Mord auf dem Campus

Poor Bobby. If only he went to a two year technical school.

Not as bad as some of these other reviews state--but then I'm not a frequent watcher of Lifetime movie channel so I can't say I'm familiar with this type of story being repeated again and again. It's based on a true story which I imagine has been fictionalized to turn it into a suitable melodrama for TV mystery fans.

KATE JACKSON is the mother whose son gets in with the wrong crowd at college, a naive and wholesome guy who is soon caught up in criminal capers beyond his control thanks to bad company like MATTHEW SETTLE and KRISTIAN ALFONSO. They commit burglary and arson with Bobby Earl (DREW EBERSOLE) who wants out when the crime ring wants him to be the lookout for their latest burning of a warehouse. When Bobby Earl leaves, and confides in his mother, Settle and Alfonso set him up to be murdered.

Slickly produced with handsome sets and generally well acted, it passes the time quickly enough but suffers from seeming padded out to fill a two-hour time slot on TV. Jackson is okay but has been better in other roles. Her final scene with the younger son is a touching one where she tries to put a soothing touch on the sibling rivalry of brother against brother.

Yes, without Kate Jackson in this, it would have been a total bomb. She saves the day with some fine acting and human emotions, which seems to be lacking in the rest of the cast. Worst of the actors are Kristian Alfonso. made up like a hooker, with over the top makeup and acting as a control freak and Drew Ebersole as Bobby Earl who goes around in the movie like he's out in space somewhere. Looking like a blinded deer most of the time, he doesn't make his role interesting enough to care about what happens to him. Then there's pretty boy Matthew Settle as the best friend who seems to be crying most of the time and Henriette Ivanans as the girl friend who is so plain and dull you wonder why anyone would want to bed the tramp. Originally titled WHAT HAPPENED TO BOBBY EARL? to give some lure as of BABY JANE and SWEET CHARLOTTE, this is far from that classic. Directed by Bradley Wigor who had the sense to leave Kate do her job and written by Joseph Maurer who must have been crazed to the casting of this loser. I give it 2 stars for Kate Jackson and Kate Jackson.

This is pretty dull stuff. Lots of ham, wooden acting and I am not sure Kate Jackson is any better than the rest of them.

Not sure what the point of this drivel was, except perhaps to tell a true story. It just doesn't hold attention for any length of time. Nothing really happens and the dialogue between the characters is too dire and full of wholesome cliches to hold the film.

Dreadful, dull, tedious, I am not sure how else I can fill the minimum word review! I just don't see why TV movies have to be like this. There are lots of good actors out there. Must be bad casting I suppose and bad writing. There, I made the 600 words!

unlike the previous commenter, who obviously has no taste in the fine acting ability that Kate has, this movie is good. Kate never would have promoted the movie if she didn't feel it was worthwhile.