The Worst Film Ever

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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.

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.

If you are looking for a movie that will reel you in and create a sense that you may have experienced some of what they are going through but do it in a convincing narrative with heart tugs and some nice dialog,then this movie will appeal and satisfy. I would not put stock in anyone trying to relegate this to anything but a very well done piece of social commentary. I found it thoroughly enjoyable,satisfyingly better than I thought it would be. Watch it with an open mind and open heart. Give it a chance. Downplay whatever you may have read and enjoy. All the lead characters do a very good job and add real "feel" to their character whether it's rich folk or Medicaid folk, there is realism in their manner and portrayal. I highly recommend this little gem to all that would like to spend a couple of hours getting to know some people you may have passed on the street.

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.