Getting a Family

Shot in Vancouver by Entertainment One Television in colaboration with Patriarch Pictures. Executive producers, Tom Patricia, Ira Pincus, John Morayniss, Noreen Halpern, Mary Martin co-executive producers, Kim Delaney, Margaret O'Brien supervisory producer, Suzanne Berger producer, Randolph Cheveldave director, Mark Jean author, Pamela Wallace.Ileana - Kim Delaney Alex Chivescu - Jared Abrahamson Suzanne Bante - Sarah-Jane Redmond Jim Bante - Paul McGillion Henry - Dee Jay Jackson Attending Harvard, it works out, is the best feel-good finale for youth movies, which describes why they behind "Destitute to Harvard" was behind this latest inspiring true story, "Getting a Family," for Hallmark Movie Funnel. Although suspense is not area of the Hallmark formula, the storyplot of Alex Chivescu -- a ward from the condition who satisfied the dream developed in him by his mother of joining the Ivy League -- lumbers along pretty uneventfully, including what comes down to a long cameo by star/producer Kim Delaney. Unlike its protagonist, the film barely will get by like a pass-fail proposition. "Education is sort of a miracle answer to open any door," Delaney's Ileana informs her youthful boy, Alex, in the start, before a vehicle crash and related mind injuries yield unpredictable bouts of depression and anger which make her unfit to boost him. Seven years later, Alex (Jared Abrahamson) escapes her custody of the children, then performs exceptionally well in school while bouncing with the promote-care system. Confronted with having to relocate, Alex takes it upon themself to locate a family that will permit him to remain at his current school -- keeping his college ambitions alive -- and ends up using the too-good-to-be-true Bantes (Sarah-Jane Redmond, Paul McGillion), who've to help keep reassuring him he's worthy of their love and support. And that is about this. Apart from the inevitable payback, the whole exercise feels as though it's simply marking time. Delaney vanishes car midsection, and Abrahamson -- while wide-eyed and fresh-faced -- is not interesting enough to keep the screen, though he can not be faulted for the possible lack of pace or emergency in Mark Jean's direction of Pamela Wallace's script. There is nothing wrong, always, with movies that begin with a contented ending and work backwards, however they require creating a little of dramatic tension to be able to result in the beneficial finale resonate. Out of the box, while it's swell things exercised for that real-existence Alex, his triumphant march to some first-rate education, alas, has led to another-rate TV movie.Camera, David Pelletier production designer, Paul Joyal editor, Stein Myhrstad casting, Donna Rosenstein, Candice Elzinga. 120 MIN. Contact John Lowry at john.lowry@variety.com