1998 The Year of Gwyneth "Hush"

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"Hush"
2/4/2016

When you're in five movies in one year they can't all be good and "Hush" was Gwyneth's 1998 lame duck of a movie.  She co-stars with Jessica Lange in what looks to be the perfect Lifetime Network movie of the week.  Although dumped into theatres in the spring of '98 it's your typical paint by numbers thriller that panders to the female audience.

Gwyneth plays Helen and girl that gets pregnant with her one dimensional Ken doll of a boyfriend/husband named Jackson.  Jackson's family has tons of money and his mother Martha (Lange) owns a ranch out in the country.  The newlyweds look to start their family on the ranch and the expected catfighting between Helen and Martha starts immediately.  Martha is extremely controlling and protective of her son.  She overplays the role of the evil mother-in-law to a comical extreme.  In fact, we learn that she even orchestrated Helen's pregnancy for her own diabolical reasons. 


The whole estate known as Kilronan actually belongs to Jackson and her is very keen on selling the place by Martha won't have it and will do anything to keep it.  The whole film is built on this triangle of characters that are poorly developed.  Jackson is just a cardboard cutout of a character that is fought over by the two women who are equally weak and plainly drawn.  You feel for and root for Helen but it's just so ridiculous you end up crying "really?" 

The soap opera continues with Martha pulling all the strings and with Jackson going off to a horse show, the two women can fight it out.  Helen giving birth is probably the most intense scene of a film that's void of any real suspense or thrills.  Martha's attempts to steal the baby and kill Helen are short-lived when Jackson arrives and learns the truth about his father's death and his mother's other lies.  Martha is thoroughly dispatched and the happy couple and baby live happily ever after the end.  However, if you like the cheesy and overreacted Lifetime movies you'll probably like this one, however it was not for me and cannot recommend it.  If you're more looking for Gwyneth using a British accent then stay tuned for the next review in the series "Sliding Doors".