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Review

An accomplished, made-for-cable directorial debut from actor Kevin Bacon, Losing Chase is a well-acted, if slightly uneven character study of two women who form an intense bond over the course of a summer. After suffering a nervous breakdown, Chase (the magnificent Mirren) returns to her family's summer home on Martha's Vineyard, only to face alienation and embarrassment from her husband (Bridges) and her two young sons. Enter Elizabeth (Sedgwick), a sensitive young woman hired to be a "mother's helper" for the suspicious and unwelcoming Chase. Soon, the two women discover they have a lot in common, perhaps more than do Chase and her well-meaning but ineffectual husband. The first half of the film is especially compelling, as the two women's relationship blossoms. The chemistry collapses in the second half, however, as the script becomes trite and unbelievable, with an ending that lacks the genuineness that made the film begin so promising.