Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story (1995) starring Deidre Hall, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Ray Baker, Eve Gordon, Connie Ray, Mark Lonow, Wayne Northrop directed by John Patterson Movie Review

Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story (1995)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Deidre Hall in Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story (1995)

Persistent Parenthood

You could say that all movies have a specific audience in mind but there are some where this is more true than others and that is the case with "Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story". Now I have never heard of Deidre Hall, not surprising as it turns out she was a star on American Soap "Days of our Lives" and as that soap is not shown in the UK it is no shock I have never heard of her, I would imagine that is the same for a lot of people outside of America who have never seen "Days of Our Lives". But despite this "Never Say never" still appealed because the write up said it focussed on Deidre's attempts to become a mother and these sorts of movies interest me. Sadly whilst aspects of the movie are fascinating it plays out more like a TV movie for her fans who loved her in "Days of our Lives" which makes it one of those movies with a specific audience in mind.

So as mentioned "Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story" focuses on Hall's attempts to become a mother. It takes us from attempts to conceive naturally, then via IVF, the break down of a marriage due to the pressure and a new relationship as well as surrogacy. Whilst all of this is going on her career and friendship with other soap stars and her manager Marcus provide the backdrop to the drama.

Okay I will split this into three things starting with the whole becoming a mother side of things. Whilst we see what Deidre went through, the painful treatments, the numerous hospital visits, the surgery and so on there isn't any depth to this process. The depth more comes into the 2nd thing as we see how her desire to be a mother combined with the treatments caused relationship problems, the breakdown of a marriage and then her relationship and marriage to Steve. What this does is to turn "Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story" into the third thing which feels a little soap opera-ish and with a mix of humour and emotional scenes it does have that feel. That probably works for those who watch because they watched Hall in "Days of our Lives" but makes it a little cheesy for those who have never watched the soap before.

The thing is that all this makes "Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story" a mixed bag because at times you get a real glimpse of why Deidre really wanted to be a mother and the sacrifices which came with it. But then there will be a very soap opera-ish scene which is like a wrecking ball through all the emotion and drama. It's a real shame as this could have been a movie which did more than just an average job of highlighting the options and drama of trying to have a baby.

What this all boils down to is that "Never Say Never: The Deidre Hall Story" will be entertaining for fans of Deidre Hall who watched her on "Days of our Lives". But for those who have never heard of her it will be a mixed bag.


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