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The Lost Husband
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Wikipedia article
'The Lost Husband' is a 2020 American romance film written and directed by Vicky Wight and starring Leslie Bibb and Josh Duhamel. It is based on Katherine Center's 2013 novel of the same name. The film was released to video on demand on April 10, 2020 by Quiver Distribution and Redbox Entertainment.
Plot
After the death of her husband, Libby also loses her home and finds herself a single mother of two, Abby and Tank, with no place to live. She moves in with her mother, Marsha, an overly critical woman. Marsha, who smokes a lot and has been married multiple times, has always had a rocky relationship with Libby. After grieving her husband for 6 months, Marsha gives Libby an ultimatum pushing her to pull herself together more quickly. This proves to be the last straw for Libby, deciding she can no longer take living with her mother. Libby and her two children move to Aunt Jean's goat farm in central Texas looking for a fresh start. Upon arriving at the farm, Aunt Jean instructs James O'Connor, her farm manager, to teach Libby the ropes of keeping up the farm. Libby is not thrilled about the idea, but accepts because she needs a job. Slowly, Libby and the children start getting used to their new life at the farm.
Libby develops her farm skills and begins bonding with James O'Connor. One night, they accidentally lock themselves in the farm's big refrigerator, having to spend the night together until Russ saves them the next morning. Another day, they go to the market to sell cheese and they run into three of Libby's old friends, who are mean and laugh at Libby for being dressed like a farm worker and having struggled after losing her husband. The friends are clearly attracted to James, so he kisses Libby in front of them to upset them.
The children also begin bonding with James, who enjoys playing with Tank and teaching Abby how to defend herself from a bully at her new school who picks on her for having a limp, which she got in the car accident that killed her father. Abby gets suspended from school for punching her bully and, although Libby is upset with James for teaching her karate, she realizes Abby trusted James to tell her about the bullying issues while she had been too afraid to talk about it with Libby and adding to her stress. Later in the film Abby is suspended again for using curse words with her bully, who had hit her in the head. James drives Libby to school to pick Abby up, and when he runs into her bully, he threatens him.
The family also meets and bonds with Aunt Jean's boyfriend, Russ McAllen, and his granddaughter, Sunshine. One night, Sunshine takes Libby to an abandoned house which she says belongs to Aunt Jean, but she hasn't lived there since her husband, Frank, died. Sunshine suggests Libby try to communicate with her dead husband. Although Libby doesn't take the idea of talking with the dead too seriously, she does have a sentimental and raw moment delivering a monologue as if she were talking to Danny. The fire they had made suddenly goes out, leaving Libby thinking maybe Danny was in fact able to hear her. Throughout the next days we slowly see Libby acquire a sense of closure about her husband's death.
During Aunt Jean's birthday party, we learn more about James. After 5 years of marriage, his wife fell for another man and asked for a divorce. A few months after the divorce, she had a stroke and required full-time care from a nurse. James had stepped in to help her constantly, as her new boyfriend had left her as soon as things got hard.
One day, Libby decides to visit the big abandoned house again and finds a picture of her as a baby with Aunt Jean and Frank. She confronts Aunt Jean about it, finding out that Marsha had abandoned her as a newborn and left her at that house at the care of her grandparents. However, due to their delicate health, it was Aunt Jean who had cared for her for 4 years. After 4 years, Marsha came back for the grandmother's funeral and upon seeing how happy Aunt Jean was with Libby, took her back. Libby drives to Marsha's home to confront her about it. Marsha says she was only 18 at the time and needed time to mature. However, Libby doesn't believe it. She tells Marsha that she thinks Marsha only wanted her back because she was jealous with how happy Jean, Frank, and Libby were together, and only took Libby back to hurt Jean. She informs Marsha that she wasn't a good mother, and that she was selfish to rob her of a happy childhood. Libby then tells her mother goodbye for the last time, and leaves while a shaken Marsha sobs.
Libby goes back to the farm and asks Aunt Jean to let her restore the house, so she can live there with her children, assuring her that she will continue to take care of the farm. As much as she has lost during the past year, Libby has finally found a place that feels like home. In the end scene, we see Libby fixing the house when James comes by to tell her he had been helping his ex-wife move in with her parents, so they could take care of her. Bringing closure to that chapter in his life, James tells Libby he is back and ready to continue working on the farm. They are seen kissing as the credits start rolling.
Cast
Reception
, of the reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes are positive, and they have an average score of . The site's critical consensus reads, "It won't set hearts a-flutter for anyone who isn't a dedicated romantic, but audiences in the mood for love might like 'The Lost Husband'." Tara McNamara of Common Sense Media awarded the film three stars out of five. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com awarded the film two and a half stars.
References
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