Open House on AllMovie

Based on a best-seller by Elizabeth Berg, this made-for-TV movie stars Christine Lahti as Samantha Morrow, a middle-class mom deserted by her shallow husband, David (Chris Potter). In order to keep a roof over her head -- not to mention the head of her son, Travis (Mark Rendall) -- Samantha decides to take in boarders. Among these is a runaway teenager named Lavender Blue (Grace Lynn Kung) and a chubby working stiff named King (Daniel Baldwin). Without giving the game away, it can be noted that one of these boarders will enable Samantha to realize her full value as a woman and human being by film's end. Also on hand are Samantha's down-to-earth mom (Eva Marie Saint) and cable-TV home-design expert Colin Cowie (as himself). Open House made its initial CBS appearance on February 16, 2003.