Melissa Joan Hart’s New Movie Tackles Guardianship: ‘Fight the Big System’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actress Melissa Joan Hart recently spoke with TODAY about her upcoming film THE BAD GUARDIAN.
“It’s the story of a family trying to come together…my father gets ‘kidnapped,’ and they assign him guardianship…It’s that fight, of like, a small family with not many means, trying to fight the big system,” Hart said. “This is like a 2.9-billion-dollar industry in our country right now, this guardianship stuff.”
THE BAD GUARDIAN follows “one woman’s fight to save her father from the clutches of a corrupt and greedy court-appointed guardian.”
“When Leigh’s (Melissa Joan Hart) father Jason (Eric Pierpoint) suffers a fall while she’s out of town, the courts assign Jason a guardian, Janet (La La Anthony). At first Janet seems to be a big help to Jason, but things quickly take a terrible turn. Janet is legally in charge of every aspect of Jason’s life, and doesn’t waste any time placing him in a nursing home, auctioning off his house, all worldly possessions, and using the excuse that the proceeds are needed for his care,” a synopsis reads.
“As Leigh continues to challenge Janet’s efforts, the guardian ultimately uses her power to prevent the family from visiting. In Janet’s care, Jason’s health deteriorates, to the point that he needs a life saving treatment which Janet decides is too expensive,” the summary continues. “As the whistleblowers around Jason meet untimely ends, Leigh finds the strength to take down the guardian and the corrupt system that supports her.”
Hart explained that many people know about guardianship from news about Britney Spears’ and Wendy Williams’ conservatorship cases, but this film aims to show it on a smaller scale.
“From the moment I read the script I knew this was a story a lot of people could unfortunately relate to,” Hart told PEOPLE. “It kept me on the edge of my seat, and I think a lot of people will feel the same.”
“More than 2 million Americans are currently living under a guardian or conservatorship and its estimated that state courts confiscate over $50 billion from their wards each year and that 98 percent of people placed into state care, never get out,” The Hollywood Reporter explained.
THE BAD GUARDIAN premiers May 18 on the Lifetime Network.
Movieguide® previously reported on Hart:
Actress Melissa Joan Hart, a lifelong Christian, is opening up about her faith journey and how she combats spiritual warfare.
Hart was raised Catholic and, after marrying her Baptist husband Mark Wilkerson, the couple decided to become Presbyterians. Now, she lives in Nashville, where her children attend a Christian school.
“I’m a Christian, I believe that Jesus is my savior,” she declared in an interview. “I believe in God and I believe in Jesus as His son.”
Hart admitted that she sometimes struggles with doubt in her faith, but “then I close my eyes and tap into the Holy Spirit and let Him speak to me. And you feel that warmth and you feel that change.”
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