Killer Assistant

Before the opening credits, a preteen boy watches his babysitter scramble to hide a sexual encounter with her male companion. The young man vacates before the boy's father catches the copulating couple. The small boy receives attention and a piece of jewelry from his adored babysitter. Many years later, we are introduced to voluptuous blonde Arianne Zucker (as Suzanne), in bed with her neatly bearded musician husband George Stults (as Robert Austin). We assume this couple are the older, married and still sexually compatible teenagers from the opening. They have a daughter of their own, rebellious teenager Natalie Lander (as Callista). That leaves the preteen boy unaccounted for, but we'll get there...

Clearly the breadwinner in the family, Ms. Zucker is a big shot managing editor at the fashionable "Style Harmony" magazine. She wears fancy clothes and looks sharp in red bikini underwear. Zucker gets the "Killer Assistant" we are promised in the title. A "killer assistant" can be excellent on the job or, literally, a murderer. You will be able to determine which line of thinking is appropriate. Remember, this is a "Lifetime" TV movie...

Exuberant, handsome and muscular (you'll see him doing chin-ups in tight shorts) assistant Brando Eaton (as David Barinas) tells Zucker he is available "day and night." The latter proves to be an asset because Zucker is high strung and needs help to unwind one evening. Their story is fun to watch, with director Danny J. Boyle and everyone performing competently. Strongest are Mr. Boyle's scenes with Zucker and assistant Eaton. The pace is quick, which helps cover up the inability of the characters to figure out what is actually wrong and do something to prevent the next incident. Much appreciated.

***** Killer Assistant (4/1/2016) Danny J. Boyle ~ Arianne Zucker, Brando Eaton, Natalie Lander, George Stults

A typical obsession story containing a psychotic villain, David, with a twisted plan. The best part of this movie: Arianne Zucker (Nicole on Days Of Our Lives).

Writing Quality: OK, but the focus was on the protagonist, Suzanne, and her anger issues and stress rather than on the psycho and his plotting, which would have made for a better story. The husband needed to step up as a father and defend his wife, Suzanne, who the daughter constantly disrespected. Between the one night stand and the next day at the office, there needed to be a transition as Suzanne went from enjoying the fling to being cold and distant for no reason. Had David's questionable behavior showed up right then, she would have had a valid reason for her sudden behavior switch.

Scare Factor: The psycho assistant isn't really scary until near the end when he surprises another character by killing them and then his tactics in the finale as the truth of who he is becomes revealed. Again, seeing him behind the scenes, putting his plot points into place, would have compelled us more into the story.

Content (sex, language, & violence): There is a long scene with a couple engaging in a sexual rendezvous that is erotic, though no nudity. Mild language. One scene of quick brutal shocking violence. The end scene contains violence that is moderate.

Values & Themes: The wife is desperate to be believed (about David's instability) and to bond with her family. A married couple getting help for his past indiscretions. A mom protecting her daughter from making bad choices in boys.

A decent script that could have benefited from seeing the killer assistant stalking, watching, video taping, etc, instead of discovering it all in hindsight later.

Where do these movies come from?? This must be another Lifetime movie. Man gets job as assistant man starts killing people and being a general nuisance to his female boss. Terrible acting. Terrible script. Just bad all the way around. 2/10.

Successful wife with weak husband sleeps with another man.....lover proceeds to lose his mind.....lover murders husband....wife and child team up to kill lover....we will not all feel sorry for the unfaithful wife and we will see no tears shed for the husband. The end. I never cease to marvel at how many of these movies, all with identical plots, will be made and put on television. The acting was pedestrian, the plot utterly predictable and the ending a foregone conclusion. A twist on this tired narrative might be helpful.

Love is eternal.

Suzanna Austin (Zucker) is a successful magazine editor. Used to working by herself, her boss, Janet McAlper (Baron) assigns her an assistant, David (Eaton), after noticing how stressed she's been getting. David appears too good to be true and as time progresses Suzanne begins to believe he's got an ulterior motive...

I really liked this story for its characterisations. Tilson and Wakefield have created a well structured and ingenious tome. Suzanne is a strong career-minded woman, who can be relied upon to get the magazine out... but not to be a great mother or wife, as she spends most of her time at work. Then when David's character enters the story we get to see how the stress of her work and family life help her to become suspicious and paranoid. This starts off small but builds up fast, to the point she's worrying about her own sanity. Add the element of her family getting to know David and actually trusting him, into the mix, and this keeps the story interesting... at times, actually engrossing.

The good thing is, both the lead actor and actress are great in their performances and bring their characters to life; giving the film and story strength.

Though Boyle does add a couple of nice shots the filming is pretty standard, which is okay when you have a good cast and an even better storyline. However, it would have only strengthened the movie to make it more engaging for the audience. Thank God, he's better at manipulating the pace. Boyle is good at building the tension and atmosphere from a simmer to a full boil. This starts right at the beginning with the "Years Earlier" scene up to the climax. He also throws in a couple of peaks along the way, giving the audience a rollercoaster ride.

I'd recommend this to all Mystery Lovers and Armchair Detectives worldwide.