Fatale séduction

In Widow on the Hill, Natasha Henstridge plays a former nurse, Linda Dupree, who captures the affections of a recent widower (James Brolin as Hank Cavanaugh) and quickly becomes his new wife. Both parts are well acted, although often upstaged by Hank's grown daughter, Jenny (Jewel Staite). Jenny appears at first glance to be a troubled girl trying to overcome her mother's death while trying to stay sober. The audience quickly realizes that Jenny is much stronger and smarter than most of her family and friends give her credit for. Jewel Staite creates a 3-dimensional character out of what could have been a cardboard cliché. The story tends to fall flat at points, but overall this movie boasts a quality cast that make it worth seeing at least once.

I started off being interested somewhat in the movie. It appeared it might be serious drama, dealing with death, grief, and healing, with some realistic human conflict thrown in. Alas, it didn't hold up.

I need a movie with somewhat consistent and believable characters. Too many characters in this movie were portrayed as extremely gullible and inconsistent. Look, I know this was not supposed to be Shakespeare, but come on, I need some quality in script and characterization.

The acting was alright, the writing not so much. At one point, James Brolin's character is berated for showing up at a picnic under-dressed. He states that ordering him around will not work. His new wife says that if he goes home and changes she will rip his clothes off later. That is a howler. This movie had a few unintentionally funny lines.

It was hard to care about Jame's Brolin's character. When he so readily gave his first wife's things to his new wife, even allowing his daughter to be snubbed, I lost most of my sympathy. Who really cares what happens to him. I must confess that I did not finish the movie. If it did a 180 in quality in the last 45 minutes, let me know. It was just unpleasant to watch and so predictable I felt there was no need to finish it.

This ended up being a better than average Lifetime movie. Totally captivating in a I'm hungover and can't get off the couch sort of way. Good cast and an intriguing story that I was never entirely sure how it was going to play out, including a surprising ending -which lets face it, doesn't usually happen with made for TV dramas.

The story starts out just before the trial and has been based on real events, following an ambitious young hospice nurse who is hired by a wealthy man to care for his wife during her final days.'Linda' "cares" a lot for 'Hank' as well (flirts) and soon after the death of his wife they marry, much to the suspicion of Hank's youngest daughter. Before long, Hank himself falls seriously ill and dies, leaving Linda one of the richest women in Virginia and arousing suspicions that she not only knocked off Hank, but his first wife as well.

This was heavy breathing melodrama. I really enjoyed James Brolin who was surprisingly sexy here with some very good love scenes (yeah I said it) but he also suffered from dumb man thinking with the wrong head (yeah I said that too). Natasha Henstridges is suitable sexy, wears nice underwear and wow, some of the stunts she pulls sleeping around with several men. Nice shock value there.

The daughter was excellent, although I'm not sure why they kept referring to her as "the alcoholic" she was sober for the entire movie. I guess to cast doubt to her credibility. Beautiful cinematography on the horse ranch and an interesting secondary cast, containing all the elements for great Lifetime television; sex, murder, family drama and mystery. 1/22/15

Stunning blonde Natasha Henstridge is the young, not-so-grieving widow in the mansion on the hill, telling her story to a TV reporter in Monroeville, Virginia. And among the community's well-heeled horsey-set, she's suspected of involvement in the death of her older husband. That's James Brolin, trusting as a babe-in-arms. Flashback teledrama made in Canada, based on an article that appeared in Vanity Fair magazine. It must be true! Whatever, it's far more romance than mystery, and a very familiar tale. Leggy Species star Henstridge as a gold-digging hospice nurse? It could happen, I guess. And it's good to see Brolin in a sizeable role after his titchy turn in Antwone Fisher, even if he doesn't make it to the end of the picture. The end of the picture? He doesn't even make it to the beginning of the picture. Which is why flashbacks were invented, of course.

this is based on a true story.just how much dramatic liberty was taken,is hard to know.anyway,it's about a woman who had pretty much nothing.she eventually marries into wealth.when her husband dies,there are questions about whether it was an accident or not.and of course,the movie suggests she wasn't faithful to he husband.either way,i found this movie very depressing,and a lot like a soap opera.yet i also found it hard to quit watching,at the same time.the acting was good all around,so that made it more watchable.still,if you're in a down mood,i wouldn't watch this movie.it might just make you more feel more down.for me,Widow on the Hill is a 5/10