Matters of Life and Dating

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.

Matters of Life and Dating
Genre	Romantic comedy
Based on	Up Front by Linda Dackman
Teleplay by	Nina Colman
Directed by	Peter Wellington
Starring	Ricki Lake Holly Robinson Peete Rachael Harris
Music by	Anton Sanko
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Ricki Lake Salli Newman Barbara Lieberman
Producer	Michael Mahoney
Cinematography	Joel Ransom
Editor	Susan Shipton
Running time	90 minutes
Production companies	Robert Greenwald Productions Barbara Lieberman Films Firebrand Productions
Original release
Network	Lifetime
Release	October 22, 2007 (2007-10-22)

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.^[1] Lifetime approached songwriters Kara DioGuardi and James Poyser to write a song, "My Bra" performed by Mýa, for the film.^[2]

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.^[3]

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."^[1] 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.^[4]