UNDERCOVER ANGEL

REVIEWED BY RISSI C.

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

Struggling in his chosen career, penniless and on the verge on losing his home, Harrison Tyler (Dean Winters) is about to get a wake-up call in the form of a six-year-old. Attempting to write his novel, Harrison is a little taken back when ex-girlfriend Melissa calls and then shows up with her daughter Jenny (Emily Mae Young). Needing to go to Canada in relation to her job, Melissa asks Harrison to keep Jenny for a couple of weeks…and before he knows what’s happened, Harrison is left with the girl.

As the two very different personalities clash, Harrison and Jenny must find a way to live with each other for two weeks. Soon both of them have found a daily routine and Jenny begins to play matchmaker between Harrison and a secretary, Holly (Yasmine Bleeth), they meet at the coffee shop. Harrison and precocious Jenny soon come to love one another and find that neither wants their time to end. What begins as an inconvenience may just end up being the best thing that ever happened to Harrison. Back when my parents and I strictly rented from the family section for family viewing, we happened on this little film at our local video store. Remembering it, as I recently sat down to watch it, I was struck by how sweet it was. Back in my first viewing, it was just something that made me laugh, now eight or so years later, it affected me in a different way. It has humor but also weaves some nice heartwarming themes and one or two profound statements along the way.

It’s a real joy to watch the relationship that develops between Harrison and Jenny during the film. It’s done in such a way that for  the viewer it’s believable and certainly doesn’t look anything but genuine. While that is probably my favorite theme to watch unfold, the other was the personality each character was given. Harrison is a writer whom while he does have the talent, doesn’t have enough faith in himself to let the talent show; it takes one very special girl to show him how to use it. Pint sized Jenny is a six-year-old who acts as if she’s an adult; handing out “business” cards, disliking people acting as if she can’t answer her own questions, etc. Another thing that for once was pleasant to see was that the actors didn’t look like “Hollywood” actors, but more like everyday people.

The acting was perfect for this low-budget comedy. While not being as dynamic as some more recent films, it was very well played and the actors did a nice job showing emotion when need be. Two particular scenes between Jenny and Harrison are memorable and I found the acting quite good in them; the first being after an argument between the two, the other when Harrison and Jenny come to realize a very important thing, and he sits down to tell her a story. Seeing the “Welch’s Grape Juice” girl Emily Mae Young was so fun and let me say she was perfect for that part. The PG rating wasn’t abused. Jenny yells at her mother that she hates her after having been told to go to bed, a few other times she also gets testy with Harrison. Jenny lies to Harrison saying she has a piano lesson and he drops her off at an office building. When he realizes what happened, he frantically tries to find her. A woman tells the man she is dating he could come and stay with her; we very briefly see an unmarried couple sleeping in the same bed (fully clothed). Melissa was never married and therefore some talk revolves around Jenny wanting to know who her father is; because of that aspect there are some more mature thematic elements.

Having loved writing for as long as I can remember, that was another aspect I enjoyed seeing unfold. I was right there with Harrison as he would frustratingly crumble his millionth page to his novel and feel like giving up. Finally achieving his dream, not the original one he set out to achieve, was a conclusion that I appreciated and just made you feel happy that the characters you came to root for during the hour and a half runtime achieved their own happy ending. My ideal “happily-ever-after” end for a movie is showing a little more than just seeing the lead characters meet together at the end, but actually knowing that they ended up happy and together. This ending also gives you that little “extra bit” that just puts the finishing touch leaving you satisfied. It was somewhat sad to see that it took Jenny for Harrison to actually do something with his life, but nevertheless he did and lessons were learned all around. Jenny teaches Harrison that sometimes when you love someone, you have to fight for them, something he eventually comes to strongly believe in. In the end this lets you know that Harrison, Jenny and even Holly have worked through their hard times and the adults have overcome their fears to embrace a new life with a slightly bittersweet conclusion.