Who Is Simon Miller

Plot

Simon Miller (Loren Dean) outwardly appears to be a geologist who must frequently take business trips, which has strained the relationship with his family, including his wife Meredith (Robyn Lively) and teenage children Sarah (Skyler Day) and Kevin (Drew Koles). When Simon suddenly goes missing, his family searches his office and discovers several passports, each with different aliases. They soon learn that Simon was in fact a spy who kept his true career secret from them. Simon mysteriously calls home and warns his family not to tell anyone about his disappearances, then abruptly hangs up. His family begins a search for Simon, which takes them to locations around the world. Sarah, an honor student, uses her foreign language skills to help, and Kevin uses his knowledge of technology. They receive assistance from Amanda (Christine Baranski), another covert operative who initially appears to be a friend, but appears to have her own motives.

Production

Who Is Simon Miller? was filmed in Montreal starting in March 2010. It was directed by Paolo Barzman and written by Sheryl J. Anderson, marking her film screenwriting debut. One of the producers, Joel Rice, previously worked with Baranski on the Lifetime television movie Recipe for a Perfect Christmas. The film is part of the NBC network's "Family Movie Night", which is sponsored by Walmart and Procter & Gamble. Walmart spokesman Ben Simon said he hopes the film would lead to "thousands of hours of more family programming in the marketplace on an annual basis".

Baranski canceled a birthday trip she had planned in Paris to accept the role, the shooting for which began immediately after the filming of her role as Diane Lockhart on the CBS drama series The Good Wife. It marked the first time Baranski has portrayed a spy, and she did some reading about life in the Central Intelligence Agency to prepare, but otherwise had little time for research. Robyn Lively particularly complimented the family dynamic among the characters in the script, as well as a scene in which Simon apologizes to Meredith at a train station for the impact his career has had on the family. Lively said she became genuinely emotional while filming the scene.

Reception

The Christian Post writer Josephine Vivaldo said films on Family Movie Night on NBC/FOX often include values and moral lessons, but that Who Is Simon Miller? "proved that they can also make it about car chasings, multiple identities, cryptography, secret agents and action-packed entertainment minus the severe violence". The film was recommended by "Moms 4 Family TV", a group of mothers who promote family-oriented and child-friendly television programming.