Reviewer's Bias*
Loves:
Likes: Ken Marino, Romantic Comedies
Dislikes: Overwrought drama
Hates: Chick flicks, Lifetime Channel

The Movie
Jim Gaffigan said, and I'm paraphrasing here, "If the Lifetime Channel is television for women, why does it always featuring women in trouble?" The channel has earned its reputation as the channel to turn to if you need to see a woman beaten, raped, cheated on, mistreated,harassed or generally abused. So watching Love for Rent it surprised me that it wasn't a Lifetime production. After all, Sofia (Angie Cepeda) is everything Meredith Baxter Birney has come to symbolize.

An illegal immigrant from Columbia, she married a punk named Jesse (Brad Rowe) to get a green card, and is now studying law, and struggling to keep the bills paid. Jesse steals from her, knowing she can't do anything about it, while the rest of her life is just one problem followed by another. These are supposed to be played for laughs, but they just don't materialize.

The plot motivation comes in a small burst, as Sofia meets Neil (Ken Marino, "The State"), a doctor who's immediately infatuated with her, and then a rich couple in need of some help. Jim Piddock (Best in Show) and Nora Dunn ("SNL") want to have a child, but they need a young lady to handle the pregnancy for them. That they are willing to pay $50,000 for a surrogate and Sofia is in dire straits makes it a relatively easy decision for her, but as with all things in her life, it doesn't come without complications. Her burgeoning relationship with Neil, her new financial arrangement, her privacy...nothing is safe from the curse that seems to hang over her.

There are layers of pain at work in this movie, but none of them really gets the attention they would need to mean much, and as a result they are just piled together in a heap of heartache. The one that has the best chance to stand-out is Sofia's relationship with a boy named Max, who lives down the hall from her. A foster child, he gets into trouble at school and at home, and is only happy when he's with his "stand-in" mom, Sofia. A precursor to her motherly future, the relationship might have worked better if it didn't follow a string of previous depressing notes.

As Sofia, Cepeda doesn't do anything wrong, but her character is one you've seen before, which makes it hard for her to make it her own. More entertaining is Marino's turn as a doctor. It's a far distance from his work on "The State," but his ability to be a goofball shines through, and it gives you one character you can root for here. Piddock and Dunn also do well with their roles, though neither gets much to do. In fact, in watching them, I realize I'm enjoying them more for the previous work they've done, than for this film.

If the unending pain Sofia suffers through the beginning of the film feel unbelievable, the happy ending is even more over-the-top, in a sunshine-y way that cinches the film's status as a Lifetime-worthy production. It's almost fairy tale-like in a Cinderella way, which may appeal to fans of such films. I'm certainly not one of those people.

The DVD
A one-disc release, this film arrives in a standard keepcase with a promotional insert. The DVD has a static anamorphic widescreen main menu that provides options to play the film, select scenes and adjust languages. There are no audio options, while subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

The Quality
Considering this movie is pretty recent, the transfer is rather weak, with many scenes displaying heavy amounts of grain , along with some dirt. Some moments looks good, with solid color, nice detail and a very clean image, which is why the much worse scenes are so distracting. The moments at night are among the worst, as the grain is exceedingly heavy, making the image look like they've been pointillized.

The soundtrack is a Dolby Digital 2.0 presentation that's very clean, delivering the film's dialogue and very well, powering everything from up-front. This is a dialogue-based film, so the sound presentation works fine for it.

The Extras
There are no extras on this DVD, not even a trailer. When someone needs a definition for "bare bones," just point them to this disc.

The Bottom Line
Here's a sadistic little movie that seems to enjoy torturing its star at every opportunity. Then, once you're done suffering with Sofia through her various trials and tribulations , you get to enjoy a bit of unrealistic fantasy fulfillment before the final credits roll. Its almost like a grueling marathon, but without the payoff. The DVD doesn't look too good for a recent film, and the sound doesn't impress much either, which means the non-existent extras make for a disappointing package. Anyone looking for a Lifetime Channel-style chick flick with a real mean streak might want to rent this, but everyone else can steer clear.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.