With only 5 players and all of them accomplished, notable ones, this TV movie already had a headstart. The script elevates this to almost a 'theatrical level release, though.
The story itself is simple enough... a marriage is being put to the test after a boy is almost drowned in a swimming accident. Years later the unresolved guilt and the ensuing blame games have all but destroyed the marriage.
An eccentric and delightful couple enter their home and the rot of their lives rises to the surface. Eventually, the issues are all dealt with and the future looks somewhat brighter for the family. The visitors go on their way to Las Vegas for their Valentine's Day break.
Yasmine Bleeth (as Pepper Upper, which is my new favorite name) is a revelation as the (supposedly) 'ditzy' girlfriend. Amazingly sexy and sensual with easily the best lines in the show, steals this away from the others... but only just. John Ritter manages to convey a remarkably complicated portrait of a man who you should be sympathetic towards, but his own mean spirited bitterness won't quite let you.
It is these two performances that somehow manage to almost drown out the rest of the cast. It's a TV movie so things tie up nicely. Well worth heading to YouTube to check out.