Honeymoon with Mom (2006) Reviews

• A jilted bride uses her honeymoon to holiday with her mother

  dazzerse132007-08-11

  An interesting failure of a film, this probably has more to recommend it than many TV movies. The story has bride Virginia Williams jilted at the altar by her feckless fiancé Edward Finlay. Her mother, divorced and hard-nosed editor of a gossip mag Shelley Long, persuades her that they should use the pre-booked honeymoon to indulge in mummy-daughter time. But mum has her own agenda - the idyllic island resort is owned by a reclusive ex-astronaut (Jack Scalia)and mum needs a front-page exclusive... So far, so predictable. Romance? Reconciliation? Retching at saccharine overdose? Well, yes to an extent. Except that there's an essential intelligence here. Although the characters are broad-brush stereotypes, they're not simple TV-movie grotesques. Perhaps its her age, but Long eschews the physical slapstick that's been one of her trademarks and does a credible job as a mother keeping a hesitant grasp on her own emotional history (although she's less great at suggesting a gossip mag editor who's red in tooth and claw). From time to time, Long holds back on the emoting and you can actually see a character weighing up the pros and cons of her actions. She's matched by Williams, who isn't given a lot to do except express the various shades of 'perky'. However, Williams can play a nuance with impressive deftness. As with Long, there's emotional intelligence at work here - and the two of them make the script go further than you'd think it could. And finally, there's the storyline. Oh gosh yes, it's predictable. But it sidesteps the temptation to tie up the ending in pretty pink bows and ribbons. It accepts that romance is a means to happiness - it's not an end in itself: TV-movie sugar doesn't rot the teeth out of your head by the time final credits run. The faults in this movie are evident - it wouldn't stretch the intelligence of a two-year-old - but once you see its strengths, there's enough to recommend it on a wet afternoon.

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• better than a lot of unheard of by me films until i saw it

  gwayneanderson2008-01-28

  I liked this movie. It was a lower budget comedy with a meaningful storyline about a mother and 20's something daughter she had raised as a single mom going an "intended honeymoon" for the daughter, after the daughter's fiancée backs out of the wedding because he's a handsome, self centered type primarily concerned with #1. She was lucky in the end to find this out before starting a lot more pain filled marriage and future let downs. Beautiful island scenery, meaningful dialog, other good characters developed. While daughter and mom repair decades of misunderstandings and some emotional hurts, mom gets a second shot at romance too.The daughter has a handsome young gentleman to preoccupy her while she clarifies her thinking and heals over the altar jilting. Happy ending back home stateside while daughter's love life has no resolution at the end, she is healed and ready for her next shot at a new relationship. I liked it!

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• Cute little romance comedy

  phd_travel2019-03-03

  After being dumped at the altar a woman goes with her mom to an island resort for her honeymoon. There she gets over her heartbreak and mends her strained relationship with her mother. Shelley Long is a cute comedienne and she makes it watchable. Sometimes the story is a bit cheesy but she's endearing. She has a believable romance with Jack Scalia. It's a bit less cliched than Hallmark and the ending isn't that predictable.

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• A pleasant surprise

  audrulyte2014-12-28

  I am quite surprised that this movie is rated so low. Yup, I agree this ain't a masterpiece, and none of the actors are snatching any prizes for the best performance in this or anything, but the somewhat stale at the beginning plot just grows on you so that you really start caring for the characters, get invested in their growth. At the core of the movie lies a story of daughter and mom finally bonding and mending their relationship which for a long time was broken due to truth being with hold. And the story of a young woman being stood up at the altar is just what kick starts the story, yet not the driving force of this movie in the very end. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and if you like a good old drama with some romance thrown into it, you might enjoy this one too.

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• Oh no!

  ebertmcsiskel2007-09-10

  This may be the worst movies ever produced that does not feature one of the Coreys (although one of them may have made a cameo later on, I'm not sure). Shelley long seems to be impersonating Samantha from Sex in the City...unsuccessfully. Even more appalling, they're supposed to be on a honeymoon in the Caribbean, but have Texans working the ranch and a Hawaiian girl at the front desk. Although there are women's shows/movies out there that have decent writing, such as Sex and the City, Absolutely Fabulous and Desperate Housewives, this is a mentally debasing work. How do scripts like this ever get green-lighted? Someone please destroy the original film...absurd!

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