Hoax: The Kidnapping of Sherri Papini

Im not a fan of these sort of TV movies but once in a while there is a little gem out there... This wasn't one of them.

It at times can be pretty awful and inane to occasionally passable as a drama. Jaime French is about the only good thing in this and thats barely.

Everyone goes through the motions and tells this day by day account of a true story I knew nothing about. After watching this i had no interest in finding out more.

The psychology of something like this I'd probably find interesting but the story in itself is pretty dull or its made out to be dull.

If you are really bored and really want to watch a reenactment of this true story then you might get something out of it, sadly not for me

3 or 4 out of 10.

I've been looking forward to seeing this since it was first announced that it was a hoax. I smelled it when it first happened, I knew that the story Sherry Papini told was completely implausible. I don't ever expect Oscar level performances from TV movies, but Jamie King's performance was so awful, it was distracting. Josh Collins as Keith Papini was okay, but he overacted the "borderline abusive husband" role to such a degree that it ruined any sense of sympathy for him, when in reality, I felt that the real Keith was the true victim in this whole story. I thought the actress who played the investigator did a decent job, but otherwise, the only excuse I think of for how badly the movie was as a whole, was that it must have been directed by a seventh grader. Such a disappointment.

I had followed the case of Sherri Papini through a true crime podcaster that I watch. The case fascinated me, that a woman would go to such lengths as what Papini did with her fake kidnapping, that I thought I must check out the movie.

Right from the start I was aware that the acting was very flat as was the story telling. I am usually a fan of Jaime King, I love her as Rose in the series Black Summer, however I really struggled to watch her portray Sherri Papini. I struggled with all the cast.

For a movie based on a true crime I was very disappointed. I hope someone else has a crack at turning this story into a film.

I'm "okay" with a bad made for tv movie. Because like, now we have a reference of a big deal simplified and dramatized in a compact 1.5 hours. It's bad, dont get me wrong... but you don't watch lifetime movies for the Oscar creds.

My issue comes down to production's irresponsible ignorance of the facts. Theres been a minimum of 5 docs about this case. We ALL KNOW she cut her hair. All her interviews were with her hair cut. ALSO the person that found her was a man, you can hear it in the 911 call. Im okay with dramatizing and taking certain liberties, but c'mon.. how does your art/HMU department overlook that? I'm just not a fan of entire projects greenlighted to have such important things overlooked. Lifetime, we know you arent quality entertainment, but why skimp on simple things?

After watching actual footage pertaining to this case this movie was a complete let down. If anything, it makes Sherri seem weak and basic versus addressing her real mental health. Sherri seemed like a complaining kept woman who "stayed for the kids". There are options this is no longer the 60's. They also made Keith seem like a "bad" husband when relationships are complicated. I wish they portrayed Sherri for her true manipulative and narcissistic self. I couldn't even make it to the end!! Definitely not worth it! I expected more from this movie and they didn't even cut her hair like Sherri actually did!!