I watched this because I knew it was based on a novel I liked, "Just Like a Woman" by British actress Jill Gascoine (wife of Alfred Molina, who's better known to Americans than Jill is). Let me tell you, it is *loosely* based on the book and I cannot stress enough the word loosely.
The book takes place in the '70s in Idaho. The movie is set somewhere near the ocean, although I'm not clear where, in the present. The characters' names have all been changed. The main character, played by Duke, is American instead of British. They have completely removed a pivotal mother-in-law character. The couple has 3 adult children in the book, in this movie there is only 1 son, plus a young grandson not in the book. She gives birth to a baby girl at the very end of the book, but in the movie the baby (also a girl) arrives less than halfway through.
In the book, the woman winds up leaving her husband,who never really loved her, to be with her sensitive son-in-law. In the movie --->here comes a big spoiler<--- she gets back together with her husband after a brief separation because they love each other so much. The fact that that Duke's character Sunny's, husband's best friend has been in love with her for years is alluded to when he makes an overture toward her while she and husband Mick are separated. It comes out of nowhere and is dropped as soon as she rebuffs him.
Duke is doing the best she can here, but this story is too full of holes. We are supposed to understand that Mick is mad at Sunny because she's always given in and done things his way (also a theme in Gascoine's novel) and now she is insisting on having the baby against his wishes. However, there is no way you would pick up on this important aspect of the story if they weren't telling you straight out. You do, at least, get the sense that Sunny, in addition to running her own business, has been pulling more than her share of the weight in the marriage.
They discuss having undergone fertility treatments for 10 years, wanting another child. But, when Sunny gets pregnant accidentally at 50, she sees it as a blessing. Mick sees it as a burden. Eventually, he goes along with it, but rather halfheartedly. He goes with her when she has an ultrasound and tells her he'd forgotten how beautiful she was when she was pregnant. In the meantime, he's clearly less than enthusiastic and expresses his uncertainty about the situation. He's in the OR when she has a c-section, but doesn't come back to the hospital to visit until late the next day. Once they bring the baby home, Mick does everything to avoid being at home and refuses to keep her on his own when Sunny has to work. None of this is done very convincingly, due to the poor writing.
Supposedly they are so wonderfully happy that they are looking forward to retiring and buying a boat to sail around the world (definitely NOT in the book). But, there is really no chemistry between the two and you find yourself surprised that she could bear the idea of being alone on a boat with him for months on end. They seem like they would rather spend less time together instead of more.
The subplot with Sunny's business partner's marital problems is unnecessary. The time spent on that should have been used to explore Sunny and Mick's marriage a little more. The other subplot of Mick wanting to sell his business and their son wanting to buy it, in spite of years of tension between father and son, is pretty well done.
The baby (or babies) is beautiful and lights up any scene she's in. Donna Hanover is a nice addition as a new "older mom" friend Sunny meets in the park. If you like Patty Duke, watch it. She gives as good a performance as you could expect. Otherwise, don't waste your time. If you've read the book, don't expect this film to resemble it at all.
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