Raising Waylon (2004) (TV)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Sam Pillsbury

Writer (WGA):

Neena Beber (written by)

Release Date:

22 February 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Eating café-owner Reg(inald) and photographer Julia had only one date, because mutual friends tried to match them...

Plot Keywords:

Social Worker | Fear Of Commitment | Aunt Nephew Relationship | Adoptive Father | Parental Death

Cast

Ross Anderson	...	Mr. Myers
Jeremy Bergman	...	Waylon
Catherine Boniface	...	Tracy
Susan Brady	...	Terry Allen
Katrina Browne	...	Valerie
Latham Gaines	...	Paul
Claudia Gibb
Thomas Gibson	...	Reg
Craig Hall	...	Alex
Elizabeth Hawthorne	...	Judge Harriet Caldwell
John Leigh	...	Jeremy
Jim McLarty	...	Craig Stanfill
Poppy Montgomery	...	Julia
Ingrid Park	...	Kim
Doris Roberts	...	Marie
Jennifer Rucker	...	Receptionist
Michael Saccente	...	Jay Hessler
Roy Snow	...	Randell
Xavier Strom	...	Sam Stanfill
Jared Tobin	...	Jimmy
Tandi Wright	...	Tina Stanfil

Runtime:

USA:120 min (including commercials)

Country:

New Zealand | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

New Zealand

Company:

Dan Wigutow Productions

Delightful Yet Missing Something

Every now and then a TV movie comes along that will tug at your heartstrings, that is assuming you have heartstrings. "Raising Waylon" tugged mine but not as much as I thought it might. At times this movie wasn't sure if it wanted to be a comedy, drama or a romance. It combined a little bit of all three while never really heading in just one direction.

One thing that was bothersome all the way through was who exactly were the two main adult stars, Reg and Julia? All we know is they were friends of the deceased parents of Waylon, good enough friends to be named godparents but what else? They had one "date" I believe was mentioned but how well do they know each other? Very little background. Even though this was obviously striving to be a lighthearted affair, some background woulda been nice. Something else lacking was emotion from Waylon's character. Either casting should gotten a better kid actor or the writers shoulda written more emotion in. I felt for a kid who lost his parents only 9 months before he was rather even tempered and level headed. There was virtually no deep emotional scarring presented that I imagine surely would be there in a child his age. One final drawback was Waylon's friend Sam's parents. Oy vey. I'd feel sooooo sorry for any kid growing up in that kind of household.

Of particular interest to me was Poppy Montgomery's character of Julia. I couldn't seem to take my eyes off her. It was interesting seeing how she was dealing with going from her career to also being a mom to a 9 year old boy. Thomas Gibson as Reggie was decent and Doris Roberts was excellent in her few scenes as Waylon's great aunt. In all combinations they worked well. This was pleasant to watch despite the corny, highly unlikely and unrealistic scenarios, oh, and the rather predictable romance. There were a lot of funny lines which helped lighten this up. At only 90 minutes long, standard for a Made-for-TV movie, this didn't give much room to breath and grow. What's here, though, isn't too bad, something I'd maybe consider watching again someday. My grade for this: C+