The Third Wish (2005)

What a terrible movie and a huge waste of time! The star is trying too hard to create a happy-go-lucky mash up between a Julia Roberts type character in Pretty Girl and a serious Rene Russo. She looks much older than her leading man (i.e., her face looks like she's had a lot of work done and not very good work at that. There is very little romantic chemistry between her and the male lead. Armand Assante plays his role like a mafia kingpin. I couldn't help waiting for him to say bada-bing, then shoot somebody.Watch this movie at your own peril. I would not recommend this movie to anyone. I'm not surprised I have never heard of the lead actress. After this film, she probably didn't work much.

For some reason the Big Red Envelope company recommended this piece of tripe to us as something we would like. What a heap of moronic clichés. I won't even hint at the plot line or you would figure it out instantly like I did. I kept waiting for a twist or at least something original, but to no avail. The lead character, played by Jenna Mattison, is easily the most annoying women I've ever seen on screen. The sad thing is, she is supposed to be cute and endearing. And what's with the freakishly huge mouth and the constant smiling, even while telling the tragic story of her early childhood? As a fan of Mystery Science Theater I've sat through some awful pieces of cheese, but this one really got under my skin.

I watched this movie with my eight year old son who thought the movie sounded awesome from the description. What a waste of a DVD rental. Half way through this movie, we switched it off. I believe my sons exact words were "Mum this movie is lame, I hate it".Maggie Malone was one of the worst characters in cinematic history; I found not one part of her endearing. The movie tries hard to make her seem kind, optimistic and well liked. Her landlord and boss seemingly accept the fact that she is not paying her rent and turns up late for work every day, that is if she does turn up for work. In fact her landlord offers her a meal after telling her she is months behind in her rent. If you have seen the movie Pretty Woman then this movie has pretty much ripped off many of the scenes. As one reviewer mentions, there is one particular part where she makes reference to Pretty Woman, and then proceeds to mirror the scene in the b grade style that reeks throughout this movie. We constantly hear throughout the early stages of the movie that she does not believe in love. However, it does not take her long to start making doe eyes at the lawyer, hired to help her spend her inheritance. One scene she takes the office bound Lawyer on a bike ride, once again the similarities of Pretty Woman appearing in this unoriginal script. I can't believe this movie was even made. I cringe as I relive the scenes, I wish there was a way where I could forget it.

I found a copy of this movie at the local library. The title and the advertising seemed interesting so I borrowed it.Unfortunately, I can see why the movie went "STRAIGHT TO VIDEO"! First, the lead actress (Jenna Mattison) simply does not have the "spark" necessary to carry this movie. If I'm not mistaken, I think she may have had a role in writing some of it which explains how she may have been cast as the lead but she cannot carry this movie.I find it hilarious when the lead character makes a reference to Julia Roberts of Pretty Woman in this movie. It seems Ms. Mattison spends way too much of her time trying to mimic Ms. Roberts without trying to figure out what talents or gifts Ms. Mattison can bring to the screen.Synopsis/Spoiler Alert: Ms. Mattison plays Maggie Malone, a woman quite content with living life the way it is as a book store clerk. She no longer believes in love but has always had 1) a love for magic and 2) a desire to fly in a plane and other wishes (important later).One day while working at the book store, Maggie discovers a copy of Great Expectations. Like one of the characters in the book, Maggie gets a "benefactor" (someone who does good things for her secretly on the condition she does not try to find out the identity of the individual).The benefactor turns out to be Maggie's biological father (played by veteran actor Armand Assante). Maggie had been given up for adoption when she was about 5 years old. Her mother had been killed and her biological father felt ill-equipped to provide care for her. The biological father placed Maggie in an orphanage with nuns to care for her and Maggie's only memory of her father was the fact that he entertained her with magic tricks. Once on his feet, Maggie's father attempted to contact the orphanage and reclaim his daughter but the orphanage would not allow it. Maggie's father went on to become a very wealthy businessman with one wish: to get his daughter back into his life. He does so by hiring a dashing lawyer to "make all of Maggie's dreams come true" by being the benefactor's agent.Maggie gets a $5 million bank account, a fancy car, a beautiful penthouse and her biggest dream of all: her own book published since she's an aspiring writer. However, Maggie must never know where the money is coming from or she will forfeit everything. It turns out the benefactor's agent falls in love with Maggie and has a change of heart -revealing the benefactor's identity.While this sounds like an interesting plot, the execution of this plot is poor. First, it's a shame to see the talents of veteran actors James Avery, Armand Assante, Betty White and Mindy Cohn wasted. The actors could have brought more dept to their roles if they had been given "meatier" roles.Second, this movie was marketed as a "family movie". I'm still trying to figure out why because the themes are very sophisticated: fear, abandonment, love, etc. This movie is actually pretty "deep" but it was poorly marketed. I'm guessing someone saw the word "wish" and thought "oh, kids do this all the time...let's make this a family movie" but it doesn't quite work out that way.In short, I cannot recommend this movie. The lead actress cannot carry the role, veteran actors are wasted and the themes are too sophisticated to be packaged into a sweet, syrupy family movie.