Complicated Love
"An Unexpected Love" is a curious little TV movie because it has a typical dramatic storyline but is delivered in a less than subtle way which turns realism into comedy. It makes it amusing but also unrealistic and that to be frank leaves me not entirely sure how I feel about the movie. Yes at times I found "An Unexpected Love" amusing but equally at times I found the unsubtle elements annoying.
With a husband and two children Kate Mayer (Leslie Hope - Men at Work) is unsatisfied with her life and her relationship to husband Jack (D.W. Moffett). Deciding something has to change she leaves her husband and goes looking for work, eventually ending up at the offices of realtor McNally 'Mac' Hays (Wendy Crewson - They Killed My Son: The Matthew Shepard Story). Having become invigorated by her new life she also finds herself conflicted as she finds herself having feelings for Mac. The question is has she the courage to act on these feelings?
Okay story wise "An Unexpected Love" has what is not that unusual of a story, that of a woman who becomes tired of her unfulfilling marriage and so decides to try and find happiness by separating and finds a career and new romance. The twist is that in this case Kate finds herself falling for her lesbian boss and that could have made for a decent dramatic movie which really dealt with the subject of feeling conflicted and feeling happiness whilst also taking on the aspect of family responsibility as in what would the children feel. But it never digs that deep and prefers to rely on cliches when it comes to the serious parts of the movie many of them unrealistic.
But through out the entire movie it has a jokey tone from Kate getting angry at the radio because all it ever plays is "All by Myself" to Maggie who works for Mac making amusing remarks about Kate being cute and Mac fancying her. All of which is fun but it dilutes the drama and dilutes the story, turning it into something less realistic. In fact at times it reminded me a little of a "Bridget Jones" movie because of the tone.
Despite this both Leslie Hope and Wendy Crewson play their parts well, delivering the aspect of conflicted feelings but also bringing out the humour in their characters. But it is the wonderful Margo Martindale as Maggie who brings the best laughs thanks to her natural ability to deliver lines with that aspect of knowing which makes them fun.
What this all boils down to is that "An Unexpected Love" left me conflicted because it did amuse me but that came at the cost of realism which it seems it is also striving for.
