'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
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Garth Brooks' 'Unanswered Prayers': How the Song Became a Movie
by Pat Gallagher, posted Nov 29th 2010 1:05PM
When Garth Brooks co-wrote the song 'Unanswered Prayers' 20 years ago, little did he know the song would make its way to the small screen. The ballad about infidelity has been adapted by Lifetime in a new made-for-TV-movie 'Unanswered Prayers' (airing tonight at 9PM ET). Ben Beck (Eric Close) and wife Lorrie (Samantha Mathis) find their marriage test when he runs into his old high school flame Ava Andersson (Madchen Amick).
TV Squad spoke to Brooks and Close about turning a song into a movie and how infidelity is a bitch.
Brooks' 'Unanswered Prayers' lyrics point out that after he runs into his old high school flame at a hometown football game, "She was the one that I'd wanted for all times/And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine/And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then/I'd never ask for anything again."
Before the song ends, he recognizes that "She wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams ... I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all."
The movie stays true to the theme of the song, but carries it one step further. We'll only say it involves skinny-dipping in a water-filled quarry.
Close's character, Ben, has to make a choice after his drop-dead gorgeous high school girlfriend comes back to town.. Nostalgic memories and lust make temptation that much harder to resist.
"I will say temptation is always out there," Close told us, referring to his character's shortcomings. "I can't speak for individuals, but I just know that this is a common thing. People face temptations, and I think people are more vulnerable when they're struggling in their own relationships, and sometimes it's easier to just to go that route as opposed to really do the work and to communicate.
"The problem is a lot of times people just don't communicate. They assume that the other person knows what they're thinking or should know what they're thinking ..."
Close, who wed wife Keri 15 years ago, believes marriage takes work, the "work of continuing to keep it fresh and continuing to grow together."
"It's understandable when you're in a relationship with one person for a long period of time, there's going to be times when you don't like each other or you have those thoughts like, 'Man I could just get out of here right now,'" he said. "But then, when you think about the alternative ... I know a lot of people who have been divorced, and it doesn't make their life better unless they're in a situation where they're in an abusive situation or someone has been unfaithful consistently. In those situations, I think you're warranted to move on."
Brooks pointed out that that "fear" of infidelity is a two-way street. "I don't think it only holds for wives myself. I think it holds for spouses in general," he said. "I can tell you being married to an entertainer, an artist, this whole world right now is about beautiful people. If you're basing your worth on your talent, there's 8,000 people out there more talented than you are. I hear the whole thing about the fear in the heart of wives, but I just think it works both ways."
The movie's secondary plot focuses on Ben's obsession that his son Jesse (Tony Oller) carry out his own dreams by earning a football scholarship. When Jesse reveals he would rather pursue his passion for writing, it creates more turmoil for the Beck family.Brooks had his own take on parents who try to interfere with their children's dreams of who they want to be. "Anybody who has children, I think this is the world's greatest advice," he told TV Squad. "Get ready for this because even when they're three or four years old, they are going to be who they are going to be. That's it. You can teach them manners, you can teach them morals and everything, but they are going to be who they are going to be. So just run alongside of them, love them, get your hands out if they fall and help them up, but they're runnin' where they're runnin.'
The superstar country artist, who served as executive producer for the project, had resisted sending his original No. 1 song into the hands of film producers.
"Ever since 1990 when it came out, the West Coast has approached us to making a movie of 'Unanswered Prayers,'" Brooks explained. "But every time they do, they seem to bring a treatment that seems to want to kind of fix it, if that makes any sense. They want to take it somewhere else. And it's like, 'Guys I think this song is pretty universal.' Tanya Lopez (Senior Vice President, Original Movies) at Lifetime came to me and said, 'Look, this is what we want to do. We want to make a movie of the song. We don't want to change it. We'll bring it into modern times, the song is 20 years old.' So she did that. She kept her word."
Hanky Alert: Bring at least two handkerchiefs to the couch. There will be tears.
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