The Price of a Broken Heart  (1999)

Theatrical Release Information:
The Price of a Broken Heart

ER's Laura Innes heads the cast of this compelling made-for-cable domestic drama, based on a true story. North Carolinian Dot Hutlemeyer (Park Overall) sues for divorce when she discovers that her insurance-executive husband, Joe (Timothy Carhart), has been carrying on an affair with his secretary, Lynn (Laura Innes). For Lynn's part, she is convinced that Joe sincerely intends marry her as soon as he is shed of Laura. Despite Lynn's naïveté, the outraged Dot intends not only to divorce Joe, but to sue Lynn for alienation of affection, citing a 200-year-old state statute which, ironically, had been originated created to protect men way back when wives were merely property. The film adroitly shifts audience sympathy between the scorned Dot and the nonplussed Lynn and back again: if there is any villain in the piece, it is the duplicitous Joe. First seen over the Lifetime channel on August 25, 1999, The Price of a Broken Heart is one of the more ubiquitous entries in that cable service's film library. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide