eilraie To sum up this film is easy in a few words, looks like a college student film. The director did a horrible job at containing and catching the mistakes made by the camera department. Horrible acting and horrible techniques. Don't waist your time on watching this film.

herbqedi Hallmark gives its audience what it wants by repackaging its single-mom- meets-guy-who-she-thinks-is-a-jerk-but-he-turns-out-to-be Mr.-Right patented approach in as many different ways as they can think of. They please their audiences even if the leads are generally plug-and-play, the plots predictable, and the production values threadbare. Class qualifies for all of the above. But it's one of the best applications of the formula. The writing and dialog are a bit tighter and sharper than usual. The supporting acting including wonderful performances by Catherine Mary Stewart and Eric Roberts as the male lead's parents. The sick son is quite good as is the actress playing the Law School Professor (I remember her from My Family and Tortilla Soup) and the actor playing the male lead's best friend also give excellent performances elevating their characters above the norm. Ms. O'Rourke's sister is also well played. But what elevates this the most is the eye-opening performance by Jody Lyn O'Keefe. Her interpretation of the very unglamorous and emotionally damaged underprivileged single Mom who never caught a break in life seemed totally and completely real. She was so good she could have been such a person in a documentary. Her transformation is never too easy or forced by the script. We feel her painfully and reluctantly experiencing rejection, then having to mask her scars and learn to hope and expect, then demand, better for herself. In most Hallmark movies, it's just part of the back story, here it actually seems real. Her eyes tell the saga of a woman who has experienced more than a more merciful God would allow. And when her son's needs make her put aside her skepticism to anyone willing to help even though she doubts at first his sincerity (with good reason), then later his ability to stand up to his father (with better reason), you feel these hard trade-offs and what they are doing to her.Class is a classy effort by all and gets an A from me on the basis of a stellar performance by Jody Lyn O'Keefe.

allworkpeace Can someone tell me why Hallmark and Lifetime movies don't allow a single second of film time without that intrusive background music overwhelming the best lines?! If it weren't for that irritating score drowning out all the best lines, especially when Kylie Burch (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) lowers her voice, I'd give this film a 9, at least.Some people might call the plot by-the-numbers, and it does cover all the bases: single mom can't keep a job because of asthmatic kid and hair-trigger temper developed over years of frustration with heartless system meets spoiled wealthy law student forced to help her find a job just to get a grade so he can graduate and join dad's high-powered law firm. Add alcoholic mother and son's frustrations with his father's plans for his future, and the inevitable happens.What makes this story work is the excellent script and believable performances by O'Keefe, Justin Bruening (as Whit Sheffield), and Eric Roberts and Catherine Mary Stewart as the elder Sheffields. Even Maxwell Perry Cotton plays young Shane Burch as a normal kid, instead of the stereotypical self-conscious child role.My take-away from this flick is that the hopeful ending leaves the characters with more story to tell. Almost all of them have learned and grown, but I felt they had more to do together and separately, perhaps in a series about the Burch-Sheffield clan. The characters and their potential for story-telling are some of the strongest I've seen in this genre.

edwagreen Mazel Tov to producer Larry Levinson for making this heartwarming film.Sure it's predictable, but it's wonderful just the same. Why? We view a form of prejudice here which we usually associate with religion or race. No. Here we see prejudice among the social classes.What a great plot. A wealthy lad about to graduate from Law School is assigned to help an impoverished single mom improve her life while facing a hostile environment.She can't hold a job since her child is chronically ill with asthma. In addition, we see how employees, landlords and even the Medicaid system act among the downtrodden in society.Our lad is hostile at the beginning to our young lady. His father, played to the hilt by Eric Roberts, is a big-shot attorney who has already carved out the ideal life for his son in the corporation after law school and the passing of the Bar Exam. Mom is an alcoholic because she basically would like to declare her independence and is sympathetic as our young guy becomes infatuated with our young lady.The film is a gem since it shows you that power and money prevail in this society with dealing with a landlord and others. Of course, it helps to have friends up there to get a nursing scholarship for our lassie. However, the real success is that the two join forces in the end. In love and with so much to give to society, this is a remarkable film in that we see that the barriers to social classes can be broken. Only problem: Eric Roberts doesn't come down from his tower to acquiesce. Still, that's true to life.Very highly recommended.