There are a lot of movies that get released that sport a cast of known actors but for whatever reason gets shoved straight to video. Sometimes it's obvious why but others end up being really entertaining and make no sense they didn't get a bigger push. The latest The Hot Flashes features Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Wanda Sykes, Andrea Frankle, Camryn Manheim, Virginia Madsen, and Eric Roberts and is sponsored American Cancer Society but does it make for a good film?
The Hot Flashes follows an under-appreciated group of middle-aged women, all former high school champs who challenge the current arrogant high school girls' state champs to a series of games to raise money for breast cancer prevention. This movie is actually pretty entertaining for what it is, but is never really able to step out of feeling like some sort of Lifetime movie. That isn't such a bad thing, but given the cast involved you would kind of expect more. Everyone here delivers some fun performances and seems to be having a great time but the movie itself just seems to struggle to really find its footing. Some of the film is a drama while other aspects are a comedy, but never really commits to either. Most of this film is pretty predictable, but thanks to the cast it entertains in somewhat of an awkward way at times as they try to pull this team together. There are all the clichéd characters for this kind of film and they build up numerous situations, but only some of them are resolved at the end. There are some you just let go or let your imagination fill in the gaps but there are others that have a pretty strong build up and they seem to get lax and rush the resolution.
This is one of those movies that will find a particular audience that will love it and others that will probably skip it all together, but no matter which of these categories you fall in, you are sure to be entertained in this quirky comedy. It plays most things safe, but still tries to craft a story in recognition of some important subject matter and the film deserves its shot for that alone.
