Though it may sound like damnation by faint praise, this frothy made-for-TV picture is probably star Tori Spelling’s sunniest vehicle.
Times are changing at the Sugar Dot Bakery, which advertising executive Charlie McKenzie (Spelling) has promoted tirelessly over the years. The Walcott Inc. conglomerate takes over, and Mr. Walcott (Gregg Germann) expects all employees to adhere to his Conservative Christian family values. Charlie’s best friend, Stacy Dobson (Kali Rocha) gets to keep her job because she's married and a mother, though she doesn't mention that she's estranged from her husband. She advises workaholic Charlie to fudge the domestic facts of her life, and before she knows it, Charlie has fabricated a happy marriage, a daughter, and a house with a white picket fence. Walcott wrangles a dinner invitation for himself and his wife, Victoria (Kate Vernon), so he can give Charlie a final once-over. Borrowing Stacy’s dream house and little girl isn’t too problematic, but Charlie's "husband" is another matter. Pressed for time, she relies on an escort service to provide an actor to impersonate her better half. Quick on his feet and easy on the eyes, Buck (Jordan Bridges) takes his part seriously and makes the evening flow smoothly for Charlie. Then, just as Charlie seems to have cinched a promotion, two crises erupt. Stacy’s errant husband starts sniffing around the premises with reconciliation in mind. Worse yet, the Walcotts decide to move next door! A delicate balancing act ensues; to pull off her deception, Charlie must count on Buck’s willingness to sacrifice dinner-theater gigs. And having fallen for Charlie, Buck doesn’t mind being a husband for hire. But Charlie discovers that you can’t weave a tangled web indefinitely.
Proving that nepotism is relative, Jordan Bridges, son of actor Beau Bridges, downplays the script’s farcical elements and keeps the cast at half mast. But writer Rick Gitelson’s timely sniping at corporate hypocrisy is consistently well observed. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
