mharah ...then you'll probably find this film funny. I don't. It's a parody, after all, and Ferrell makes the mistake of playing it too straight, apparently believing that being good at being a bad actor will make it funny. It doesn't. It just makes it tedious. Kristen Wiig fares somewhat better, but her performance depends a lot on Ferrell, so she is limited in that respect. The child actress is cute but mumbles her lines, so we rarely know what she says. Sometimes that matters, mostly it doesn't. Some of the supporting players understand the assignment better that the principals. Brian Safi and Carolyn Hennesey know how to play it straight for humor, but they need someone to play off of. Jessica Lowndes, playing the villain of the piece, has the easiest assignment. All she has to do is be evil, exactly as she would in an otherwise straightforward version. Doing exactly that with Jake Weary as her scruffy boyfriend, she handles it well. To do a parody successfully, the creators must have respect for the original. In this case, it is unclear whether they do or don't.

jtindahouse When I saw that Will Ferrell and Kristin Wiig had made a TV movie I was excited because I figured they must have found an amazing script to get them both to sign on. So I was a little bit disappointed when I got around to actually watching 'A Deadly Adoption' only to find a slightly above average movie by TV standards. What went on behind the scenes to get them both on board I'm not sure, but it certainly wasn't the script alone as I had hoped. Seeing Ferrell playing a serious role took me quite off guard at first. I hadn't actually seen any of the previous serious work he's done and only knew him for his comedic roles which he is the best in the business at. I wouldn't call his performance overly natural, he seemed like he had a slightly tough time adjusting to not just saying whatever hilarious line popped into his head. Wiig on the other hand I did find very natural. Her role wasn't written overly well and didn't give her a lot to do, however the scenes she did have she handled well and overshadowed Ferrell in the acting sense I'd have to say.There's a lot of "by the book" writing involved and the clichés are a little bit overbearing at times (ie. the gay best friend). For a TV movie though it's very watchable and the short runtime passes by quick enough. Often comedic actors like to delve into the world of serious films, with mixed results. Apparently Ferrell falls into that category as well. I hope he doesn't spend too much time trying it out though, because he would truly be a tremendous loss to the world of comedy if he did so. Worth a look but don't expect anything too special.

Jackson Booth-Millard This TV movie was a bit of a strange one, it was advertised is if it was a serious dramatic film, but you cannot ignore the fact that two comedy stars are in the leading roles, which made you question whether this film is a joke, I had to watch and decide for myself. Basically Sarah Benson (Kristen Wiig) is a successful organic food vendor, her husband Robert (Will Ferrell) is a best-selling author and finance guru, their life was rocked by a tragic accident, Sarah was near an unsafe dock and fell into the water of Storm Lake, the trauma caused her to lose their second child in pregnancy, she is no longer able to bare children. Five years have passed, Robert has become reclusive and recovering alcoholic, he has been sober for six months, he and Sarah are looking to adopt an unwanted child, but have not been satisfied by any suggested birth mothers. Then they meet seemingly sweet and innocent attractive young woman Bridgette Gibson (90210's Jessica Lowndes), in the final months of her pregnancy, she claims to be living in a homeless shelter, Sarah and Robert decide to give her the bedroom their lost child would have slept in, she will stay with them until she gives birth. As time goes by however Bridgette is obviously not all she seems, six-year- old daughter Sully (Dark Skies' Alyvia Alyn Lind), who Robert is over-protective of because of her diabetes, is the first to spot that Bridgette is not pregnant at all, she has been wearing a fake enlarged belly pad, she lies to the girl that she is pregnant, but that she would not be believed. Bridgette has another agenda entirely, she and her tattooed hoodlum boyfriend Dwayne Tisdale (Jake Weary) are scheming to get money from the family, the intend to kidnap Sully perhaps for ransom, but also Bridgette has her own reasons. It is revealed that in the past when he was a writer they encountered each other and he made love to her, but he left her after a short time to be with Sarah, she lost a baby that she was pregnant with, she wants both revenge, and perhaps to try and get closer to Robert again. All the secrets and lies come spilling out from all sides, Robert has to try and protect his family, Bridgette is crazy and will do whatever it takes to get what she wants, and Sarah is caught in the middle, there will be deadly consequences for all involved in the complicated situation. Also starring Mousehunt's Debra Christofferson as Ellen Macy, Bryan Safi as Charlie, Erik Palladino as Sheriff and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machine's Carolyn Hennesy as Debby. Ferrell and Wiig are reasonably good at playing serious, Lowndes is too soapy to be believable as an antagonistic bitch, this apparently is supposed to be a humorous imitation of those late 80s and 90s films with twisted affairs and evil characters playing happy families, it does have moments inspired by Fatal Attraction or The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, but it is not quite executed as well as it could have been, you can see the funny side of it though as it is awash with clichés, not a completely terrible parody psychological thriller. Okay!

HEStL I missed the April 1 announcement of this film. If I had seen it, I might have taken the TV guide seriously when it labeled this movie a comedy. (I thought that was a mistake.) I got through 3/4 of this movie thinking it was a worse-than-normal LifeTime movie.However, when Will Ferrell is kneeling over his unconscious wife and the cheesy music kicks in and he looks up and stares, it hit me. From there on out, it was obvious that this was intended to be a comedy from the jump and I had missed the joke until it was too late. Now I have to watch it again so I can laugh at the parts that I thought were just bad the first time around.