''The Client List'' is an American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

that premiered on the

Lifetime Network Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

on July 19, 2010. It starred

Jennifer Love Hewitt Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel series ''Kids I ...

and was directed by

Eric Laneuville Eric Gerard Laneuville (born July 14, 1952) is an American television director, producer and actor. His first acting roles were in the science-fiction film ''The Omega Man'' (1971) with Charlton Heston, and the ABC television series ''Room 222' ...

. The film is a fictionalized dramatization of a 2004 prostitution scandal in

Odessa, Texas Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small section of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 114,428 at the 2020 census, mak ...

. It follows Sam Horton, a mother of three who becomes a prostitute to meet her financial obligations.

Plot

Samantha and Rex Horton are unemployed and struggling to provide for their three children and keep their home. Desperate to stave off foreclosure, Samantha takes a job at a massage parlor, but quickly learns it is a house of prostitution, with the internal motto "beats the hell out of waitressing". As the Hortons are down to their last dollar, Samantha stays, and quickly becomes one of the most popular employees, being very personable with her clients. While her earnings increase, she hides the true nature of her job from her family and friends, even while lavishing them with expensive gifts. Rex later finds work again himself. Sam's popularity causes another problem: exhaustion, affecting her relationships. One of her clients gives her cocaine to keep her going. Meanwhile, a very young masseuse has revealed the true nature of the parlor to a church group, and public pressure on the mayor, who is up for re-election, leads to a police raid, even though many on the force are also clients. Sam's arrest is shown live on television at the bar Rex frequents. Her drug supply is also found, leading to an additional charge for possession. Sam is bailed out of jail by her close friend Dee, the only one she confided in about her real job. She berates her for not having the courage to drop the job after her needs were met. Rex and Sam separate. Another friend, Laura, a lawyer, convinces Sam to form a "client list" of the more prominent "johns". Their cooperation gets Sam and co-workers light jail sentences. After her release from jail, Samantha is confronted by several of the clients' wives—who are looking for advice on how to improve their marriages. Attempting to move on, she becomes a waitress and goes back to college, hoping to patch things up with Rex.

Cast

as Samantha "Sam" Horton *

Teddy Sears Edward M. Sears (born April 6, 1977) is an American actor, known for his roles as Richard Patrick Woolsley on the TNT legal drama series '' Raising the Bar'', Patrick on the first season of FX anthology horror drama ''American Horror Story'' ( ...

as Rex Horton *

Sonja Bennett Sonja Bennett (born August 24, 1980) is a Canadian actress and screenwriter. Her film debut was in the Canadian feature film ''Punch'' (2002), for which she won the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Canadian Film. She ha ...

as Dee *

Lynda Boyd Lynda Boyd (born January 28, 1965) is a Canadian actress, singer, dancer, musician, and writer. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the films ''Final Destination 2'' (2003), ''An Unfinished Life'' (2005), ''She's the Man'' (2006), and ''O ...

as Jackie *

Chelah Horsdal Chelah Horsdal (born June 19, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her regular roles in the television series ''Hell on Wheels'', ''When Calls the Heart'', and ''The Man in the High Castle'', recurring roles on ''Stargate SG-1'', '' Lev ...

as Doreen *

Heather Doerksen Heather Doerksen (born February 12, 1980) is a Canadian actress who has appeared on stage and screen. She has also voiced many cartoons and advertising campaigns. Career Doerksen studied at Simon Fraser University, switching majors from science ...

as Tanya *

Kacey Rohl Kacey Rohl (born August 6, 1991) is a Canadian actress. She is known for playing Sterling Fitch in the television crime drama '' The Killing'', Prudence in the 2011 dark fantasy film ''Red Riding Hood'', and Abigail Hobbs in the television drama ...

as Emma *

Kandyse McClure Candice McClure (born 22 March 1980), known professionally as Kandyse McClure, is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Anastasia Dualla in the SyFy series ''Battlestar Galactica'' and as Dr. Clementine Chasseur in the Netflix series ...

as Laura *

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

as Cassie

Reception

Ratings

''The Client List'' drew in an audience of 3.9 million viewers and was the highest rated program for the evening amongst female viewers between the ages of 18 and 49.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

it has an approval rating of 83% based on reviews from 6 critics. ''Entertainment Weekly''s Ken Tucker considered it a typical Lifetime film that "offer dcheap thrills … while offering moral uplift." Calling it "malarkey," he felt that Hewitt was able to sell the film to the audiences due to her "talent for communicating sincerity and charm."

Awards and nominations

The film received a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nomination for

in the category "Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television," but lost to

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes (born April 12, 1979) is an American actress. She is the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. In 2012, ''Time'' named her one of the 100 most influentia ...

starring as

Temple Grandin Mary Temple Grandin (born August 29, 1947) is an American academic and animal behaviorist. She is a prominent proponent for the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Gra ...

in the film of the same name.

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

in January 2011 in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Television series

On August 10, 2011, it was announced that Lifetime had ordered production of ''

The Client List ''The Client List'' is an American television film that premiered on the Lifetime Network on July 19, 2010. It starred Jennifer Love Hewitt and was directed by Eric Laneuville. The film is a fictionalized dramatization of a 2004 prostitution scan ...

'' television series based on the film. Hewitt acted as the lead role and also served as an executive producer. The series was a re-imagination of the film (with Hewitt's character having a different name from the film), and was not a direct continuation of the film's story line. The series premiered on April 8, 2012. On November 1, 2013, Lifetime cancelled the series after two seasons; the final episode of the series aired on June 16, 2013.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Client List, The 2010 television films 2010 films American drama films Films about prostitution in the United States Films directed by Eric Laneuville Lifetime (TV network) films 2010s American films