Couch Potato: Something familiar about Lifetime’s ‘Lying’
By Casey Gillis on Jan. 27, 2010
Let’s just get this out of the way: I know I shouldn’t like Lifetime’s latest made-for-TV movie, “Lying to Be Perfect.”
In fact, it probably deserves a good bashing for its chick flick predictability and cheesiness. But — and I’ve said it before — there’s something about these kinds of movies that impairs my judgment and sucks me in.
The predictability is comforting. You know the handsome love interest will be smitten with the woman’s inner beauty, seeing through all the manufactured frumpiness. It is manufactured; we can all admit that the beautiful actresses they cast in these movies are never really frumpy, no matter how frizzy their hair is or how much padding they add to their rears.
In “Lying to Be Perfect,” which airs at 9 p.m. Saturday, the dowdy damsel is woman’s magazine editor Nola Devlin (Poppy Montgomery, “Without a Trace”), who, thanks to the magic of Photoshop, creates an alter ego after her boss shoots down a proposed advice column by rudely telling her she’s “just a big girl with big dreams.”
Her creation, the supposedly reclusive Belinda Apple, has it all. She’s a British beauty who confidently dispenses advice about female empowerment, finding inner beauty, standing up for oneself and making the changes necessary to be truly happy.
A sample: “You want a life? Get one. … Stop complaining and do something.”
Nola, on the other hand, is the kind of girl who “stands in the shadows while other people shine.”
In short, she’d be well served to take some of Belinda’s advice. Which she does, but not until the movie’s final moments in one of those standard, chick flick “aha” moments.
The movie is based on a novel called “The Cinderella Pact,” a name that comes from a deal Nola and her two best friends make: to be their own fairy godmothers by eating healthier and exercising to lose weight.
More romantic comedy clichés abound, with many of the film’s key moments happening in montages set to music. Here, they include ones of Nola and her pals working out, then of her and love interest Chip (Adam Kaufman, Montgomery’s real-life beau and a 1996 Lynchburg College grad) getting to know each other and, finally, of Nola’s you-knew-it-was-coming makeover.
You can also bet that Nola’s lie about Belinda will eventually be found out, most likely from her own tearful admission, preferably in a public setting. And — spoiler alert, but not really — she’ll probably triumph in the end and be forgiven for her deception.
“Lying to Be Perfect” is nothing new or different, but I think you’ll enjoy the ride anyway.
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