Take My Advice: The Ann and Abby Story

Take My Advice: The Ann and Abby Story is a captivating, emotionally charged biographical television movie that debuted in 1999. Directed by Alan Metzger, it features Wendie Malick, Robert Desiderio, and Kip Gilman in lead roles, along with a skillful supporting cast. The plot revolves around the intriguing, complex, and highly competitive, yet lovable lives of Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren – revealed here to be twin sisters, Eppie Lederer and Pauline Phillips.

Wendie Malick stars as Ann Landers, the woman who would later become one of the most renowned advice columnists of her time. Robert Desiderio plays her challenging, yet sweet husband, Jules Lederer. Contrasted with Malick’s strong, determined portrayal, Desiderio delivers a gentle, understated performance that provides balance to their dynamic. On the other side, we see Kip Gilman as Morton Phillips, the loving husband of Abigail Van Buren, played by an actress who injects her humorous wit, independence, and charm into the character.

The movie starts in Sioux City, Iowa, where Esther "Eppie" Friedman (Wendie Malick) and Pauline "Popo" Friedman, later known as Ann Landers and Dear Abby respectively, grow up in a loving Jewish family. Eager to escape their small Midwestern town, the twins navigate their lives into a rivalry that marked the world of advice columnists.

Their rivalry on the print page began after Eppie's first successful foray into serving as the advice columnist "Ann Landers." The initial success of the Ann Landers column leads a rival newspaper to recruit Pauline to compete directly with her sister under the pseudonym "Abigail Van Buren." As the movie unfolds, viewers witness the emotional roller-coaster of ambition, competition, sisterly love, and the trials of balancing it all with their familial life.

Take My Advice delves into their respective journeys as columnists and the incredible influence they held over millions of readers who found comfort and guidance in their words. Written with sincerity, their advice was both direct and sensitive to their reader's dilemmas, mirroring the writers' personal experiences and hardships.

Nevertheless, the movie also does a wonderful job tracing the twins' personal lives. We are granted glimpses into their marriages - Eppie's turbulent married life with her gregarious husband, Jules (Robert Desiderio), and Pauline's better-suited match with Mort (Kip Gilman). The film explores how their careers impacted their relationships at home and a larger critique of societal expectations of women in their era.

Of particular note is the portrayal of the relationship between the two sisters. Throughout their professional rivalry, the affection, resentment, and complex mix of emotions that drive their sibling dynamics add an absorbing layer to the narrative. Their sisterhood's trials and tribulations are continuously put to the test, ultimately reinforcing the importance of family ties while achieving stardom.

Relatively drama-free and refreshingly witty, the film plays out the importance of sisterly love amidst their contrasting personalities and competition. Despite the bitterness of their rivalry, it appositely encapsulates the essence of an enduring connection between them. Not forgetting the humor, the movie delightfully incorporates some great one-liners, adding a light-hearted touch to this otherwise emotional plot.

Beyond the personal and professional narratives of the twin sisters, the film also projects a broader cultural context. It captures the social zeitgeist of the mid-twentieth century, revealing how much these advice columns reflected and shaped the opinions of countless people across America, in those pre-internet days when print media ruled supreme.

In summary, Take My Advice: The Ann and Abby Story is an engaging film that blends the worlds of professional rivalry, sisterhood, love, and advice columns. It does a commendable job riding the thin line between being a drama and a comedy while revealing the fascinating real-life story of these trailblazing women. The character depth and the depiction of their complex relationship make for an appealing, thought-provoking watch, uncovering the inspiring lives of the legendary advice columnists Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren.