SPOILERS THROUGH:
I'm not a major Danielle Steel fan but have seen maybe three or four of her movies. This was not my favorite. I did not read the book before hand but it wasn't hard to figure out relatively quickly, where this one was going. The movie itself was not that long and that was the biggest problem. This didn't feel like a movie, more a series of events. There was absolutely no story development whatsoever.
This story, taking place over so many years, really needed to be at least another hour maybe more. It just didn't work here. There was a "This happens, then this happens" quality. Nothing was developed, to the point where I really wondered what I was still doing watching this when there really was almost no story there.
What WAS there was a vivid and throughly captivating performance from Jennie Garth as the main character Chrystal. She elevated the movie but it seemed so little effort was put into making this absorbing or giving it any sense of realism whatsoever, that it was quite disappointing and whatever one thinks of Danielle Steel, the other movies I've seen of her work did NOT have that element.
Craig Berko seemed miscast but that may not be him, the character development was weak too. The character of Elizabeth, the wife, was developed pretty well though.
I liked the scene where Chrytal goes into the bar when she firsts get to San Francisco looking for work but then it seems like overnight she is a major success which was rather difficult to believe. And I REALLY didn't buy that chance meeting between Garth and Berko. But the whole movie is pretty much like this.
I have a feeling the book is much better but the movie itself is probably no more then a 5. Five is ultimately my vote and one thing I will say is having Garth in the lead role was a big positive. This actually would have been better as a miniseries or even a television series. Decent but skippable and 5 out of 10.
I'm not a major Danielle Steel fan but have seen maybe three or four of her movies. This was not my favorite. I did not read the book before hand but it wasn't hard to figure out relatively quickly, where this one was going. The movie itself was not that long and that was the biggest problem. This didn't feel like a movie, more a series of events. There was absolutely no story development whatsoever.
This story, taking place over so many years, really needed to be at least another hour maybe more. It just didn't work here. There was a "This happens, then this happens" quality. Nothing was developed, to the point where I really wondered what I was still doing watching this when there really was almost no story there.
What WAS there was a vivid and throughly captivating performance from Jennie Garth as the main character Chrystal. She elevated the movie but it seemed so little effort was put into making this absorbing or giving it any sense of realism whatsoever, that it was quite disappointing and whatever one thinks of Danielle Steel, the other movies I've seen of her work did NOT have that element.
Craig Berko seemed miscast but that may not be him, the character development was weak too. The character of Elizabeth, the wife, was developed pretty well though.
I liked the scene where Chrytal goes into the bar when she firsts get to San Francisco looking for work but then it seems like overnight she is a major success which was rather difficult to believe. And I REALLY didn't buy that chance meeting between Garth and Berko. But the whole movie is pretty much like this.
I have a feeling the book is much better but the movie itself is probably no more then a 5. Five is ultimately my vote and one thing I will say is having Garth in the lead role was a big positive. This actually would have been better as a miniseries or even a television series. Decent but skippable and 5 out of 10.