The Client List
Encyclopedia
The Client List is a 2010 television film that premiered on the Lifetime Network on July 19, 2010. Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt
and directed by Eric Laneuville
. A fictionalized dramatization of a 2004 prostitution scandal in Odessa, Texas
, the film follows Samantha Horton, a mother of three who turns to prostitution to make ends meet.
), a former Texas beauty queen, mother of three kids, and unemployed massage therapist struggles with financial difficulties and the threat of foreclosure on her home. Her husband, Rex (Teddy Sears
), a former football player, is suffering from knee complications and cannot work. She applies for a job at a massage parlor in a nearby town and is quickly hired. However, she soon discovers the masseuses who work there are actually prostitutes serving prominent members of society.
Strapped for cash, Sam realizes that there aren't any other options and decides to accept the position and become a prostitute. She begins working under the name "Brandy". Lying to her husband and her mother (Cybill Shepherd
) about the real nature of her job, Sam brings in a lot of money and is able to shower her family with some of the luxuries they had never gotten to enjoy before. In addition to the money, her clients give her expensive jewelry and some even ask her to marry them.
Sam takes on more and more hours while Rex takes on a job as an exterminator and expresses concerns about the hours she has been working. Feeling exhausted and guilty, and at the suggestion of one of her favorite clients, Sam turns to cocaine to cope with what she is doing and soon becomes addicted.
When a fellow, younger prostitute sees that a local pastor is to be her next client, she decides she can no longer do the job. Sam encourages her to head to a local ministry for shelter. The young woman then tells the ministry about the massage parlor, saying she feels God wants her to expose them.
The police are tipped off to what the business really is and raid the place, and Samantha and her coworkers and some of their clients who are present are charged. Sam is also charged with drug possession when the police find her cocaine. Sam attempts to repair her broken marriage, but Rex is devastated by the truth about her job and moves out with their children.
A lawyer friend helps her negotiate a reduced sentence in exchange for testifying against the clients she served. After the trial, she goes to jail for a short sentence. Upon her release, some local women visit her and, to her surprise, offer forgiveness and ask for advice on heating up their own relationships. Sam and one of her former coworkers become waitresses, and Sam goes back to school. In the final scene, her husband also hints that he is willing to try to repair their relationship.
in the category "Best Performance By An Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television", but lost to Claire Danes
.
in January, 2011 in North America
. No release has been confirmed for other regions.
television series based on the film. Hewitt will reprise her role and serve as executive producer. The series is slated to premiere in 2012 with a 10-episode order.
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
and directed by Eric Laneuville
Eric Laneuville
Eric Gerard Laneuville is an American television director, actor and martial artist. His first prominent acting roles were in the science-fiction film The Omega Man with Charlton Heston and the ABC television series Room 222 . His role as Luther Hawkins in the television series St...
. A fictionalized dramatization of a 2004 prostitution scandal in Odessa, Texas
Odessa, Texas
Odessa is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan...
, the film follows Samantha Horton, a mother of three who turns to prostitution to make ends meet.
Plot
Samantha "Sam" Horton (Jennifer Love HewittJennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
), a former Texas beauty queen, mother of three kids, and unemployed massage therapist struggles with financial difficulties and the threat of foreclosure on her home. Her husband, Rex (Teddy Sears
Teddy Sears
Edward M. "Teddy" Sears is an American television actor, best known for his roles on One Life to Live and the TNT series Raising the Bar.- Early life :...
), a former football player, is suffering from knee complications and cannot work. She applies for a job at a massage parlor in a nearby town and is quickly hired. However, she soon discovers the masseuses who work there are actually prostitutes serving prominent members of society.
Strapped for cash, Sam realizes that there aren't any other options and decides to accept the position and become a prostitute. She begins working under the name "Brandy". Lying to her husband and her mother (Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her best known roles include starring as Jacy in The Last Picture Show, as Betsy in Taxi Driver, as Madeleine Spencer in Psych, as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting, as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill, and as Phyllis Kroll on The L...
) about the real nature of her job, Sam brings in a lot of money and is able to shower her family with some of the luxuries they had never gotten to enjoy before. In addition to the money, her clients give her expensive jewelry and some even ask her to marry them.
Sam takes on more and more hours while Rex takes on a job as an exterminator and expresses concerns about the hours she has been working. Feeling exhausted and guilty, and at the suggestion of one of her favorite clients, Sam turns to cocaine to cope with what she is doing and soon becomes addicted.
When a fellow, younger prostitute sees that a local pastor is to be her next client, she decides she can no longer do the job. Sam encourages her to head to a local ministry for shelter. The young woman then tells the ministry about the massage parlor, saying she feels God wants her to expose them.
The police are tipped off to what the business really is and raid the place, and Samantha and her coworkers and some of their clients who are present are charged. Sam is also charged with drug possession when the police find her cocaine. Sam attempts to repair her broken marriage, but Rex is devastated by the truth about her job and moves out with their children.
A lawyer friend helps her negotiate a reduced sentence in exchange for testifying against the clients she served. After the trial, she goes to jail for a short sentence. Upon her release, some local women visit her and, to her surprise, offer forgiveness and ask for advice on heating up their own relationships. Sam and one of her former coworkers become waitresses, and Sam goes back to school. In the final scene, her husband also hints that he is willing to try to repair their relationship.
Cast
- Jennifer Love HewittJennifer Love HewittJennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
as Samantha "Sam" Horton - Teddy SearsTeddy SearsEdward M. "Teddy" Sears is an American television actor, best known for his roles on One Life to Live and the TNT series Raising the Bar.- Early life :...
as Rex Horton - Sonja BennettSonja BennettSonja Bennett is a Canadian actress who portrayed Marcie Brasko in Battlestar Galactica.Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Bennett has acted in various genre series including Eureka, Stargate Atlantis, Painkiller Jane, The Dead Zone, Cold Squad, as well as other Vancouver filmed television...
as Dee - Lynda BoydLynda BoydLynda Boyd is a Canadian actress, singer, dancer, musician, and writer. She is perhaps best known for her roles in the Hollywood films Final Destination 2 , An Unfinished Life , She's the Man , and On Thin Ice, with Diane Keaton...
as Jackie - Chelah HorsdalChelah HorsdalChelah Horsdal is a Canadian actress and model.-Life and career:She grew up in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver with her mother, Lindsay. Her father is the folk singer Valdy...
as Doreen - Heather DoerksenHeather DoerksenHeather Doerksen is a Canadian actress who has appeared on stage, and on screen alongside such actors as Kathy Bates, William H. Macy, Christopher Lloyd, and Jessica Alba...
as Tanya - Kacey Rohl as Emma
- Kandyse McClureKandyse McClureKandyse McClure is an actress, best known for playing Anastasia Dualla on the Sci Fi Channel's television program Battlestar Galactica.- Biography :...
as Laura - Cybil Shepard as Cassie
Reception
The Client List drew in an audience of 3.9 million viewers, and was the highest rated program for the evening amongst female viewers between the ages of 18 and 49. Entertainment Weeklys Ken Tucker considered it a typical Lifetime film that "offer[ed] cheap thrills....while offering moral uplift". Calling it "malarky", he felt that Hewitt was able to sell the film to the audiences due to her "talent for communicating sincerity and charm."Awards
The film received a Golden Globe nomination for Jennifer Love HewittJennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
in the category "Best Performance By An Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made For Television", but lost to Claire Danes
Claire Danes
Claire Catherine Danes is an American actress of television, stage and film. She has appeared in roles as diverse as Angela Chase in My So-Called Life, as Juliet in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as Yvaine in Stardust and as Temple Grandin in...
.
Release
The film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in January, 2011 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. No release has been confirmed for other regions.
Television series
On August 10, 2011, it was announced that Lifetime has ordered production of The Client ListThe Client List (TV series)
The Client List is an upcoming American television drama series based on the 2010 television film of the same name, which is set to air in 2012 on the Lifetime network...
television series based on the film. Hewitt will reprise her role and serve as executive producer. The series is slated to premiere in 2012 with a 10-episode order.