Abandoned and Deceived Reviews

Television actress stuck between full-time series assignments? Check. Effectively but too-tidily dramatized big social issue? Check. Plenty of opportunity for dramatic catharsis for a demographically targeted niche audience? Check. This must be a Lifetime TV movie. All snarkiness aside, though, this docudrama about deadbeat dads and the rise of legislation to thwart them marks a solid entry in the "Television for Women" network's original programming. The always-likable Lori Loughlin proves surprisingly believable as a put-upon divorcée, while veteran TV director Joseph Dougherty keeps the pace brisk and the exposition subtler than usual for this type of project. So many TV movies, both on Lifetime and elsewhere, focus on the boogeymen of modern pop culture -- eating disorders, child molesters and the like -- that it's nice to see film tackle a far more pervasive but less sensationalistic issue.