Her Best Friend's Husband (2002) Reviews

• Better than Average TV Movie

  RileyHawk2002-03-12

  This made for tv-movie tells the story of best friends Mandy Roberts (Bess Armstrong) and Jane Thornten (Cheryl Ladd) who find themselves at a crossroads. Mandy is the stifled wife of Will (William R. Moses) and mother to college student daughter, Kelly (Lindy Booth), but she longs to be more. When Mandy gets the nerve to ask for a divorce and open her own business she asks Jane for support. The widowed Jane obliges begrudgingly, but feels for the wounded Will and Kelly. Naturally (and predictably) Will and Jane fall in love. How will Mandy react? Will Jane's conscience let her love Will? What will Kelly do when she finds out? We know the answers already, but it's still fun to watch. A standout in this cast is up-and-coming Canadian actress Lindy Booth as Kelly. She is a joy to watch in anything, but it is especially exciting to see her featured so prominently here.

• Another side of this sort of story...

  bhakta_allison2008-11-03

  This is one of the first LMN movies I really liked and felt could have happened in real life. I do not agree how Ms. Ladd's character was the villain or a bad friend to Amanda. For one thing, the wife no longer wanted her husband. Does anyone forget how horrible she acted on her birthday party after her husband gave her a nice gift of jewelry and how she was so quick to go onto a fast life without her family? The daughter quickly forgot how it was her mother's FRIEND who got her boyfriend-in-the-band on the charts when he seemed like a pretty greasy guy with no talent. The movie does serve as a lesson. It is never advisable to go out with a friend's ex. Also, a woman should really think before throwing away a good husband. Good men are hard to find. Amanda is like a lot of women who will tell a decent guy to get lost and then expect them to pine for them. Life goes on. It is fairly normal for a separated or divorced man to move on a lot quicker than the ex-wives want and it is usually with someone they know rather than a stranger. I loved the slap scene!

• I hated this movie - unrealistic and too many logic errors

  g.hazel2009-01-04

  A wife is suffering because she is nearly an empty nester. She refuses to tell her husband word one until "I want a divorce". Nice. The best friend tries to help her out, and gets the "go away -- no come back" treatment. The husband doesn't even TRY to make it work. And nobody has answers for the daughter "It's complicated" -- hey, I'm adult, not a 5 yr old -- how about you explain it to me, OK? And then, the best friend somehow falls in love with the husband? She could do better. And she should! Hello, it's your BEST FRIEND's HUSBAND. Oh, yeah. And him "Uh, you didn't return any of my calls. Did you get them?" - hey idiot, here's 100 dollars, buy a clue. No return calls = I don't want to talk to you. Ugh...I can watch most of what LMN puts on when the wife has the remote but I walked out on this unrealistic debacle.

• Quite good

  howie732005-04-27

  You don't have to be a genius to figure out what happens in this well-crafted TV movie. The clue is in the transparent title - Her Best Friend's Husband. In this case, Cheryl Ladd is the widower who falls for best friend's husband, Moses. The scenario is complicated by the fact Moses's wife, played by Armstrong, is suffering a mid-life crisis and starts divorce proceedings against her husband. This opens the door for Ladd. What follows is a carefully constructed, unsensational story that in spite of its soap-opera dialog, is very watchable and entertaining. Armstrong gives a strong performance as the wronged wife but her character is too cold to elicit our sympathy, whereas Ladd's character has enough emotional solidity to steal the core of the film from the married couple. Moses gives an adequate performance but the script doesn't require him to do much. The open-ended ending was a surprise but looking back it was the best way to finish up the loose ends.

• Soapy but not too bad...

  Yabahonda2003-06-25

  Whether intended or not, this movie seems to have some deeper levels. The predicament of the heroine naturally attracted to her "best friend's" discarded husband, the Oedepian (spelling?) reaction of the young daughter and the self centered and self seeking wife looking for herself... all made interesting viewing on different levels.... not the worst way to spend a couple of hours...