Matters of Life and Dating

{{Infobox television

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| genre = Romantic comedy

| director = Peter Wellington

| teleplay = Nina Colman

| based_on = {{Based on|Up Front|Linda Dackman}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = Anton Sanko

| country = United States

| language = English

| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|

Ricki Lake
Salli Newman
Barbara Lieberman

}}

| producer = Michael Mahoney

| cinematography = Joel Ransom

| editor = Susan Shipton

| company = {{Plainlist|

Robert Greenwald Productions
Barbara Lieberman Films
Firebrand Productions

}}

| network = Lifetime

| released = {{Start date|2007|10|22}}

| runtime = 90 minutes

}}

Matters of Life and Dating is a 2007 American romantic comedy television film directed by Peter Wellington and written by Nina Colman, based on the 1990 memoir Up Front: Sex and the Post-Mastectomy Woman by Linda Dackman. The film stars Ricki Lake as Dackman, who struggles to re-enter the dating world after being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing a mastectomy and breast reconstruction. Holly Robinson Peete and Rachael Harris also star.

The film aired on Lifetime on October 22, 2007.

Plot

Linda is a single woman who must re-enter the dating world after undergoing a mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery due to cancer.

Cast

Ricki Lake as Linda Dackman
Holly Robinson Peete as Nicole Banning
Rachael Harris as Carla
Dylan Neal as Guy DeMayo
Gabriel Hogan as Kevin
Nigel Bennett as Errol Sager
Noam Jenkins as Jacques

Production

The film is based on the memoirs of Linda Dackman.{{cite news |last1=McDonough |first1=Kevin |title=Lifetime takes on breast cancer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/566654624/?terms=%22Matters%20of%20Life%20and%20Dating%22&match=1 |access-date=8 April 2021 |publisher=Intelligencer Journal |date=October 21, 2007}} Lifetime approached songwriters Kara DioGuardi and James Poyser to write a song, "My Bra" performed by Mýa, for the film.{{Cite news|date=October 16, 2007|title=My Bra commissioned as Breast Cancer Month anthem|work=Times Colonist|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/509917696/?terms=%22Matters%20of%20Life%20and%20Dating%22&match=1}}

Release

Matters of Life and Dating premiered on Lifetime Television on October 22, 2007, as part of the channel's "Stop Breast Cancer for Life" campaign.{{Cite news|last=Philpot|first=Robert|date=October 22, 2007|title=The Night, like Cuban's dance card, is full|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/651327542/?terms=%22Matters%20of%20Life%20and%20Dating%22&match=1}}

Reception

Kevin McDonough of the Intelligencer Journal criticized the film, writing that "It's hard to find fault with a movie trying to help women cope with a life-threatening illness, but Linda's plight might be more accessible if she weren't so darned successful and living such a fabulous two-double-latte-a-day existence and having to fend off so many handsome suitors." A reviewer for the Akron Beacon Journal was also critical, as they felt that Lake's performance was one of the film's major flaws.{{Cite news|last=Heldenfels|first=Rich|date=October 21, 2007|title=Acting hurts good story|work=The Akron Beacon Journal|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/170174100}}