Gold Digger Killer

It is a cheap-series-like movie, where every act looks fake and not well done. Even the story and directing are not good at all. Don't waste your time and watch something else.

In Austin, wealthy Steven Beard is shot in his home. Four years earlier, he meets single mom and waitress Celeste (Julie Benz). He would later marry her. She loves spending his money and he showers her with gifts until it goes overboard. He threatens divorce and she threatens suicide. In rehab, she seduces and recruits fellow patient Tracey Tarlton to do a little killing.

This is based on the true crime story of Celeste Beard Johnson. There is a large age difference which isn't here in the movie. Julie Benz is going crazy, but everybody else is totally bland. This is a bland movie-of-the-week. There is no tension. The structure saps away the intensity. They could have spiced it up to fictionalize it as a pulpy lesbian killer thriller. This is nothing.

As others have pointed out, the casting of actors is insane based upon their real life ages.

I wonder why the actress playing the part of "Becky", the male lead's daughter...looks at least the same age as him? It's utterly bizarre!

Julie Benz does a good job of playing such a scheming monster...totally different from her "sweet as sugar pie" role in the excellent drama "Dexter". She plays the part like a pantomime protagonist. In real life, no-one would ever get away with such sneaky, show-off behaviour but once you remember it's one of these "Lifetime" type movies, you know you're not going to see nuanced performances.

Julie Benz is perfectly cast as the black widow Celeste Beard who marries (for money) a millionaire named Steven Beard a man 39 years older than herself. Celeste brings to the new marriage her twin teenage daughters and quickly goes through Steven Beards fortune spending foolishly and extravagantly.

They remained married for four (4) years until Steven was shot in the stomach in his own bed only to survive for another four (4) months before succumbing to a blood clot and dying. As the investigation into Steven Beard's death is unraveled it becomes quite clear his death was an attempted murder to which one of Celeste's roommates Tracey Tarlton, while both were residing in a mental health facility (Celeste was suffering from depression and suicidal tendencies) admits to shooting Steven Beard as she was madly in love with Celeste.

This made for TV film passes the smell test on the back of the believable acting of Julie Benz who can best be remembered as Rita Morgan the love interest of revenge serial killer Dexter (2006-2010).

Well worth watching. I give it a highly deserving 8 out of 10 IMDB rating.

The casting was WAY OFF. It's incredibly hard to believe the 43 year age gap when the original characters are supposed to be 27 and 70. The waitress was played by someone who is 50 years old and the man is played by someone who 63. They don't look 43 years apart, they look like a perfect couple. Casting was way off.