HotToastyRag Julia Whelan is a model teenager. She volunteers in an old folks' home, gets straight A's in school, and has a great relationship with both her divorced parents, Mia Farrow and Cliff De Young. But that's just on the surface. Underneath it all, Julia sneaks out to go to parties, shoplifts, goes out with a bad boy, and takes drugs. Hence the title of this Lifetime TV movie.The Secret Life of Zoey is a pretty typical TV movie, rather like the "disease of the week" movies in the 1990s. My favorite part was Andrew McCarthy playing Julia's counselor. He used a great combination of tough love and compassion, making him the most realistic character. If you particularly like mild movies about teenage drug abuse, you can pop this one in on a Saturday with your book club group. There's nothing really offensive in it; it feels like the type of film high schools show kids to scare them away from doing drugs.

zena-1 Being friends with someone who experienced the trauma of a child addicted to hard drugs, I found this movie totally believable. Mia Farrow gives an excellent performance as the mother asking "Where did I go wrong?" as all mothers do when a child, shows a serious lack of responsibility. Yes, a parent would be in denial, and take a "Not my child" attitude at first but coming to terms with the problem would make every effort to overcome it. This film has a more or less optimistic ending but the sad truth is that the majority of addicts tend to relapse after rehabilitation. The suppliers and enablers ought to be locked up under the supervision of their victims' mothers.

ari_202 This story has been done again and again. Troubled teen gets depressed, takes drugs, goes into rehab, recovers... blah blah. The mother in film is pretty unbelievable, and a hypocrite as well. How can she get mad at her daughter for taking drugs when she does it herself?? The dad was pathetic, he cared more about himself than his ex wife and daughter. The I saw so many mistakes in continuity in the whole 30 minutes I saw of it and it was enough to put me off! Did anyone else notice how when she vomited and passed out she had spew all over her mouth and when she was passed out in the car she was totally clean? And how on earth did she get from the hospital into rehab so fast??? The emergency people in the hospital were pretty stupid, who on earth just shakes someone and asks if they can hear them?? Didn't they think her mom had already triedthat??? DUH. Don't see this film unless you like really crappy movies.

ghettoracer Might contain spoilers I guess... so you've been warned. I just saw this on HBO in Taiwan... I was very impressed. Superb acting, nothing over the top. And the story is very believable. Drugs are everywhere in USA. So when the pressure or un happiness mounts, I think teens who are not raised right could easily try it casually and get addicted. They do not try to pretend to know the solution to the problems but it is true, it is up to Zoey to come face to face with her problems and solve them. Sounds simple enough... if you simplify life down to the core, it is indeed simple.I'm a 31 years old male. I have no kids yet, but I know ideally I want a daughter and a son. I hope I don't have to deal with this kind of problems.