Too Late to Say Goodbye

TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE

*WARNING: ANIMAL ABUSE/DEATH AS A PLOT DEVICE (see below)

Told in semi flashback, the movie opens with Jenn Corbin's (Stefanie von Pfetten) apparent suicide. Then in retrospect, we see how Jenn and Bart Corbin (Rob Lowe) met, fell in love, had their children, and how their marriage disintegrated, due to Bart's controlling behavior.

Bart Corbin is a dentist, and his assistant Dara (Katie Griffin) is a bit snarky to his wife Jenn. Jenn thinks Bart & Dara are having an affair, so Jenn seeks solace online. She begins an internet affair with someone named Chris. He's supposed to own a plant nursery in St. Louis, but is he really what he seems?

At the same time, Bart, begins insinuating to Jenn's family she's having a breakdown. He's handsome, successful, and very convincing. Jenn pleads with her family to believe her, Bart is becoming violent, controlling and she's afraid. His outbursts are more over the top, but still, everyone is loathe to believe Jenn.

When we return to the present, Detective Ann Roche (Michelle Hurd) and Detective Sam Malveau (Marc Bendavid) work tirelessly on the case. Now, Jenn's sister, Heather (Lauren Holly) can see the truth about her brother-in-law. Heather never gives up trying to prove Bart's guilt. Her tenaciousness leads her to another 'suicide', one of Bart's college girlfriends. Heather works with police to try to get justice for both women. Will it be enough to put him behind bars?

WHAT WORKS: *Most of the performances in this TV movie are believable. The actors, Lauren Holly, Yannick Bisson, Michelle Hurd, Marc Bendavid, and of course, Rob Lowe, are a step above the usual faire, so it's more engaging.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *There's not enough foreshadowing about Bart's true personality. One minute, he's a great guy, the next evil. There should have been more scenes where we, the viewer, see him as Jenn sees him.

*The flashback to the '80's DOES NOT WORK! And playing Rick Astley in the back ground, and giving the girl big hair, does not convince me that 2009 Rob Lowe, is really 1987 Rob Lowe. We all know what Rob Lowe looked like in the '80's, and this is not it! It would have been better to get one of his son's to play him as a younger man, or some other look a like, because this is a FAIL.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I would recommend this movie. It has a great cast, and they do a good job with made-for-tv movie material.

CLOSING NOTES: *I don't believe in trigger warnings, I think WOKE is a virus. BUT, I also don't agree with supporting movies that use animal abuse/murder as a plot point, to show a character is evil. It is lazy writing, and in most cases should be quashed. This movie does use a cat's kidnapping\disappearance at the hands of a psycho, as a plot device.

*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.

Agree that Rob Lowe shows his talent in this and it was for this that the movie was watchable. And Jenn his wife-unlike the balance of the cast whose over-acting made a cliché of a script that much harder to stand, her underplay was refreshing and a respectful reminder that this happened. The lack of skill in a dialogue that balanced boredom with cringe-worthy nonsense and lack of skill in acting it out would have been unwatchable without the two leads- a disservice to the real people who survived the loss and so senseless and selfish.

On the author I see most readers rave about (Ann Rule) I've never understood why. Nonfiction isn't easy nor a gift like Truman Capote's expected again but Jack Olsen, Tom Henderson, Kevin Sullivan-my opinion only-I wish there were more true crime writers like them.

The acting is all sound good, the story line is interesting, the cinematography is pretty bleh and they do the worst job ever of un-aging Rob Lowe for a flashback, but overall yeah I enjoyed it.

The only redeeming thing in this movie is that it's based off a true story. Rob Lowe does his best, but the whole movie really is just moving from one scene to the next. The writing isn't awful, but most of the other actors are just ok at best. Really just a super boring movie with little to no reason to spend time watching it.

This is an engaging movie... not the best, but certainly watchable. What makes this movie remarkable, however, is Rob Lowe's stellar performance. I mean, this guy is on fire! I've seen him in a few things and have never given him much that much thought, but that he could turn in such a world class performance in what is essentially a throw-away (although certainly decent) movie is a testament to what an incredible talent he must be. I am not joking. He is really good in this... he had me laughing out loud several times, not because he was funny but simply because I was in awe of how well he delivered this or that line. Just as "Batman: The Dark Knight" wasn't that good a movie but was elevated by Heath Ledger's performance, so is this TV movie elevated into true art by the solid acting performances, especially Lowe's. Recommended!