In this Lifetime network movie, a girl restoring an old farmhouse finds her white knight in graphic novel artist next door *** 3 stars

By Gabrielle Pantera

Iconic Tippi Hedren in The Birds

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 4/11/2009 – “The Birds was my first film,” says Tribute star Tippi Hedren. “Hitchcock was not only my director, he was my drama coach. I couldn’t have had better. He taught me so much about being prepared for when you go on the set, and also to be prepared to be putty in that director’s hand.” (Universal’s remake of The Birds, slated for 2011, may star George Clooney and Naomi Watts.)

Based on Nora Roberts book Tribute, the Lifetime television movie Tribute features Brittany Murphy as Cilla McGowan, a former child star who enjoys restoring old houses more then acting. When she buys her grandmother’s farmhouse to restore it to its former glory, dreams of her grandmother, a famous actress, start invading her sleep. Her neighbor Ford Sawyer, played by Jason Lewis, forges a bond with Cilla. He comforts and protects her.

“I think Ford is sort of a simple guy in his tastes and likes and dislikes, but he’s also fairly complex in his interests he’s not just a country bumpkin,” says Tribute star Jason Lewis. “I think she’s kind of inverse. She’s someone who’s had a very complicated life and is looking for that simplicity.”

Cill is very strong and quite vulnerable,” says Tribute star Brittany Murphy. “She’s an extraordinary example of a young woman making her way in the world. The connection with Ford is beautiful. She sees that he’s a good guy, a really good normal down to earth guy. They’re kindred spirits in the fact that they’re both artists.”

“Steve and Cilla have a very good relationship,” says Tribute star Christian Oliver. “It’s almost to the point where the have a brother sister relationship. He’s very supportive and protective of Cilla.”

“What Nora Roberts captures in her novel are two interesting things about Ford,” says Tribute director Martha Coolidge. “One is that he is a really nice guy…almost too good to be true. The other is he appears on the surface at first to be everything she ran away from in Hollywood, but once she starts to understand his art and how he sees things…she really starts to fall for him.”

“What appeals to me is the theme of finding yourself,” says Tribute author Nora Roberts. “For Ford and Cilla, I think he’s initially attracted to her because she’s an attractive woman, but she gives him the springboard for a new character. She just finds him interesting at first and a genuine person.”

“With her being a child actor and for having grown up in Hollywood…I mean, she’s still a kid when the show is cancelled,” says Roberts. “I wanted to use this for her understanding and feeling rejected. It’s been her whole life and her mother was very pushy. But, it’s not what she wants to do. When she discovers she has a talent for helping to redesign houses, that’s what she puts all her energy into.”

Having a graphic novel artist as a character adds interest to the story. It’s a profession we haven’t seen before. To create the real graphic novel used in the movie, Lifetime hired artist Christian Gossett. Brittany Murphy never seems at ease with her character, a has-been child actor flipping houses. In the present housing meltdown, the idea of flipping houses seems a bit outdated. That she’s restoring her grandmother’s house pretty much sidesteps that issue. Some of the dream sequences were just odd and didn’t move the story forward. The pacing could have been faster.

A must-see for Nora Roberts fans.

Tribute debuts tonight, April 11, 2009 on the Lifetime network at 9pm et/pt.