Sex and the Single Mom doesn't answer any questions about how that scenario plays out regularly, but I sure wish it did. At least that way, there would have been some point to this movie.

Gail O'Grady doesn't leave much of an impression as the single mom in question, Jess. She could easily be a stand-in for any paralegal single mother in America trying to do it all. Jess seems so petrified of crossing her daughter Sara (Danielle Panabaker, the movie's only saving grace) that she's afraid to discipline Sara, even when she lashes out, both with words and actions. It's astonishing to me what Jess lets Sara get away with -- walking in on her teenage daughter fooling around on the bed, and nary a raised voice is heard? This seems like the modern day school of parenting, where parents would rather be a child's friend than her parent. Maybe I'm out of touch with the world today, but it all seems like a stretch, even for Lifetime.

Grant Show serves his role as the classicly handsome eye candy well. He plays Alex, who charms the pants right off of Jess, quite literally. The main conflict of the film comes when Alex impregnates Jess, and then leaves her for his wife. Jess is having a hard enough time bringing down the iron fist of discipline on Sara, but it is impossible for Sara to get past the hypocrisy of her single mother having an unplanned pregnancy telling her to not have sex. It's even harder for Jess to enforce her view because her neighbor has a laissez-faire attitude toward her teenage son, who is close with Sara, and his girlfriend. Teens having sex is nothing new, and unfortunately, the explorations this movie makes on the subject are nothing new either.

Danielle Panabaker was truly the only thing that saved this movie from a failing grade. Despite having to work with an elementary script and thoroughly-average actors, she managed to make her character believable and relatable, even through all the teenage melodrama. I've seen her in other films and I know she's just going to get better and better at what she does.

Despite Panabaker, the movie as a whole is a sinking stone. Abandon ship while you can.