''The Sweeter Side of Life'' is a 2013 American

made-for-television 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 ...

romantic comedy film Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

starring

Kathryn Morris Kathryn Morris is an American actress, best known for her lead role as Detective Lilly Rush in the CBS series ''Cold Case''. Career Morris's first role was a minor one in the 1991 tele-movie ''Long Road Home''. Several other small parts follo ...

and

James Best Jewel Franklin Guy (July 26, 1926 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as James Best, was an American television, film, stage, and voice actor, as well as a writer, director, acting coach, artist, college professor, and musician. Duri ...

. The film was co-written and co-produced by

Michael Damian Michael Damian Weir (born April 26, 1962) is an American actor, recording artist, and producer, best known for his role as Danny Romalotti on the soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', which he played from 1980 to 1998 and again in 2002-2004, ...

and his wife Janeen Damian. ''The Sweeter Side of Life'' is the seventh film by the husband and wife team; continuing in the

family film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are ...

genre, and with family involvement, James Best, Janeen Damian's father, plays the father of the protagonist. Michael Damian's newest single, "Rock My Heart", is also featured in the film.

Plot

A pampered Manhattanite, Desiree Harper (Morris), is shunned from her circle of well-heeled friends when her husband, Wade Harper (

Stephen Hogan Stephen Hogan is an Irish actor and audiobook narrator. Biography Hogan was born in August 1965 and grew up in Darty, Dublin, Ireland. Hogan says he studied architecture at Edinburgh University but upon graduating did not see himself in tha ...

), a successful plastic surgeon, announces he wants a divorce. The terms of her

prenuptial agreement A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the leg ...

leaves her penniless, so she returns to her family home in

Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Alastair Mackenzie Alastair Mackenzie (born 8 February 1970) is a Scottish actor from Perth. Early life He was born in Trinafour, near Perth, and educated at Westbourne House School and Glenalmond College in Perthshire. Mackenzie left home at the age of 1 ...

), a life as a baker is unacceptable to Desiree. Desiree discovers that the bakery is also having financial difficulties; she develops a

gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...

cupcake A cupcake (also British English: fairy cake; Hiberno-English: bun) is a small cake designed to serve one person, which may be baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. As with larger cakes, frosting and other cake decorations such as frui ...

that becomes wildly popular, bringing success to the bakery and

franchising Franchising is based on a marketing concept which can be adopted by an organization as a strategy for business expansion. Where implemented, a franchisor licenses some or all of its know-how, procedures, intellectual property, use of its busine ...

offers from Corporate America. Desiree is faced with the ultimatum of

selling out "Selling out", or "sold out" in the past tense, is a common expression for the compromising of a person's integrity, morality, authenticity, or principles by forgoing the long-term benefits of the collective or group in exchange for personal gai ...

her father in order to return to her former lifestyle. Desiree finds that her re-emergence into the real-world has affected her sensibilities, she is now capable of consideration for others and receptive to a new relationship with Benny.

Cast

as Desiree Harper *

as Paddy Kerrigan *

Alastair Mackenzie Alastair Mackenzie (born 8 February 1970) is a Scottish actor from Perth. Early life He was born in Trinafour, near Perth, and educated at Westbourne House School and Glenalmond College in Perthshire. Mackenzie left home at the age of 1 ...

as Benny Christophe * Steve Varnom as Eddie Rubinski *

Sam Douglas Sam Douglas (born Douglas Samuel Waters; 17 June 1957) is a British actor best known for his role as private detective Scott Shelby in the PlayStation 3 video game ''Heavy Rain'', as King Herod in ''The Bible'' miniseries for the History Chan ...

as Dino Ravettino *

as Wade Harper *

Jerome Holder ''The Story of Tracy Beaker'' (informally known as ''Tracy Beaker'' or ''TSOTB'') is a British television programme series adapted from the book of the same name by Jacqueline Wilson. It ran on CBBC for five series, from January 2002 to Decemb ...

as Calvin

Production

Janeen Damian is known for her 2007 feature film ''

Moondance Alexander ''Moondance Alexander'' is a 2007 American comedy-drama film directed by Michael Damian and written by Janeen Damian. The film was released in North America in October 2007. The story is shot on location in Okotoks, High River and Calgary, Alberta ...

''. Michael Damian is primarily known for his role as

Danny Romalotti Danny Romalotti is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', portrayed by Michael Damian. The character of Danny first appeared in Genoa City, the town where ''Y&R'' is set, in 1980. Damian and his character Da ...

on the daytime television series ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

'', playing the character of Joseph in the Broadway revival of ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

'' and a successful singing career featuring musical backing by his eight siblings. ''The Sweeter Side of Life'' was originally entitled, ''Confections of a Discarded Woman'', participation of

and

Motion Picture Corporation of America Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA) is an American film production company that focuses on production, acquisition, and distribution of low-budget films. History MPCA was founded in 1986 by longtime business partners Brad Krevoy and S ...

was announced by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' on March 30, 2012. ''The Sweeter Side of Life'' is set in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Flemington, New Jersey Flemington is a borough in and the county seat of Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Castel Film Studios Castel Film Romania is a Romanian film studio and production company started in 1992 by Romanian film producer Vlad Păunescu and Hollywood producer Charles Band. Many Full Moon films were created at Castel including the Josh Kirby series, Tran ...

Bucharest, Romania Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

Release

''The Sweeter Side of Life'' premiered on the

Hallmark Channel The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...

on January 19, 2013.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeter Side of Life, The 2013 television films 2013 films Hallmark Channel original films 2013 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films Films set in New York City Films set in New Jersey Films directed by Michael Damian 2010s English-language films 2010s American films