Steve Lund | Through the Shattered Lens

No, that image above is not my sister‘s latest discovery for artwork of the day. Instead, it’s the only promo image that I’ve been able to find for a film called Flashback. Flashback premiered on the Lifetime Movie Network on January 31st. Because I was on a road trip when it originally aired, I had to set the DVR to record it. I watched the film earlier today and I jotted down a few notes for my review. Then, because I desperately needed the space on my DVR, I erased the recording. I assumed that I would be able to get any other details I needed from the film’s imdb page.

Big mistake.

Unlike some obscure films, Flashback actually does have a page on the imdb. But there’s next to no information about the movie! There’s a brief (but surprisingly accurate) plot description. Three members of the cast are listed. Jeffrey Roy is listed as being the adr mixer. But otherwise, no director is listed. No producer. No writers. It’s very odd.

So, after discovering that the imdb was going to be little to no help, I decided to go to MyLifetime.com and look up the film. And guess what? The MyLifetime page does not list a director either!

After doing a few more fruitless Google searches, I quickly looked through my notes. Maybe I had jotted down the director’s name. Of course, I did not.

The lesson here is not to take the imdb for granted as a resource. Especially when it comes to fairly obscure Lifetime films.

I would especially like to be able to name the director and writer responsible for Flashback because it actually tells a very heartfelt story and attempts to deal with a serious issue. The films tell the story of Samantha (Roxanne McKee), a soldier with the National Guard who has just returned from Iraq. While Samantha struggles to maintain an outward normalcy, she is actually suffering from severe PTSD. (When we first see her, she’s holding a gun and hiding in a bathroom stall while her friends throw her a welcome home party.) In Iraq, Samantha was involved in a friendly fire incident that led to the death of two soldiers. Back home, she finds herself being stalked by another soldier (Tim Rozon), who blames her for the incident. What gives this story a twist is that Samantha herself is unsure about what actually happened. Whenever she tries to remember, she just has hazy flashbacks to a battle in Iraq.

(And, let it be said, the battle scenes were surprisingly well-done for what appeared to be a rather low-budget film. The director did a good job of creating and capturing the feel of total chaos and confusion.)

And, in many ways, Flashback is a standard Lifetime film. Even while Samantha is being stalked, she enters into a relationship with yet another soldier (Steve Lund), who is politically ambitious and has secrets of his own. The whole thing even includes, as almost every Lifetime film does, a chase and confrontation at an isolated cabin. But then the film ends with some statistics about PTSD and suicide and with two final words on the screen: “For Cathy.” It’s a powerful moment and I’d like to give the director proper credit. So, if you are the director or you know the director, leave a comment and let us know so that we can give credit where credit is due.

(UPDATE: Val has just informed me that this film was directed by Claude Desrosiers. — LMB)

The other great thing about Flashback is that it featured Stacey Farber in the role of Samantha’s best friend! If you’re a fan of Degrassi, like me and Valerie Troutman, then you will immediately recognize Stacey from her role as Ellie Nash! Ellie was always my favorite character on Degrassi, largely because, as a redheaded film lover who used to dress exclusively in black and who has had some experience with rubber band therapy, I related to her in so many ways. And while I remain a fan of the show, it definitely lost something when Stacey Farber left the show. (That said, at least Ellie finally ended up with the totally hot Craig Manning! Go, Ellie!)

Anyway, it’s interesting seeing Stacey Farber play a character who suggests that the best way for Samantha to deal with wartime trauma is to go on a shopping spree. (That said, I probably would have made the same suggestion. Shopping is always a good fallback remedy.) But she does a good job in her role (as does the entire cast) and it was nice to see that, for her, there is life after Degrassi.

In fact, I’m going to end this review with three of my favorite Ellie gifs.

I never saw the boom mic drop, nor does this movie have anyone turn invisible. That’s refreshing. However, the title is a little off putting. Not because it’s super generic, but because I already watched a movie called Best Night Ever (2013) earlier this year. My god was that movie bad. So let’s talk about Best Christmas Party Ever.

This is our main character named Jennie Stanton (Torrey DeVitto). She’s a party planner. That kind of seems to be a recurring thing in these Hallmark movies. At least no one gets murdered leading her to try and solve a mystery such as Wedding Planner Mystery (2014) did. That would be another movie this is better than.

So Jennie works for a woman named Petra (Linda Thorson). She is throwing a party to step down as head of this event planning company. I know, you want to throw in a joke here that Diana Rigg is going to take over the company, but no such luck. In fact, she never actually says who is taking over. It’s kind of sorta implied that it’s going to be her out work actor son named Nick Forbes (Steve Lund).

Unless I missed some line where she explicitly says it, she just says she’s stepping down and wants him to work with Jennie to plan the upcoming annual Tyrell Toys party. Whether she makes it explicit or not, Jennie jumps to that conclusion. Now Jennie is kinda like Danica McKellar’s character from Perfect Match (2015). Oddly enough, another Ron Oliver movie this is better than. They both were in this business because they actually had a passion for it. In Jennie’s case, she attended these Tyrell Toys parties as a kid. Also, when her father was out of work, she wished her father would get a job, and Tyrell Toys hired him. In other words, she has personal reasons why she does what she does, and why she especially wants this party to be done right.

Now you’d think he’s going to be a problem and sparring partner throughout for her to wind up with, but not really. He starts off that way, but quickly changes. In fact, I think Jennie sums up his role in the movie quite well.

Although, referring to him as Dr. Feelgood of course made me think of the Mötley Crüe song.

In which case, she probably shouldn’t eat that hot dog. Who knows what could be in there.

This guy is her problem. He works at Tyrell Toys. They are romantically involved, but not much of anything is made of that. He just basically gets that look on his face more and more as he realizes her vision for the party is totally different from his. You see, the guy who used to own Tyrell Toys sold the company and now the party is supposed to be a more private company party rather than being a more charitable public outgoing type of thing.

The rest of the film can be summed up like this. As Jennie continues to try and maintain her vision for the party, the business guy keeps pushing it off the rails while Nick keeps popping in to try and keep her on track. Ultimately, she follows her heart even after Tyrell Toys fires her. She goes to the former owner and decides to throw the party anyways with his support. However, Petra gets wind of it, which leads to…

product placement. They have a nice long shot of her taking off her glasses and setting them next to that case to make sure you see the name Visionworks. At least it didn’t come at the emotional climax like it did in Always And Forever (2009) where he opens the ring box to make sure we get a nice clear shot of the name Kay Jewelers when he proposes to her. Petra of course backs her decision to throw this party the way Jennie wants to. She wanted to be let in on it, rather than having to find out from somebody else.

There are a couple little subplots, and a few other characters, but they don’t really matter. The party goes off well. The business guy’s superior catches wind of it and attends. You can see above that he thinks this was a pretty neat tradition that shouldn’t have been tossed aside. Then Jennie and Nick kiss while a ballerina waitress stands behind them.

This one wasn’t perfect, but definitely one of the better Hallmark Christmas movies I’ve watched so far.

Of course, since it is a Hallmark movie, there is something a little humorous to look for.

Notice the game on the screen behind her. It’s not that it just looks really cheaply slapped together, but that they still make games that look like they were drawn in MS Paint in reality.