Deceit

Lifetime movies have a few plots, all of which are recycled to make dozens of movies: the insane yet seductive babysitter, the "All Above Eve" scenario in the office, except the wannabe wields a knife; baby-stealing; psycho stalkers; wife killers; and the plot of "Deceit," a man lost at sea who may or may not be dead and the wife finds out things about him that she never knew.

In this story, a man (William Devane) is lost at sea, and the man's wife (Marlo Thomas) is haunted by a police detective that is suspicious about the circumstances. She also finds out about financial improprieties in her husband's business. The question is, what does she know and when did she know it?

"Deceit" moves slowly, and the plot is convoluted enough that one soon loses interest. Marlo Thomas is a good actress who has made some very good TV movies; this isn't one of them.

At 67, she's too old to be the mother of that little boy - in fact, it's not a stretch that she could be his great-grandmother. There was easily a thirty-year gap between Thomas and the woman playing her sister.

There was one scene where Thomas was beautifully lit; if attention had been paid to the lighting throughout, she could have gotten away with it.

William Devane had too little to do.

Just not very good.

Deceit ... the marlo thomas one, from 2004. She was already 67 by now. After a death in the family, ellen mccarthy discovers the amount of debt she is now in. And because the body has never been found, she can't sell the house or car. This is just the beginning of the bad news. Checks for large amounts written to strange names. Her husband's friend ken claims he had no part of these secret companies. Strangers are showing up in her yard, and she's getting threatening phone calls. And answering machine messages. But she doesn't seem to tell the cops, who could have gotten involved sooner. Kind of a weakness in the story. She even finds solid evidence that someone is lying, and instead of giving it to the police, she gives it to someone she hardly knows.... i guess some of these could be chalked up to a grieving widow, but she misses so many chances to give evidence to the cops. And is it customary to have someone identify a body at the scene of a possible crime? Wouldn't they do that at the morgue, after the coroner had prepared the body? Beautiful scenery of new zealand, although i don't remember them ever talking about the location. It's okay... not quite as bad as the ratings show here. It's all explained at the end. Can't say too much, to avoid spoilers. Directed by john young... was nominated for emmies for china beach and for west wing. From the novel by clare francis. Check out francis on wikipedia dot org ....she was a (british) master sailor, and sailed across the atlantic alone. Twice.

It was not a good mystery. I thought it was way too simple to solve way before the movie was over. I'm also tired of movies where the police are painted in an unflattering light. The supporting cast did a good job. I do think, though, that the roles were very stereotypical. There wasn't anything fresh and new about this film. The worst problem was the serious miscasting of the lead role.

I totally agree with the earlier comment on Marlo Thomas not being a good choice for the role of a mother with a young child. She's still attractive, yes, but she does look much too old to be the mother of the little boy. She looks old enough to be the mother of the actress playing her sister. I could have enjoyed the film much more if that oddity hadn't kept bothering me.

The same applies for William Devane. Despite the fact that men can have children much, much later than women, I think they look silly.

A major proportion of "Lifetime" flicks fall into a small number of categories: the psychotic neighbor/babysitter/co-worker/etc., who insinuates herself/himself into a family in order to take-over or settle a grudge; the spouse with a hidden past or some dark secret emerging during the story; and the spouse who disappears mysteriously and/or suddenly.

This one gave the viewer a "twofer:" Bill Devane disappears from his family's life suddenly, and Marlo and the kids must contend both with this and secrets emerging simultaneously.

This story didn't have the realism many of this genre have, and realism is hardly a main staple in this genre to begin with. And this IN ADDITION TO the fact that (despite both looking pretty good), Bill Devane and Marlo Thomas were both pushing 67 at this film's release. The producers missed a bet in not making a product placement deal and showing bottles of Viagra and calcium supplements at their bedside or in the bathroom.

And for Pete's sake, the younger child, the son, in real life, could be their GREAT grandson.

As to story, there was nothing overly compelling, even had there been no distraction with regard to the age factor. The story line and performances weren't overwhelming or surprising in any aspect. The "twist" intended at the end wasn't a huge surprise, and it almost seemed that the cast had lost a lot of the minimal energy in their portrayals early. Many of these predictable TV movies present performances which are almost catatonic - this one was the extreme opposite.

Finally, I couldn't help being a bit distracted, wondering what-in-the-hell the circumstances were which led to this opus being made in New Zealand??!! There was nothing unique about the setting, simply portrayed as "Fairfield," a community on a body of water. You hardly have to travel to one of the farthest locales possible on the planet, to make a TV movie with appropriate setting available within an hour or less anywhere in the country.

Since Marlo Thomas is listed as a producer, I would guess she and Phil were looking forward to a visit down under, and combined with this endeavor.

OMG I thought Marlo Thomas was playing the grandmother in the beginning-she's 66 or 67 years old and is supposed to be mother of this little boy? I don't think so-she must have funded or produced it and wanted a vacation! One of the more stupid Lifetime movies I've seen, but I am sick in bed and it was this or Wife Swap (-: Maybe I should have gone with Wife Swap...at least it would have been more believable! She does look great for her age, but really. This is one more easy to solve in first fifteen minutes-too much information that will make it easy to solve unless you are ten years old, like her son in the movie! Jeez, her sister is in her thirties!