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Grounded for Life starring Donal Logue, Megyn Price, Kevin Corrigan & Lynsey Bartilson

Posted on May 5, 2011 Written by ripitup

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Grounded for Life starring Donal Logue, Megyn Price, Kevin Corrigan & Bret Harrison
Grounded for Life starring Donal Logue, Megyn Price, Kevin Corrigan & Bret Harrison. Image via divxm.com

Sean (Donal Logue) and Claudia (Megyn Price) Finnerty have been happily married for 14 years and they have 3 kids. The problem?  They both need to deal with their not 2 young kids Jimmy (Griffin Frazen) and Henry (Jake Burbage), and their 14-year-old daughter Lilly (Lynsey Bartilson) who doesn’t always get along with them. They also have to handle Sean’s old-fashioned dad Walt (Richard Riehle) who thinks he knows best about everything, and Sean’s aimless brother Eddie (Kevin Corrigan) who hangs out at their place all the time.

The beauty of Grounded for Life is that Sean and Claudia are a really fun-loving, middle-class couple who are still pretty much in love. But because Claudia got pregnant at 18, they pretty much need to raise themselves as they raise their children, and they try to be as responsible as their rock n roll spirit lets them.

 

Examples of what makes Grounded for Life worth watching:

–          When Lilly asks to go on a $500 school trip, they have to say no because they just don’t have the money. But when they suddenly inherit $1800, Sean spends it all on a great guitar, with Claudia’s full blessing.

 

–          Uncle Eddie has to persuade Lilly that men don’t like sluts. Eddie loves sluts.

 

 

–          Sean is OK with Claudia throwing a bachelorette party for her friend at their house- and he is even OK with them having invited a male stripper over.

 

–          Claudia is abandoned by Lilly at a motel room broke, and Claudia needs to drive home in the hotel robe, and has to flash to “pay” for the tolls. Sean finds this hilarious.

 

 

–          Going to a hundredth Ramones farewell concert is more important than Jimmy’s school projects…

 

 

The beauty of this show is that Sean and Claudia are very easy to identify with. They love their kids, but they hate growing up. They need to make sure Lilly doesn’t follow in Claudia’s footsteps, but it is really hard to convince her daughter that being a virgin is not bad.

Sean loves that his wife is still great looking, but Lilly hates that her mother is sexier than she is…Oh, then there are the little boys who love playing around in the house with their dad. And let’s not forget the nightmare nun/headmaster at the school the kids go to, as Sean hates the woman and he just wants to tell her to shove it…

 

Give it a try. They are the most fun, loving family around.

 

Fun notes:

–          Both Donal Logue and Richard Riehle, who plays Donal’s father Walt, have appeared in the legal series The Practice starring Dylan McDermott.

 

Donal plays an annoying DA who doesn’t always play by the rules, and Richard Riehle guest-stars in one episode as a newspaper owner who likes to fire people because of their appearances.

 

Donal Logue’s The Practice appearances:

Season 2, Episode 2

Season 2, Episode 7

Season 2, Episode 25

Season 2, Episode 27

Season 3, Episode 16

 

Richard Riehle’s The Practice appearance:  Season 2, Episode 6

 

–          Bret Harrison, who plays the geeky boy next door neighbor Brad, plays in a couple of the sci-fi series V (2009).

 

–         Kevin Corrigan, the whacky uncle, plays the wise Sam Weiss on the popular sci-fi/thriller/drama series Fringe in 7 episodes.

 

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Filed Under: TV shows Tagged With: bret harrison, Donal Logue, grounded for life, grounded for life cast, grounded for life tv series, grounded for life tv show, Lynsey Bartilson, Megyn Price, Richard Riehle, the practice, the practice tv series

The Lodger starring Simon Baker, Shane West, Alfred Molina and Hope Davis

Posted on October 31, 2009 Written by ripitup

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The Lodger, starring Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Shane West and Simon Baker
The Lodger, starring Alfred Molina, Hope Davis, Shane West and Simon Baker

Detective Chandler Manning  (Molina) and his rookie partner Street Wilkenson (Shane West) have stumbled upon a disturbing case: brutal murders of hookers, which resemble the crimes of  the infamous Jack the Ripper and also a serial killer who Manning caught behind bars and was executed years ago.

Married couple Ellen (Hope Davis) and Bunting (Donal Logue) are having financial troubles. Their marriage doesn’t also seem that solid either: Their relationship is strained and the husband constantly refers to the medication Ellen should be taking. We are tipped- at the very beginning of the movie- that Ellen may not be mentally very stable and that she doesn’t like her husband spending so much time away from home, especially at night.

Manning’s private life isn’t that great either. He has a wife staying at a mental hospital, after an attempted suicide and his daughter holds him responsible. She believes that his compulsiveness and possessive actions  have caused this.

Ellen’s life, on the other hand, seems to get interesting. Their guest house finally gets rented, by a mysterious stranger (Simon Baker). Now this guy is dark, he keeps to himself and is obsessed with his privacy. He refuses to meet her husband and keeps disappearing at night…

The movie has a lot of suspicious characters so we are never sure to trust Manning, Ellen, her husband and especially not the lodger. Now the movie is a remake and is not boring. It has its moments and Manning’s obsession with Jack The Ripper gives the movie edge. However the twists and turns and the camera work don’t amount too much when some things are too obvious. It is an OK movie with some wasted potential. After all, the movie has wonderful actors. Hope Davis is wonderful as the edgy Ellen who is very attracted to her new lodger. I have always enjoyed watching Alfred Molina since he portrayed the uptight mayor in Lasse Hallstrom’s Chocolat in 2000. Simon Baker has always pleasantly surprised me with the wide arrange of roles he  has taken and this is by far the darkest. Shane West makes a good rookie. But as I said, it has wasted potential. It doesn’t add anything new to the guess-who-is-the-killer game. It is worth a watch if you like the actors. Frankly, the poster looks good and it is cooler than the movie. I actually half-expected a story with vampires when I first saw it.

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Alfred Molina, Chocolat, Donal Logue, Hope Davis, Jack The Ripper, Lasse Hallstrom, movies, Shane West, Simon Baker, The Lodger, thriller

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