Woman with the Red Lipstick

The Woman with the Red Lipstick is supposed to be a thriller but after watching it, I was far from thrilled. Lucy Compton, is a journalist with the Chicago Tribune. Her boyfriend, Roy, thinks their relationship lacks spice and has her don a blonde wig, wear red lipstick and a scarf and she's supposed to pretend she's Maggie and go to a bar where he's called Jimmy. A few days later, she's watching the news and they're reporting on a wealthy Chicago socialite named Magnolia Maines who's been missing and thinks back to the role play of Maggie. Is there a connection between Roy and the missing girl? This whodunit was predictable with flat acting and many continuity flaws by a weak Canadian cast. NOT recommended unless you're bored out of your mind.

Calling this inspired by true events is a stretch. There are couples who really role play. Women are really stalked. Women really disappear. The "reality" behind this story, as best as I could determine, is a series of vague generality and interpretation. It's more like, this could happen if any reporters were this naive. The end is, not surprisingly, predictable. Rebecca Liddiard does a decent job of carrying her character and could do better than this role. The story itself is both tired and predictable. If you've seen a few Lifetime movies, this one doesn't deliver anything new. If you're looking for true crime stick to "ripped from the headlines".

This movie had everything I look for in a Lifetime movie: a mystery and a character who seemed normal throughout but suddenly reveals their crazy side at the end. The story follows Lucy Compton, a Chicago-based journalist whose boyfriend asks her to do a role play where she wears a blonde wig, a particular scarf, and goes by the name "Maggie." Days later, a woman with blonde hair named Maggie goes missing, and Lucy starts to suspect her boyfriend, eventually accusing him.

There were a few implausible aspects. First, once Lucy suspected her boyfriend, how could she ever not look at him sideways again? Once he was cleared by the police, homegirl wanted to continue on with the relationship. What?! Also, it's hard to believe a late 20s or early 30s journalist could afford to live in an entire house by herself in Chicago.

The acting wasn't that great either-I kept thinking the dynamic between the actress who played Lucy and the actor who played her boyfriend seemed better suited for a rom-com than a thriller.

But overall this was a pretty good Lifetime movie. Giving it 5 stars.