Locklear as a woman who’d be afraid to wear a bikini, and that I actually found it mildly liberating when she got home from her first trip, unwrapped the red string one Kyle gave her, and wore it (with boots) to the curb as she tossed her security sweatshirt into the garbage on New Year’s Eve.
Anyone else catch Flirting With Forty and love it? And is there another Lifetime movie that could possibly top it? You’ll have to make a strong case: This one kept my mother, whom I was visiting, up until 2 a.m. watching it with me. (Okay, technically, she was watching it first, and I climbed into bed with her. "The wardrobe department certainly had an easy time with him," she said about half-naked Buckley. See where I get it?)
It was OK for entertainment purposes and a distraction from laundry and dishes, etc.. I just kept thinking that Heather Locklear looked a little plastic surgery/botoxy to me. And based on her age, it should have been called Flirting with Fifty.
I refuse to watch it (or any other movie fitting the following advertising scheme) until they stop hyping it every commercial break on the radio.
So, the point that women can be free and beautiful and awesome at any age has been lost on Beverley. Better luck next time, Lifetime. I thought it was fab.
“Mother May I Sleep With Danger” has to be the quintessential Lifetime movie. Plus, it stars Tori Spellman. The title alone makes it a classic!
I realized I typed Spellman instead of Spelling, but my argument stands.
Memo to Heather: way too much “work” done.
Remember when her nickname used to be “Won’t Play over 30″? Glad those days are over.
It seems I went to high school with the guy who wrote “Dying to Belong.” From the LIfetime Web site: “During their freshman year of college, Lisa and her roommate, Shelby, decide to pledge a sorority. Although the pledges are asked to perform degrading tasks, the friends decide to stick it out. One night, Shelby falls from the campus clock tower and dies. Lisa refuses to believe it was a suicide and begins to uncover the truth about her friend’s death with the help of her boyfriend, Steven.”
Both of them look so waxy.
Adele’s easily the best part of this movie. But if we’re talkin Lifetime, then yeah, I can agree that it’s the best.
More like Flirting with Fifty!!
I enjoyed Flirting With Forty, but my all time favorite Lifetime movie is Too Young To Be A Dad.
Matt Freeman is a freshman honor student and an all-around good kid. Everything seems perfect until he gets a fellow student pregnant. This is an emotional tale of teen pregnancy, told from the unique point of view of a young man and his parents. LOVE IT!
I also have to give it up to Lifetime for a few of its more serious movies like Human Trafficking and Speak. They were quite good and thought-provoking too!
Rachel, you stole my post! I was going to say that it’s been quite a while since Heather was flirting with 40.
What about the title-says-it-all feature from 15 years or so ago starring Brian Austin Green and the girl from The Nanny and Beethoven–”Unwed Father.” Cliches abound! And I watched the whole thing.
I liked it, more than I thought I would! My favorite Lifetime movie (along with the Brian Austin Green/Sharon Lawrence one) is the one where Keri Russel is the babysitter to Stephen Collin’s kids and they have an affair and he tries to frame her for murdering his wife when he really did it! Loved that one!
Actually a Face to Die for is one of the best Lifetime movies ever with Yasmine Bleeth
I thought the movie was just okay. Heather looked a little puffy/botoxy in the face so it was a little bit of a distraction for the first hour. I liked the LM starring Tracey Pollan & Tim Matheson called “Dying to Love you”. She manipulates a lonely Tim who she meets through the personals. She played against her good girl image. Don’t forget any Lifetime movie with Valerie Bertinelli, Jaclyn Smith & Kate Jackson who plays a great socipath. I believe Annie mentioned Cliches Abound. Lifetime Movies = Cliches Abound but you still sit through and watch the whole damn thing. LOL! Lifetime is good for a lazy rainy Saturday or Sunday in the winter. Heck, I still occassionally watch the Golden Girls when I am home sick from work. It is a classic and funny!