The Right Connections (1997) (TV)

Director:

Chuck Vinson

Writer (WGA):

Paul Bernbaum (written by)

Release Date:

15 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family | Music

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Family | Financial Crisis | Music Contest | Unemployment | Kids And Family

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Melissa Joan Hart	...	Melanie Cambridge (as Melissa Hart)
M.C. Hammer	...	Kendrick Bragg (as MC Hammer)
Elizabeth Hart	...	Jamie Tompkins
Brian Hart	...	Chase Tompkins
Emily Hart	...	Marnie Tompkins
Alexandra Hart-Gilliams	...	Kaila Tompkins
Belinda Metz	...	Gail Tompkins
Meshach Taylor	...	Lionel Clark
Scott Vickaryous	...	Eric Landau
Bill Switzer	...	Gary Fleming
Chris Lovick	...	Peter Lake
Chad Dormer	...	Josh Stevens
Jano Frandsen	...	Anthony Springer
JR Bourne	...	Douglas Freeman
Biski Gugushe	...	Blake Ingram

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and mild thematic elements.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Alphacine)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Hartbreak Films

Not any good at all of course, but does have some nice humour to it which the cast at least seems to have bought into

The Tompkins's kids have a good life despite being raised by a single mum. However when Gail loses her job they look like they will have to make sacrifices to allow her to finish college so that she can get a better job to support the family properly. But the kids discover that, unknown to their mum, their dad has dumped them with a $5k bill from the IRS – something they can't afford without ditching the family plans and getting Gail back into a menial "just getting by" job. A chance meeting with struggling hip hop "star" Kendrick Bragg aka Kicking Back Flash gives them the idea of entering a talent contest with his help. Telling him they can help get his car back from the bailiffs, they convince him to coach them – however the majority of the kids have zero talent and although Jamie does, she refuses to sing.

I don't think anyone approaches a television movie starring MC Hammer with any significant hopes of this being a great film – I know I didn't and perhaps that is part of the reason why, although cheap and basic, I still managed to quite enjoy the slight humour it produced. The plot is very obvious and goes just where you expect it to; it will give you no surprises along the way and nothing about it is particularly imaginative. The production values are also pretty low and I was never in doubt that I was watching a TV movie. However it was still quite solid fun because the writers were able to inject a lot of cheeky humour into what could easily have been a horribly sentimental mess filled with "cute kids" and "life lessons". It doesn't manage to totally avoid this but at least the occasional chuckle did a little bit to covering up all the major problems.

The cast aren't great but at least they all seem to have bought into the humour of the situation. Hammer seems to enjoy himself without any real sense of ego in his performance. He isn't a great actor but at least he has fun, which does help the audience. The kids are mostly too cute and obvious to be of any real value but the fact that they are real siblings seems to help their chemistry and allows them to also do well with the sense of humour.

Overall this is not a great film but it is maybe distracting nonsense for older children. The cast can't really act but they do come across like they "get" the material and help draw the humour out of the script. It is unlikely anyone has come to this expecting anything of any value but the low expectations might mean that you at least get a little surprised by bits of this.