Davis P To be honest, Shirley McClaine is what made this movie at least somewhat entertaining at parts. Shirley McClaine shines in all of her scenes, as she always does in literally every movie she is involved in. The only real problem with this movie is that sometimes the writing can become dull and as a result, the scene and the comedic value in it suffers from it. Yes you have Shirley McClaine's wonderful witty humor and great acting abilities, but sometimes the writing can be underwhelming and then that just brings the whole scene down. Ricki Lake was pretty good in the lead role as Connie Doyle, I don't think that she's a bad actress and I don't think at all that she gave a poor performance here. Like I said, I think one of the movies main problems is the underwhelming writing that can come up sometimes, but I think another problem with Mrs. Winterbourne is Brendan Fraser. Now I don't mean to hate on Brendan Fraser, and I think he has given some good acting performances in other films, but to be honest, I just didn't think he was a good fit in this movie. I didn't like the way he came across in most scenes, and I just didn't like him as a character until the very end, and even then he seemed to me like he was stuck in some cheesy run-of-the-mill Hallmark movie, I just thought he gave a poor performance here. 6/10 overall for Mrs. Winterbourne seems fair.

alsation72 Spoilers are not possible for this predictable mawkish mess: its as obvious as it is brainless. This film is a remake of "No Man of Her Own", a 1950 clunker which starred Barbara Stanwyck.Obviously Ricki Lake is no Barbara Stanwyck, but in this film she comes across as conniving, irritating and unlike-able. Barefoot and pregnant, she is mistaken for Mrs. Winterbourne's daughter in law. This badly- concocted case of mistaken identity basically drives the weak story.Apparently despite a wedding and impending birth, Mrs Winterbourne has never seen even a picture of her son's wife. Did Shirley MacLain read the script before she signed up?Ricki Lake comes off as a tubby little tomboy; as a leading lady in a feature film she makes a great talk-show host. She says "ain't" a lot, just so we remember how impoverished the character was. The romance that blossoms between her and Fraser's character is not believable; together they have zero chemistry. When the jig is up and the deception is uncovered the family instantly seems to accept it because they are just so darned lovable. Maybe if they had used someone like Sandra Bullock and really made an effort to update this stinker of a storyline ... maybe then it might have been bearable.

tex-42 Mrs. Winterbourne is perhaps the epitome of romantic comedies, in the requirement that you suspend disbelief. It almost commands that you not think about the plot too much, because if you do, the entire movie falls apart.The plot is simple. Connie Doyle is thrown out by her boyfriend when she becomes pregnant, and she ends up on a train with the Winterbournes, a wealthy young couple on their way to Boston. The train derails, and both Winterbournes are killed. However, as Connie was trying on Mrs. Winterbourne's ring at the time of the accident, she is mistaken for her, and her baby for the Winterbourne grandchild. What follows is what always happens in romantic comedies, Connie is taken in by the Winterbourne family and falls in love with the dead Winterbourne's twin brother, who is initially suspicious of her, but then grows to love her. Complications arise, but everything works out in the end.Shirley MacLaine is quite winning at Grace Winterbourne, and Miguel Sandoval steals most of his scenes. The problem is that neither Ricki Lake or Brendan Fraser have much chemistry with each other, and Ricki Lake seems miscast in general. Of course, there are also massive plot holes here, and even in the end, no one really seems to care that the real Mrs. Winterbourne and the real Winterbourne grandchild are off buried somewhere under someone else's name. This is not a bad movie, it's perfectly pleasant, but you really are required to not think about the plot at all to really enjoy it.

edwagreen As she gets older, veteran actress Shirley Mac Laine just gets better and better.In this wonderful 1996 film, Miss MacLaine portrays the mother of a son and daughter who are tragically killed in a train wreck. Since she never met her daughter-in-law, this will provide for the wonderful plot.Ricki Lake is a young girl down on her luck. Finding herself pregnant from an abusive hoodlum-like boyfriend, the latter kicks her out when he discovers her condition. It is her good fortune to meet up with MacLaine's son and new daughter-in-law. She is in the train when it crashes and having just put on the dead woman's wedding ring, she is easily mistaken for MacLaine's new daughter-in-law.When she gives birth to the baby, MacLaine is a grandmother! Lake soon finds her dead "husband's" brother (Brendon Fraser) as her love interest. Naturally, seeing Lake in the newspaper with her wealthy "family" brings back the boyfriend to do some blackmailing. The fun really starts when the boyfriend is murdered and some more surprises are revealed.The cast is just perfect and the storyline is done well.