Lifetime Movie Review: A Change of Heart

Elaine Marshall’s life seemed perfect - she had two loving children, a supportive and strangely fashionable husband, and a summer cabin for mini-vacations. However, her husband was hiding a horrible secret from her. During all of the years of her marriage, she never seemed to notice that her life partner Jim liked daffodils more than most men and that he spent a little too much time making sure his socks perfectly matched his outfit.

That’s right - Elaine had married a gay man. And when she stumbles upon Jim and his new lover Phil, their quiet family life is torn to pieces: Jim’s job is jeopardized, Jim’s daughter is embarrassed at school, and Jim’s son runs out and assaults a gay classmate who used to be his friend. Through it all, Elaine doesn’t seem to understand: how can her husband claim to still love her and yet want to move in with a dude? How could she have been tricked for this many years? How could she have ignored how much he like exposed brick and multicultural art?

I must admit, this LMN film was better than most. Elaine Marshall, played by Jean Smart of Designing Women, give a few hysteric temper tantrum monologues that true Lifetime fans both expect and love. In fact, the best line from the movie comes during her initial outburst upon finding out that she’s married to a fairy: “What about me? What about AIDS?”

Aside from that, there’s a lot of quality family drama, highlighted by the troubled son whose gay dad makes him into a violent teen who doesn’t listen to his mother or pass geometry and the sulking teen daughter who would rather, like, die, than be seen with he queer dad in public. Mix in a boring sub-plot that involves Elaine getting a master’s degree in something that has to do with deaf children and you have your typical drama filled with secrets, lies, and families in crisis.

Don’t worry, though, the movie ends conflict free, although I’m not sure why. It seems like the family went from utterly not accepting the dad’s true lifestyle to the family playing a rousing game of driveway basketball. Then again, I’ve never been in a situation like this one, so maybe that is indeed how having a gay husband is ultimately resolved. Once again, Lifetime manages to both entertain and educate.