Death of a Saleswoman

A great dark comedy in a subtle female centric huis-clos challenging the so-called American Dream Town life.

I rented this with some friends from college and we enjoyed it over an evening of chatting, grilling and a fun holiday weekend. It's full of subtle, silly and mostly G-rated elements within the story line and plot, and I know my nieces, nephews and friends' kids would like it, as they would probably try to solve the mystery of the true killer's identity along with me and my friends. Parts of it reminded me of the Real Housewives series somewhat, but it avoids going too far into the negative, backbiting, cattiness and competitiveness, and instead stays more like a parody where the characters are frequently just playing the absurd aspects of a certain reality. The actors seem to be enjoying some sauciness in certain scenes, and overall, they stay within the family-rating stamp of the movie, while still having fun with the story. One thing I'll say, we were not able to guess the ending, and that was half the fun. It's good viewing for a lighthearted, family night in, or for times hanging out with friends watching festival indie movies.

There was a quality to this that may pass some people over. It had a distinct flavour - a movie that combined crime, comedy & a crime theme. If you can hack that concept you are in for a treat. It is a brilliantly written and made movie with, well what can you say? Great looking actors who act the part! The humour was transatlantic in that it certainly should appeal to an international audience. This was (oddly for a crime themed story) a bright, cheery and uplifting movie. In making this writer and makers have carried of quiet a difficult task and have accomplished it well. It is a really original work and owing to the mixed genre aspect a challenging task to carry out well. It is something that I will have on my list of movies to put on when I have gusts round and need to entertain them (I do this to enjoy their reactions). It deserves its stars!

Death of a Saleswoman played at the Kansas International Film Festival on Sep 18, 2006 in Kansas City. The writer-director, Donna Wheeler was in attendance and gave a Q&A after the film.

Death of a Saleswoman is about the murder (and over six thousand dollars worth of plastic storage ware stolen from her trunk) of Agatha Ruby, the top seller and regional sales manager of plastic storage (not Tupperware).

The movie is a Donna Reed black comedy of obsession and envy in a small town. One really nice aspect of the film was nearly every single person in the small town was a suspect (one of my favorite scenes was the last one where the town population was carefully changed from 200 to 199).

The cast was very good for a ultra-low budget film. Several actors I've seen on network television (Friends, ER, Law & Order).

The Director, Donna Wheeler mentioned all of the flashbacks were shot in B&W while everything else was in color. The photography wasn't really that great and the lighting was a problem but you have to expect things like that with low-budget films (think of all the low-grade horror films you've seen). I think the lead (the murder victim) Melissa Papp has a future in movies. She is extremely pretty and has IT (whatever IT is). Her personality really shines through and her face can really show what her character is feeling. I'm going to look for other stuff she's been in.

Who actually did it doesn't matter so don't spend time in the movie trying to figure out who killed her and stole all of the plastic ware. Just enjoy all of the twisted motivations in this small town and the outsider cops trying to piece everything together.

No it's not a great film but I liked it. Well worth a rental if it every hits NetFlixs.

Death of a Saleswoman is a really nice black comedy that I highly recommend. It deals with, well, uh, the death of a saleswoman - specifically a plasticware saleswoman in a small town - and who committed the crime. It's a lot of fun to watch and pulls the viewer right in. If you're in the mood for dark comedy, this one's the ticket.

Donna Wheeler deserves kudos for her work on this film, as does her team. It's no small feat putting an indie like this together, and they succeeded very well.

Honestly, the team deserves kudos just for their tagline - "6 housewives. 1 dead body. A trunk full of plastic storage wear." Doesn't it make you want to watch the movie? I know it did for me.