The Goddaughter
As he's trying to make a living from photography Steve Allie Collura (Grant Show - Natalee Holloway) is approached by a cop friend of his brother who has an unusual proposition for him, to work undercover and infiltrate the Gambino family. Liking some adventure Steve agrees and finds his way into the family through an old friend who he grew up on the streets with. But having made his way into the family and ingratiated himself with Don Carlo Gambino (Robert Loggia - Mercy Mission: The Rescue of Flight 771) he finds himself falling for Maria (Maria Pitillo - Godzilla), Gambino's goddaughter who he has raised as if she was his own daughter after her parents died.
"Between Love and Honor" is like so many movies I watch one of those made for TV true story movies, this one is based on Steve Allie Collura's life when asked to work undercover and infiltrate the Gambino family. Now "Between Love and Honor" is solidly entertaining, nicely paced, nicely shot, nicely acted with the real Steve Allie Collura appears in a supporting role. But whilst based on a true story and nicely made it isn't amazing, just another solid movie which explores the bond which forms when an undercover cop becomes close to those he is observing.
Part of the trouble with "Between Love and Honor" is sadly that it is a TV movie and so certain things about it seemed rushed. The whole opening which sees a cop approach Steve borders on the corny whilst the ending deserved more time to do it justice and not just feel like an after thought.
But despite that the main element of the movie which ends up being the relationship between Steve and Maria works as whilst sweet it's not over sweet and interweaves nicely with the story of Steve being an undercover cop. And the main reason for that is because Grant Show and Maria Pitillo work well together delivering this charming slice of romance. Elsewhere there are equally good performances especially from Robert Loggia who brings an element of gravitas to his performance as Carlo Gambino.
What this all boils down to is that "Between Love and Honor" isn't going to blow you away because whilst based on a true story it is a story which explores a familiar theme. But it will entertain with nice performances and nice direction which at times lifts it above the usual TV movie standard.
