Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Daniel Webster Stewart (Louis Gossett Jr. - The Color of Love: Jacey's Story) dedicated his life to serving the people in the small town of Silver Shade and that now sees him closing his law practice to dedicate himself to running for Congress. But following one of his rallies he receives the news that his political opponent, Horton Roundtree's (Robert Urich - Final Run), wife has been murdered and that his friend, Curtis Gallagher (Sterling Macer Jr.), has been accused of the murder. When someone threatens Daniel with exposing a secret about his wife unless he defends Curtis, he finds himself having no choice but to return to the courtroom. But at the same time he realises that there is some one who doesn't want him defending Curtis which puts his family on edge.
First things first and "For Love of Olivia" is in fact a sequel, not that I realised it before I began watching and it certainly doesn't appear to spoil the movie if you haven't watched the previous movie, "To Dance with Olivia". I say that because whilst having watched the previous movie might give you some back story to Daniel and his family what you have in "For Love of Olivia" is a self contained drama with Daniel forced to put his campaigning on the back burner to defend an innocent man. The only difference here beyond the smart lawyer defending an innocent man storyline is the element of secrets and lies with revelations about Olivia and those trying to prevent Daniel from returning to court which lifts this and adds some thing to the whole mystery of the movie.
The thing though which really lifts "For Love of Olivia" is that the cast play their parts very well. Louis Gossett Jr. brings to the part of Daniel a touch of the Jimmy Stewart, making him that morally upright man who will do his duty even if it means he will suffer for doing the right thing. At the same time Lonette McKee brings that touch of strong, supportive housewife to the part of Olivia so whilst we have that caring mum she also has Daniel wrapped around her little finger. I could go on because everyone be it Robert Urich as Horton Roundtree or Virginia Capers as Ida Mae they all bring depth of character to their roles, making them the sort of people who end up interesting and entertaining.
What this all boils down to is that "For Love of Olivia" is one of those made for TV dramas which has an okay murder, mystery / courtroom drama storyline but features a cast who do a great job of bringing their characters to life.
