Living with the Enemy

Airing on The Lifetime Channel as "Living with the Enemy" this film features Sarah Lancaster as a harried assistant who is swept off her feet by a techie billionaire. While adjusting to her new life - being the wife of a billionaire can be a tad stifling with the cars and bodyguards - the young bride discovers some nasty history behind her hubby's success. While some of the many twists and turns seemed a bit too convenient, there were enough of them that weren't too obvious so that I was entertained throughout. Overall, the movie makes for a nice evening. It kept me guessing - and staying tuned after each commercial break!

I saw this on Lifetime television, this was actually pretty good! Sarah Lancaster (wow, is she hot or what?), plays Allison, a simple girl who gets swept off her feet by the very rich Phillip Lauder. The more she finds out about him, the less perfect he seems.

Sarah was really good here, the scene of her in that little cap giving candy to Phillips chief security guy just had me at hello. I thought this was a good love story, cause they fell so quick and got married and then it seemed like nothing was for real. The plot twits keep you guessing, but not in the dark, and they actually remember things about their characters! Wow, somebody actually cared about making a good movie! The bad guys are cool, note Morgan Kelly, from TV's Falcon Beach, as the young thug.

While this seems obvious at times, it all makes sense in the final reel and Lancaster is just so nice to look it. Worth your time for a fun evening mystery.

LIVING WITH THE ENEMY

A kid is using the computers at a library. He is then killed outside, in a hit-and-run. Who was he? What was he doing? Why was he using an anonymous computer to do it? And who would want to kill him for it?

At a technology conference, Allison Conner (played by Sarah Lancaster) is trying to get her boss, Bev Wallach, (played by Maxim Roy) a meeting with tech billionaire, Phillip Lauder (played by Mark Humphrey). Allison is having no luck, until she meets a mysterious, handsome man while jogging. He says his name is "Paul," but she soon discovers he is Phillip Lauder. He proceeds to sweep her off her feet, but is he to good to be true?

Philip wants to recruit a hacker named Carl Branch (played by Max Kubiak), but Branch thinks 'Cobalt', (Lauder's company) is evil, and wants to start his own company. He's then knifed to death in an alley. What's the connection?

AFTER they're married, Allison googles her now husband (yes, I said after), and finds out his previous wife was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, even after Philip paid a 50 million dollar ransom. She's also surprised by all the security and precautions. Why didn't he tell her? Shouldn't she now be suspicious?

She meets her irascible "sister-in-law" Tanya (played by Susan Glover), who supposedly used to work at Cobalt until she burned out, and now runs Philip's stables. She's less than friendly, and tells Allison, the staff is here to serve you, not be your friend. She's clearly trying to isolate Allison, but why?

The FBI "kidnaps" Allison, to tell her, Monique (Philip's first wife who was kidnapped and killed) was using info she'd obtained about Cobalt to get out of her pre-nup. Then she ended up dead. They want Allison to get dirt on her husband, and they threaten her with prosecution if she doesn't.

WHAT WORKS: *Sarah Lancaster as Allison Conner Lauder does a good job of playing the naive girl from Idaho. They take her naivete too far, but she embodies the character well.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *I get whirlwind romances, but it's very hard to believe that after 1 jogging date, 1 regular date, and a roll in the hay, that a billionaire would propose to basically a total stranger. He would need time to check her out, and get a prenup etc. It's also very hard to believe that she wouldn't think he's damaged in some way by moving this fast. I wouldn't be saying this if they had shown a montage of them together for a week or two. But proposing marriage after 48 hours is not believable on either side, no matter what his alternative motives are, or how naive she is.

*She waits to Google her husband until after they're married? She's surprised by all the security precautions, or the fact that the head of a billion dollar tech company would be gone a lot? This is supposed to be believable? This girl got a full ride scholarship, and was going to graduate Suma, but we're supposed to believe she's this air headed?

*The FBI "kidnaps" Allison. They throw her into a van, and drive her to a parking garage. I don't believe the FBI would do anything that stupid, they would approach her another way. What if she'd had survival training, or a gun? Things could have turned bad fast, and would be embarrassing for them, if not downright illegal. They threaten her with "criminal charges", but then remind her she's only known him a month?! What CRIMINAL CHARGES?! RIDICULOUS! Side note: In many states, martial privilege is as sacrosanct as ecclesiastical privilege. It CANNOT be superceded, so this whole plot point is acinine.

*There's A LOT of deus ex machina here. Keys being found too easily, websites written down, just where Allison can find it, etc. ATTENTION WRITERS: There's a game called "Can You?" Can you write a better, MORE believable plot point? Write 10, and pick the best one, the most believable, DON'T take the easy way out.

TO RECOMMEND OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IT THE QUESTION: As Made-For-TV movies go, this is one I'd suggest you give a pass to. There are so many quality Made-For-TV movies, and vintage Movies-of-the-Week out there, there's no need to waste your time on this one.

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a Made-For-TV movie, please keep that in mind before you watch\rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews. Hope I helped you out.

"Living With The Enemy" is a modern Cinderella story gone horribly wrong. When a pretty and decent journalist accompanies her boss to interview a reclusive Bill Gates type, she gets more than she could ever have dreamed out of the initial encounter. But billion dollar fortunes aren't made on hugs, and the more the main character gets involved with this world, the more confusing things become for her until she doesn't know who to trust. I'm a big fan of thrillers and the evocative and balanced storytelling by writer Alexandra Komisaruk and Phillipe Gagnon in this film kept me guessing. A nice twist on the theme of, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Sarah Lancaster was a good choice for the lead - more depth than the usual heroine, with girl next door looks in some scenes and more sparkle in others. Overall, a good bet!

I think this was one of the best movies I've seen on TV in a long time. I disagree with those who think it was a waste of time and money. Sarah Lancaster is a very good actress and Mark Humphrey is a very good actor not to mention both are very sexy. I think they both were perfect for the parts they played in this movie. Mark Humphrey is one of the sexiest actors I've seen in a long time. I taped this movie and have watched it several times, that is how much I enjoyed it. It kept me guessing a lot, you don't know if Phillip is involved in any of the criminal activity until the last of the movie and you feel so sorry for Allison for getting into this situation especially because she is so in love with Phillip. I think this is definitely a movie worth watching.