Reviving Ophelia (2010)

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Masterful Movie

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Le Anne Dunley (Kim Dickens) arrives home to find her daughter Kelli having oral sex. She send Kelli to stay with her aunt Marie Jones (Jane Kaczmarek). Le Anne and Marie are sisters with differing styles. Marie and her husband Walter have Elizabeth who is around the same age as Kelli and goes to the same school. Elizabeth has possessive boyfriend Mark. Kelli starts to suspect Mark of disturbing behaviors but aunt Marie sees Kelli as the bad seed and Elizabeth as the perfect child. Mark hits Elizabeth but they pass a lie to her parents. Mark get more and more jealous of her male classmate. Cody tries to befriend Kelli but she distrusts guys in general.This is the classic Lifetime melodrama of abusive boyfriend and abused girlfriend. There are some good adult actors. I'm not familiar with the younger actors except for Joe Dinicol. He's generally pretty good. This is a melodrama without much tension or actual drama. It's paint-by-numbers. Elizabeth's delusions are almost as infuriating as Mark's violence. This is Lifetime at its Lifetimiest.

Elizabeth (Rebecca Williams) is a typical teenager who's found what's seems to be a great guy in her boyfriend Mark (Nick Thurston). The relationship starts to turn sour once Mark starts to be abusive and controlling. Reviving Ophelia is Lifetime movie trying to convey the dark sides and dangers of relationships.I am all for a film trying to show how important to be safe in relationships even if it's only a television film. I think it is important to expose this important issue and in the most serious manner which maybe could even save a life and the Lifetime channel would seem to be the perfect place for a TV film like this. The Lifetime channel seems to have a wide audience and they have made many films.So why then is Reviving Opehia so cheesy when it's dealing with a such touchy and important subject?Even though she is a victim of assault, Elizabeth is hard character to root for because she can get away from her abuser Mark and she is clearly something of a button-pusher. You obviously can't like Mark either because he is a guy beating up a woman and not taking responsibility for his actions. Keil (Carleigh Beverly) Elizabeth cousin, is the character in the middle who's supposed be trying to help Elizabeth get away from Mark but the two unlikable characters are in the way of her character realizing her full potential. Even Jane Kaczmarek as mother Marie Jones, previously known for good stuff like Malcolm in the Middle and Part of Five, falls short and her acting here is far from where it usually is. The cast does have some chemistry though everything is toned down due to this being a TV film. The plot really has only one subject and it really has little substance.Reviving Ophelia is so full of problems that it's main message that "that abuse is bad" gets very lost in the middle of it. After that, it is a bit laughable and you keep watching because you have nothing else to do. We watched this in my high school Relationships class as we spent a whole unit learning about abusive relationships. Frankly, just about whole class laughed at this movie and my buddy next to me cracked some sex jokes and commented about all the attractive actresses that appear in this film. It did make this bad TV film seem more bearable.

When people say this movie was good "for a Lifetime movie" they mean it. There's a lot of substance to that statement since Lifetime network's films are so cookie-cutter that everyone comes back for another piece. But "Reviving Ophelia" was seriously different. The story focuses not only on the girl being abused (and reluctant to reject the relationship) but also a second character who has her own share of troubles, difference being that this one has the clarity to realize that her cousin needs help. Rebecca Williams is really, really great as Elizabeth (aka "Ophelia"; Shakespeare reference) because of how real she seems. The kind of viewer I am, I get mad at characters who, say, allow themselves to get abused and STILL stay in the relationship; but Williams's portrayal made sense and made me understand what some women endure. I don't reread books or re-watch movies but for some reason I DVR'd this flick and watched it again. Definitely watch if you're into a drama w/ a solid plot and believable characters/actors.

For a TV movie, this was pretty good. Though I don't have any experience with these kinds of situations, it seemed realistic. It was also very intense and pretty creepy at times. I actually felt myself becoming frightened for the different characters from time to time.I also learned quite a bit from this movie. I don't think I'll easily forget the signs that one is in an abusive relationship, or what to do if I suspect someone else is in one. I definitely hope I never make the same mistake that Lizzie did, though, and I hope a lot of people won't, after they see this.All in all, the acting, writing, and directing were all above average for this movie, and I would recommend it.