Release Date: April 26, 2011
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: Approx. 90 minutes
Frannie (Joanne Kelly, “Warehouse 13”) is a junior copy editor at a publishing house in New York City when she lands the account of her favorite author, Michael Tate (Colin Ferguson, “Eureka”). Everything is coming together nicely for her, and she seems to be living the dream – until she finds out she has accidentally gotten pregnant by Calvin (Lucas Bryant, “Haven”), her boyfriend of just a few months. The couple does what they think is the responsible thing and moves to the suburbs to settle down, but behind the picket fence, neither one of them is truly happy. When a mysterious stranger waltzes into town, he offers to whisk Frannie back to the bright lights of New York City. Will she give in to temptation and the glamorous life that could await her, or will she stay true to her new family and the life she has created with Calvin?
Playing House is a beautiful story about love and life and loving life. The writing is great and the acting is wonderful from all three Syfy leads. What’s so brilliant about this film is that it’s not your typical Lifetime romantic comedy. Frannie is somebody who believes that she knows what she wants in life but when her life takes a turn and she gets overwhelmed, Frannie pushes what she really wants away… and it’s up to her and only her to get it back before it’s too late.
Frannie’s main problem is with love. And the character of Calvin is one of a very small amount of good guys on Lifetime that deserve a round of applause. He has so much character and so much love and so much generosity, it’s almost unbelievable. He takes accountability for his actions and never steps out of the role of responsibility that he has accidentally given himself. Michael, on the other hand, is a good guy but is not willing to take on any responsibility that is not in his life plan if he can help it. The life that Frannie creates with Calvin and the success that she creates with Michael are so vastly different, that it’s easy to root for everyone. However, Calvin won me over from the very beginning, when he stepped up to be the man that he was destined to be it seems, even if he’s an unconventional musician.
While there’s definitely a road of self discovery to be taken on, there’s lots of humor along the way, especially coming from Joanne Kelly (Warehouse 13). Colin Ferguson (Eureka) has a prideful aura about him (not in a bad way) that he accentuates greatly in this role. Lucas Bryant (Haven) plays a sweetheart that both female and males viewers alike are sure to want more of on Lifetime. Every one of these actors brings such unique qualities to their characters and the chemistry is so unique and wonderful that this film would have been completely different and not nearly as good without them.
As for the story at hand, there are so many messages to get out of this film and all of them are equally significant. For starters, everyone makes mistakes but whether or not there are people behind you to support you as you pick yourself back up, you have to have faith in you. And if people are willing to help you, it’s okay to receive it. We’re all human and we can’t get through this life (successfully in every aspect) alone. These are just two of the many messages in the film that don’t shout at you, but they are there. In fact, the movie is such a delight, it is so entertaining to watch, that every moment of the film will stay with you and linger in your mind for quite some time. It’s just that good. In fact, I can watch this film one hundred times and get something different out of the film and find something new to chuckle at every time. Playing House is timeless and priceless, so make sure not to play around and get your copy today.
Unfortunately, there are no bonus features on the DVD.