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"A KISS AT MIDNIGHT"  The principal cast members from left: Abigail Mavity, Dyan Cannon, Faith Ford, Cameron Daddo, Hal Linden, Jadin Gould.
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Rival dating services vie
in romantic comedy film
of TheColumnists.com
After sweetening up the TV audience with an avalanche of Christmas movies, new and not-so-new, cable's Hallmark Channel is not ready to loosen its grip on us quite yet--not, at least, until we've seen its official New Year's Eve movie, "A Kiss At Midnight."
Well, it's not a movie you'll remember as long as you live, but "A Kiss At Midnight" has its good points--a mostly familiar and likeable cast, telling a story you can probably guess your way through pretty much in advance, so you don't have to risk getting a headache from thinking too much.
Net result: You'll feel good unless you're real sophisticated.
Susan Flowers is a 39-year-old unmarried woman still in search of love. She just happens to run a dating service called "Hearts and Flowers." Business is starting to drop off, though, because a new computerized dating agency called Romance.com is taking away most of her customers.
Determined to prove computers should not be the gateways to love, Susan decides to expose the rival business by submitting her own resume as a client looking for love. When Romance.com fails to find her the right guy, she will blog the rival company without mercy, hopefully driving its customers back to her service.
But Susan doesn't count on two crafty little girls--Cassie, 10, and Jennifer, 12--whose widowed dad, Josh Sherman, runs Romance.com. They decide to break into the files of Dad's service, find a willing mate for him and end his loveless suffering while possibly bringing them a new mom. Naturally, they pick Susan's resume out of the files.
So, while we watch romance blossom between Susan and Josh, we get to wonder what's going to happen when they discover they're each other's worst enemy--at least in terms of their business lives.
Not a bad concept, as hard as it might be to believe, but what makes it work for viewers is the chance to watch some old favorites act it all out, starting with Faith Ford, best known for her years in the cast of "Murphy Brown," as Susan, and Dyan Cannon as Kay Flowers, Susan's Mom, who finds romance with Hal Linden ("Barney Miller") without using either dating service.
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who looks pretty sexy for a nearly 72-year-old. |
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What I love about watching Hallmark movies is seeing what shape these old favorites are in. Here's my personal rating: 1. Faith Ford, who's a pretty tall lady, has put on a few pounds and shows some signs of wear, but still looks dandy. 2. Hal Linden is now pretty old, so it's nice to see him playing his age as Kay's rather coarse, but genuine boy friend. 3. Dyan Cannon, who turns 72 in January, has never looked like a real human being anyway, so I can only say she looks pretty trim and trendy for a cartoon character.
So, maybe you're wondering how this qualifies as a New Year's Eve movie. That's easy. It starts on a New Year's Eve and ends on a New Year's Eve. And nobody has to watch Dick Clark host a New Year's Eve show, so count your blessings.
©2008 by Ron Miller. The photos are courtesy of The Hallmark Channel. This column first posted Dec. 22, 2008.
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