Reviving Ophelia (2010)

As Good As It Gets

Absolutely the worst movie.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Elizabeth (Rebecca Williams) is a typical teenager who's found what's seems to be a great guy in her boyfriend Mark (Nick Thurston). The relationship starts to turn sour once Mark starts to be abusive and controlling. Reviving Ophelia is Lifetime movie trying to convey the dark sides and dangers of relationships.I am all for a film trying to show how important to be safe in relationships even if it's only a television film. I think it is important to expose this important issue and in the most serious manner which maybe could even save a life and the Lifetime channel would seem to be the perfect place for a TV film like this. The Lifetime channel seems to have a wide audience and they have made many films.So why then is Reviving Opehia so cheesy when it's dealing with a such touchy and important subject?Even though she is a victim of assault, Elizabeth is hard character to root for because she can get away from her abuser Mark and she is clearly something of a button-pusher. You obviously can't like Mark either because he is a guy beating up a woman and not taking responsibility for his actions. Keil (Carleigh Beverly) Elizabeth cousin, is the character in the middle who's supposed be trying to help Elizabeth get away from Mark but the two unlikable characters are in the way of her character realizing her full potential. Even Jane Kaczmarek as mother Marie Jones, previously known for good stuff like Malcolm in the Middle and Part of Five, falls short and her acting here is far from where it usually is. The cast does have some chemistry though everything is toned down due to this being a TV film. The plot really has only one subject and it really has little substance.Reviving Ophelia is so full of problems that it's main message that "that abuse is bad" gets very lost in the middle of it. After that, it is a bit laughable and you keep watching because you have nothing else to do. We watched this in my high school Relationships class as we spent a whole unit learning about abusive relationships. Frankly, just about whole class laughed at this movie and my buddy next to me cracked some sex jokes and commented about all the attractive actresses that appear in this film. It did make this bad TV film seem more bearable.

This is one excellent movie. The characters have been stretched from real life people towards easily recognizable stereotypes that create an emotional tension which invites audience participation (what would you do?) and which heightens the issues and of teenage infatuation, 'love' as ownership, being overly agreeable as an unworkable position, and the traps that girls fall into by caring too much (among others).The writers were women, so the characterization of the female characters was outstanding, but they clearly don't understand the emotional conflicts experienced by males (who does, actually?), so the male acting was unpotentiated which, if it had been with more emotional beef would have made this a first class movie.

I HATED the way that Kelly and her mom were treated by Lizzie and her mom. It was obvious from the start that Lizzie thought she was better than her cousin and her mother thought she was better than Kelly's mom. Several references to this throughout the movie. And through it all, Kelly was still kind to Lizzie and her mother was still kind of Marie. Even when Marie said that she must be happy to learn that her daughter (Lizzie) is even more screwed up than Kelly, Kelly's mom didn't say anything. Sorry, but you don't treat family like that. The rivalry between the girls I can understand, but between their mothers? Too much for my taste.Also, the actor who played Mark wasn't the best actor.Other than that, I thought it was a good movie, an important one.

For a TV movie, this was pretty good. Though I don't have any experience with these kinds of situations, it seemed realistic. It was also very intense and pretty creepy at times. I actually felt myself becoming frightened for the different characters from time to time.I also learned quite a bit from this movie. I don't think I'll easily forget the signs that one is in an abusive relationship, or what to do if I suspect someone else is in one. I definitely hope I never make the same mistake that Lizzie did, though, and I hope a lot of people won't, after they see this.All in all, the acting, writing, and directing were all above average for this movie, and I would recommend it.