Christmas movie review: A Perfect Day (TNT)
12/18/06 08:35 AM
By ED BARK
Lowe and behold, it's him again.
If Rob Lowe doesn't get the part, then John Stamos does. Or so it seems. Consider them the small-screen's dependable, plug-in Dudley Do Rights, even if they're not always big box office in the Nielsen ratings.
Stamos, 43 and recently added to the cast of NBC's ER, hasn't missed a beat since the two-time failure of ABC's Jake In Progress comedy series. Last week he starred in the A&E movie Wedding Wars. Now he's also working on an ABC remake of A Raisin in the Sun.
Lowe, 42 and recently added to the cast of ABC's Brothers & Sisters, hasn't missed a beat since turning down the "Dr. McDreamy" role in ABC's Grey's Anatomy and also flopping in NBC's The Lyon's Den and CBS' Dr. Vegas. Now here he is in another made-for-TV Christmas movie, his third in five years.
TNT's A Perfect Day, premiering Monday, Dec. 18th (7 p.m. central, 8 eastern), gives Lowe another chance to rediscover what's important in life. You'd think he'd have learned from The Christmas Shoes (2002) and its 2005 sequel The Christmas Blessing. But no, he's back for another life's lesson, this time as a suddenly famous author who loses contact with his wife and their lovable little daughter.
Lowe plays Rob Harlan, a contented radio sales guy until learning he's both been bypassed for a promotion and fired. His wife, Allyson (Paget Brewster), urges him to revisit a book he'd been writing. It's a very personal account of how she coped with her father's death from cancer. Several prototypical rejection slips later, Rob gets a call from an incredibly benevolent book agent named Camille Bailey (Frances Conroy). She plans to get him published, and does. And this is a good thing because poor Rob had been digging septic tank ditches to help make ends meet.
He's soon a veritable Mitch Albom, wringing tears from grateful readers and starting to "feel a bit like a rock star, I guess." The spoils even include an appearance on CNN's Larry King Live, where his wife admonishes him for sounding a "little pompous."
One problem with A Perfect Day is that Rob's wife isn't as sympathetic a figure as the movie intends her to be. He's caught lightning in a bottle and is merely trying to "max out while I can." But she all-too-quickly grows impatient with his holiday season book tour and a strong-willed agent (Regina King) who pushes him to capitalize while he can. Frankly, the guy's entitled. So it rings a little false when Allyson rages, "I wish you'd never written that damned book!"
Damned if there isn't an angel named Michael (Christopher Lloyd), too. Or at least that's what he presents himself as while Rob's life fishtails toward what looks like a very blue Christmas.
Lowe looks cute and soulful throughout, never quite selling himself as a cad in need of redemption. Still, some of the film's homestretch scenes are touching enough to trigger the lump in the throat they seek. As Christmas movies go, A Perfect Day rises to the level of a gift card. Not particularly imaginative, but all in all it gets the job done.
Grade: B-minus
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