Clarissa (Sarah Chalke) has enjoyed the high life for quite awhile in Beverly Hills. Although not as wealthy as some friends like Jennifer (Marla Sokoloff) and Gravy (Judy Greer), she has been fortunate to have her parents support her, between rich boyfriends. Now, however, the mirror is cracking, as she is newly over thirty. Its time to forget a former flame that broke her heart, Simon (Paul Leyden) and find a husband to finance her Jones-like habits. Fortunately, a looker has just come to Hollywood with a great script and big bucks. That would be Aaron (Philip Winchester), who has all the ladies saying yum, yum! Since Clarissa does have plenty of connections, Aaron responds kindly to her attentions. Also, the lovely socialite plays a bit of "hard to get", fanning flames, and soon the duo is a hot, engaged couple. But, Simon suddenly steps into the picture again, complicating things, while Clarissa's parents (Gregory Harrison and Maria Conchita Alonso) stir things up, too, with their various problems and issues. Then, too, the circle of female friends needs Clarissa's help with married boyfriends, handsome pool jockeys and so on. Will Clarissa learn any lessons on her road to wedded bliss? Yes, indeed! There is much more to this very fun romcom's plot than can be discussed here. After all, it was a miniseries when first broadcast. But, fans of the genre will just eat it up. Chalke does a terrific job as the title character while all of the others do nice work, too. Special words of praise should go to Greer, for she is certainly the funniest, prettiest second fiddle ever, in this film and in all of her work. Let's hope someday she is truly appreciated. Winchester and Leyden are two immensely attractive actors, also, so hearts will be pounding during a view. Costumes are to die for, as they say, while sets, script, and lively direction complete the movie's road to success. Man, gals, go get this one soon.
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napierslogs10 July 2010The plot description for the TV movie "Maneater" reads: "Horrified that she is still single at age 32, a socialite hatches a plan to make a hot Hollywood filmmaker fall in love with her." Horrified is right, that's exactly what I felt trying to watch this.
The plot description is accurate. Clarissa (Sarah Chalke) is just so consumed with the need to get married to a rich guy that nothing else matters. That is about as horrible as a romantic comedy heroine that you could possibly write. There is nothing about her that is redeemable or likable in any way.
The plan that she hatches certainly fits with what we know about her character - despicable, superficial and ignoble. There may be twists and turns you don't necessarily expect but that's only because it's hard to believe there are people anything like these characters. It might not be so bad if this was a satire on the current state of Hollywood but I didn't see it that way.
I am a fan of Sarah Chalke, and this movie does at least show off how attractive she is, but it does nothing for her career. And haven't we all seen enough of Judy Greer playing the slutty and degenerate best friend? I have.
Avoid "Maneater" it is just horrifying. -
CranberriAppl1 January 2011Lifetime has fallen so far over the last few years. I just watched the "Marry Me" miniseries on LT, and loved it so much (great writing, story, characters, actors), and thought that since 'Maneater' wasn't a ripped- from-the-headlines movie or about an obsessed stalker, it might be OK. Boy was I wrong. I just finished watching this today, and what a mess.
Sarah Chalke is funny, pretty (except in this movie, she was very "frosted"), and I watched in her in the mastectomy movie a few years back, so I'm confident she can carry a movie. At the time, I didn't know it was a miniseries but I picked up on it, when after two hours, my DVR was still recording it. First, the story was a bit much. A 30-something year old socialite, who's not quite Paris, Nicole Richie, or any of the others, feels her time is almost up and she needs to marry a rich guy. She sets her eyes on hooking a movie producer who's new in town. They get married and then things start happening. She's got an ex who still loves her, an ex-con dad, shallow friends, a mom who's pretty OK, no job, no money (see: not-so-rich hubby) and oh yeah..she gets pregnant. I would assume that the movie's goal was to turn this bubblehead into a less self-involved version of herself, but I don't think the writing was there.
I could write more, but let me just say this was disappointing. I never felt like Clarissa really had a chance of losing everything. She always talked about having bills, but not one situation was written where she'd have to deal w/buying and paying for things on her own. Things like, having her cards declined or her blackberry cut off. I just always got the feeling that mom/dad would be there or that the baby's grandparents would never let them be destitute. Maybe what I am saying is that the movie didn't really sell itself like it could have. With 4 hours of airtime, they certainly could have, but it didn't. There wasn't any substance.
P.S. If I could make a shallow point for a shallow movie, I didn't find the lead guys to be the least bit attractive. They weren't very charming either which usually makes up for it. -
midtra5228 September 2011I should first admit the only reason I bothered watching this show was because Noureen Dewulf was in it.
The premise for the show is based on how American women live their lives nowadays. We know materialism trumps all but to see it on screen like this just makes it like a horror/documentary almost. Regular romantic comedies at least give us a dreamlike view of how relationships could be, and they tend to add in actual humor which this show had none of.
But avoid this show/movie. We have to see this sort of thing day in and day out now and we don't need to see anymore of it. It's just not entertainment, it's a sad reality we're already drowning in. -
r-mike-rose1 January 2012I am a guy... and I mean guy. I avoid chick flicks like the plague they are! I generally view hot actresses as overrated and overcompensated. I am not saying Sarah Chalke is necessarily an uber babe(but read on).
I was stuck in a hotel room waiting for a New Year's Eve party to start when I got hooked. Nothing on, difficult hotel TV menu. Sarah Chalke was awesome! She made me feel.........well...feel. She also made me feel for her character. It could have been a somewhat predictable, clichéd, re-cycled, re-usable mini-series plot, but you just fall in love with Sarah's character, Clarissa.
Sarah Chalke, you rock!! And I only came looking here because I missed the ending. -
OK so the trailer may look like your typical romantic comedy, but it's so much more than that. I taped it anyway because it did look like a good watch, but was absolutely surprised how good it was. After seeing the first part of the miniseries I can safely say I'm hooked and I can't wait to view the second part tomorrow. I could care less about any other program coming on May 31st including this year's MTV Movie Awards ( I can always check out the winners and watch clips on the internet), but this I can't miss. Maneater is filled with twists and turns that will make you gasp. It's not what you would expect. It doesn't drag on like most of the miniseries I've seen. It's fun and entertaining. I would recommend it. If you're looking for a new good romantic comedy with twists and turns tune in for this!!
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jenlizabeth23 January 2012I will admit that I am a bit of a Lifetime Movie Network addict, which is where I first saw this mini-series, but when things are just too cheesy/unrealistic/poorly written, I check out and change the channel. NOT SO with Maneater! I found it very well written, and Sarah Chalke's character extremely endearing! Sure, she's a materialistic and manipulative brat at first, but you stick around because a. she's adorable and b. you want to see if she learns her lesson. Does she? I guess you'll just have to watch :) And just as a point of reference, I hunted down a DVD copy of this the day after I saw it the first time because it was so fabulous, which can hardly be said for a lot of the mini-series out there. Happy watching!
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This is a cute movie. It's just like a typical Harlequin romance novel: it's escapism at its best. The cast is played perfectly by all. They meet, they have sex, they fall in love in a miraculously short time, something bad happens, but by the end everything turns out roses for everyone. I mean, it's on Lifetime- it's not meant to be award winning and career altering for the actors. They're all already successful, this is just something on the side. As for the movie, it was good. It followed the characters through natural behaviors and made me laugh, cry, and feel romantic. It actually had a more realistic timeline than most HQ books-this mini movie spanned over a year whereas most romance novels take place over a weekend! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed but I never give all tens. Simon really was a malicious person and he shouldn't have ended up happy.
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ForVirg6 March 2012I'm not usually a fan of romantic comedies, because often they are so awfully unrealistic. So even though Lifetime Movie Network has played this mini-series as a 4-hour movie several times lately, I only watched it when it roped me in this evening.
It roped me in because it is so real. I have lived in both L.A., working in the entertainment industry, and now live in rural Texas on a ranch. There were so many delightful moments in this movie that hit close to truths I've known that I found myself laughing out loud.
But just to be fair, this movie does turn all the characters into caricatures of real-life attitudes I've known. But that is also what makes it so much fun to watch. And that the people involved actually do mature and learn as they go along is wonderful. I have a feeling that the people that gave this bad reviews, saying it was depressing, didn't see it past the first half.
In my opinion, this film is worth taking the time, and I honestly found the first half to be filled with hilarious one-liners and scenes. I suppose you should be someone that, like me, finds humor in pretty much everything about living in order to get the most enjoyment from this movie.
But if you are someone with a sense of humor that allows you to laugh at the absurd ways some people behave, I think you'll enjoy the time you spend watching Maneater.