the oh-no! DVD of the week: ‘Flirting With Forty’

OMG, it’s so sexy and romantic and awesome and see, old chicks just wanna have fun, too!

Jackie (Heather Locklear, TV's Spin City) is a recently divorced mother of two vacationing alone in Hawaii for her 40th birthday. Against her better judgment, she allows the hunky, much younger, resident surf instructor (Robert Buckley, TV's Lipstick Jungle) to sweep her off her feet. What begins as a scorching one-night stand quickly turns into love as she jets off to Hawaii every chance she gets. But with kids, a disapproving ex-husband and friends, and an ocean separating them, real love becomes real tricky. When Jackie loses her balance, it takes her lover to teach her how to get back on the board before she misses the one wave that will change her life. Based on the best-selling novel by Jane Porter.

Wait. Heather Locklear? Heather Locklear and a 40th birthday? Flirting with 40? More like Flirting With 50. Locklear was born in September 1961 (or at least that’s what the public is led to believe), and this flick -- which aired on Lifetime in December 2008 -- was shot in April 2008. Which means that Locklear was 46 going on 47 when this was made.

Now, I ain’t picking on Locklear here. I’m picking on Hollywood. Locklear looks fine, but she doesn’t look like she’s just turned 40. The only intention here can have been to make 40 look “worse” than it really is, to emphasize that a once a gal hits 40, it’s all over... so she’d better take whatever hunky Hawaiian surfer she can fool into a scorching one-night stand. You know, before he realizes how freakishly wizened she is, or something.

support


pre-Disqus comments

I was also born in 1961 and I can assure you there is a difference between being 40 and being (almost) 48. My contemporaries are the likes of George Clooney, Michael J. Fox, Tim Roth and Forest Whitaker - not that I'm comparing myself to them or anything. However, I am eagerly anticipating their roles in mediocre made-for-TV dramas revolving around their frowned-upon relationships with much younger surf instructresses.

Yeah, I can't get too upset about this. Unless she's put on a ton of weight in the last few years, she's better looking than the average 40 year old even if she's 48. And some male actors, I believe you were once complaining about one of the Douglas boys, play characters younger than they actually are. It was getting creepy watching Douglas, Ford, and Connery in their 50s making out with actresses in their 20s.

These days, I can't tell how old anyone is anyway.

What kicks my ass is that casting directors don't think twice about pairing older guys with younger gals - and in the context of the films, it's never an issue or even noticed by the other characters in the movie...unless it's a throwaway line in the form of a joke...like Robert DeNiro in "Righteous Kill" joking about how his much younger girlfriend (played by Carla Gugino) is wearing him out (gag).
This happens,I think, because producers cater to male fantasies, assuming women never go to movies unless they're Rom Coms.

In movies, when an older gal is coupled with a younger guy, that's what the ENTIRE film is about for god's sake....except for a few rare exceptions, like "Laurel Canyon," with Frances McDormand (and she was so cool, vital and sexy in the film, that it feels kinda silly calling her "older" at all).

Errrr,"Flirting With 40" appears to be "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" with white folks...or I'm I nuts?

I saw Locklear and "Flirting with 40" and it was all wrong. Jen Aniston or Sandra Bullock perhaps. Ugh. How awful the whole age-obsessed Hollywood thing. Where's the "ooh I'm almost 40" guy flick? right, it would be one scene: guy gets fancy new car and picks up hot younger chick or the scene from Vacation with Chevy Chase and Christy Brinkley.

Disqus comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

  
posted:
Tue May 05 09, 11:42AM

categories:
dvd buzz




4 pre-Disqus comments
Disqus comments


tip jar





share


 
 


read more




related


· the oh-no! DVD of the week: ‘Wisegal’
· Trust (review)
· William & Kate (review)
· trailer break: ‘William and Kate: The Movie’
· just received: ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ ‘Sherri: The Complete Season One,’ ‘Rita Rocks: The Complete Season One,’ ‘Hannah Free,’ ‘Mammoth,’ ‘Uncertainty’
· the oh-no! DVD of the week: ‘Cougars Inc.’
· the oh-no! DVD of the week: ‘America's Cutest Dog’
· the oh-no! DVD of the week: ‘Honeymoon with Mom’
· the oh-no! DVD of the week: ‘Fubar: Balls to the Wall’
· the oh-no! DVD of the week: ‘The Fantastic World: Molly Pickens and the Rainy Day Castle: Unlock the Mysteries of Jesus’


bloggy


previous post:
question of the day: Who’s your favorite ‘Star Trek’ character?

next post:
trailer break: “The Hunt for Gollum”

search




search FlickFilosopher.com


follow

  
  
  
(in case of site outages or other emergencies, I'll update my status on Twitter and Facebook)



Get our toolbar!

follow FlickFilosopher.com no matter where you are online


share and enjoy

shop to support

support FlickFilosopher.com when you click through here and buy almost anything at:

Amazon U.S.
Amazon Canada
Amazon U.K.
Amazon Germany
Amazon France
Amazon Spain
Amazon Italy
Chapters/Indigo (Canada)