A Sugar Coma
It was 8 years ago when novelist Daphne Fields' (Lindsay Wagner - Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7) whole world came crashing down when whilst celebrating Christmas with her husband and daughter a fire breaks out, taking them from her. Despite the sorrow she feels from the loss the discovery that she is pregnant is a miraculous gift and nine months later she gives birth to a son. Unfortunately it is discovered that her son is profoundly deaf which makes Daphne extremely protective but also leads to her meeting Dr. Matthew Dane (Barry Bostwick - Between Love and Hate), a sign language teacher. But with the pain of the loss all those years ago it leads to Daphne no longer celebrating Christmas.
I will stop there with the synopsis for "Once in a Lifetime" but for any one who has watched a Danielle Steel movie before will have guessed that this is only the first part of story. In fact that only really covers the first 20 - 30 minutes of "Once in a Lifetime" which means there is another hour after that for things to become even more complicated and to be honest contrived. And as you would expect during those 60 minutes there is romance, emotion, conflicted feelings and a good chunk of melodrama. Basically "Once in a Lifetime" delivers everything you would expect from a Danielle Steel movie and for fans of these movies adapted from her novels it will entertain.
Now for those who are yet to experience a movie which is usually prefixed with the words "Danielle Steel's" what you have in "Once in a Lifetime" is a romantic melodrama which is incredibly soapy in style whilst also on the sugary side. From a drama featuring Daphne involved in a traffic accident to the fire which robbed her of her husband and daughter right through to the romantic complications it is all incredibly typical of an American soap opera especially one from the 90s which of course now makes this more than a little dated.
There isn't a lot else to say although Lindsay Wagner is solid in the lead role as Daphne and works well with Barry Bostwick who delivers a kind and caring performance as Dr. Dane. Plus there is Amy Aquino who adds just the right amount of energy as Daphne's best friend Barbara.
What this all boils down to is that if you are a fan of other Danielle Steel movies or just enjoy soapy romantic melodramas then "Once in a Lifetime" will entertain. But if unrealistic soapy melodramas annoy you then give this one a miss.
Tags: Danielle Steel Movies
