This 2004 TV film is based on the book "A Mother's Gift" written by Britney Spears and her mother. The story involves a single mother (Virginia Madsen) and her talented daughter (Lindsey Haun) who are poor, good-hearted Texans. The daughter's dream is to go to a prestigious music school in Philadelphia. The mother sacrifices everything (literally) to make it happen. There are humiliating obstacles and intense pressures. Can the daughter persevere and succeed. What about her mother? Some people wrote negative reviews just because the story was written and produced by Britney Spears and her mother. These people obviously hate Britney. Regardless, the truth is she's a talented, likable pop musician/entertainer, not to mention incredibly famous. I don't listen to her style of music and would never likely buy one of her cds or see her in concert, but who can deny this?What matters is: Is the movie any good? Yes it is. Both my wife and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. No, it may not blow you away or anything -- it is, after all, a TV movie -- but it holds your attention all the way through and it is moving; plus it throws in a couple of surprises. Even more, it has a good heart.Lindsey Haun is reminiscent of Melissa Joan Hart of "Sabrina" -- both likable and cute. There are quite a few other likable cast members, including Madsen. The story also features a couple of people you'll love-to-hate. And be on the lookout for the redheaded dancer played by Jessica Dawson, who's stunning, to say the least.Other than the obvious motif of fulfilling your dreams through belief and perseverance despite the obstacles, the story addresses some important sub-themes: You'll always have an enemy who wants you to fail.There will always be people who are willing to give you a helping hand or guidance; take advantage of these precious souls.It's easy to take for granted the good things in your life until you meet someone who doesn't have them.As two of Solomon's proverbs state: "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred" and "Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting with strife."The best way to beat an enemy is to not give up and succeed. The film was shot in Toronto, Ontario, and runs 90 minutes.GRADE: A-

This is no doubt one of the worst movies I have ever seen. This makes your run of the mill TV movie look like Reservoir Dogs. Based on a book by the one and only Britney Spears and her mother this is trash with nothing bar a reasonable performance from Virginia Madsen (I hope you got paid well) to save it. The story of a red neck country gill who wins a scholarship in a prestigious music school is little but a vehicle to pedal Ms Spears pants music to the consumer and to generally agree that low brow must be the way. There is nothing good going on here with all the beats as predictable as night following day. Never ever again.

I'd just like to say that i've seen this film twice now and i love it! The acting is great and even though it is a similar plot to "Raise Your Voice" I think that the plot never gets boring for people who like that kind of thing. It has some great lessons in it and shows us that we can do anything if we try. An incredible film. I am sure that this is one i will be watching for a long time to come. Even though Britney Spears write the book it is quite a realistic plot, maybe not about the falling in love part, but the part about being different and struggling but coming out best in the end is very true to real life. The only minor criticism is why is the main girl in these films always beautiful? Do you really think that Holly would have met the perfect guy of her dreams if she was ugly or average? I doubt it..

This movie is entertaining enough due to an excellent performance by Virginia Madsen and the fact that Lindsey Haun is lovely. However the reason the movie is so predictable is that we've seen it all before. I've haven't read the book A Mother's Gift but I hope for Britney and Lynne Spears sake it is completely different than this movie. Unless you consider ending a movie with what is essentially a music video an original idea, the entire movie brings to mind the word plagiarized.