Maneater
Maneater
| 30 May 2009 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 1
  • Reviews
    Amy Adler

    Clarissa (Sarah Chalke) has enjoyed the high life for quite awhile in Beverly Hills. Although not as wealthy as some friends like Jennifer (Marla Sokoloff) and Gravy (Judy Greer), she has been fortunate to have her parents support her, between rich boyfriends. Now, however, the mirror is cracking, as she is newly over thirty. Its time to forget a former flame that broke her heart, Simon (Paul Leyden) and find a husband to finance her Jones-like habits. Fortunately, a looker has just come to Hollywood with a great script and big bucks. That would be Aaron (Philip Winchester), who has all the ladies saying yum, yum! Since Clarissa does have plenty of connections, Aaron responds kindly to her attentions. Also, the lovely socialite plays a bit of "hard to get", fanning flames, and soon the duo is a hot, engaged couple. But, Simon suddenly steps into the picture again, complicating things, while Clarissa's parents (Gregory Harrison and Maria Conchita Alonso) stir things up, too, with their various problems and issues. Then, too, the circle of female friends needs Clarissa's help with married boyfriends, handsome pool jockeys and so on. Will Clarissa learn any lessons on her road to wedded bliss? Yes, indeed! There is much more to this very fun romcom's plot than can be discussed here. After all, it was a miniseries when first broadcast. But, fans of the genre will just eat it up. Chalke does a terrific job as the title character while all of the others do nice work, too. Special words of praise should go to Greer, for she is certainly the funniest, prettiest second fiddle ever, in this film and in all of her work. Let's hope someday she is truly appreciated. Winchester and Leyden are two immensely attractive actors, also, so hearts will be pounding during a view. Costumes are to die for, as they say, while sets, script, and lively direction complete the movie's road to success. Man, gals, go get this one soon.

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    midtra52

    I should first admit the only reason I bothered watching this show was because Noureen Dewulf was in it.The premise for the show is based on how American women live their lives nowadays. We know materialism trumps all but to see it on screen like this just makes it like a horror/documentary almost. Regular romantic comedies at least give us a dreamlike view of how relationships could be, and they tend to add in actual humor which this show had none of.But avoid this show/movie. We have to see this sort of thing day in and day out now and we don't need to see anymore of it. It's just not entertainment, it's a sad reality we're already drowning in.

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    CranberriAppl

    Lifetime has fallen so far over the last few years. I just watched the "Marry Me" miniseries on LT, and loved it so much (great writing, story, characters, actors), and thought that since 'Maneater' wasn't a ripped- from-the-headlines movie or about an obsessed stalker, it might be OK. Boy was I wrong. I just finished watching this today, and what a mess.Sarah Chalke is funny, pretty (except in this movie, she was very "frosted"), and I watched in her in the mastectomy movie a few years back, so I'm confident she can carry a movie. At the time, I didn't know it was a miniseries but I picked up on it, when after two hours, my DVR was still recording it. First, the story was a bit much. A 30-something year old socialite, who's not quite Paris, Nicole Richie, or any of the others, feels her time is almost up and she needs to marry a rich guy. She sets her eyes on hooking a movie producer who's new in town. They get married and then things start happening. She's got an ex who still loves her, an ex-con dad, shallow friends, a mom who's pretty OK, no job, no money (see: not-so-rich hubby) and oh yeah..she gets pregnant. I would assume that the movie's goal was to turn this bubblehead into a less self-involved version of herself, but I don't think the writing was there. I could write more, but let me just say this was disappointing. I never felt like Clarissa really had a chance of losing everything. She always talked about having bills, but not one situation was written where she'd have to deal w/buying and paying for things on her own. Things like, having her cards declined or her blackberry cut off. I just always got the feeling that mom/dad would be there or that the baby's grandparents would never let them be destitute. Maybe what I am saying is that the movie didn't really sell itself like it could have. With 4 hours of airtime, they certainly could have, but it didn't. There wasn't any substance. P.S. If I could make a shallow point for a shallow movie, I didn't find the lead guys to be the least bit attractive. They weren't very charming either which usually makes up for it.

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    napierslogs

    The plot description for the TV movie "Maneater" reads: "Horrified that she is still single at age 32, a socialite hatches a plan to make a hot Hollywood filmmaker fall in love with her." Horrified is right, that's exactly what I felt trying to watch this.The plot description is accurate. Clarissa (Sarah Chalke) is just so consumed with the need to get married to a rich guy that nothing else matters. That is about as horrible as a romantic comedy heroine that you could possibly write. There is nothing about her that is redeemable or likable in any way.The plan that she hatches certainly fits with what we know about her character - despicable, superficial and ignoble. There may be twists and turns you don't necessarily expect but that's only because it's hard to believe there are people anything like these characters. It might not be so bad if this was a satire on the current state of Hollywood but I didn't see it that way.I am a fan of Sarah Chalke, and this movie does at least show off how attractive she is, but it does nothing for her career. And haven't we all seen enough of Judy Greer playing the slutty and degenerate best friend? I have. Avoid "Maneater" it is just horrifying.

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