Playdate

No Spoilers.

The basic premise of Playdate is one that has been used, tried and tested in at least a dozen movies i can name off the top of my head.

ie'Family move in next door and attract curiosity from there neighbours by odd or suspicious behavior.'

Because these types of films are not new to the genre, there storyline can be stale and formulaic.

However with good performances and a solid screenplay, the antagonist of this movie is ambiguous throughout which leaves us wondering who to trust.

I find that in poorly made movies, the actors respond to situations differently to the way i would or the way reality would dictate.(making it unbelievable) The poorer the movie, the more unfitting and ridiculous the actors respond.

Basing the movie on the unbelievability of there performance I would give it a 5.5/10, although that's not standard for the whole cast.

The end of the movie leaves a few unanswered questions, which is fine as long as it doesn't leave holes in the story, this one doesn't, but i find a bit of resolve would help the conclusion.

While the credits roll, a young boy is chased to the edge of a cliff. He falls over the edge and looks dead...

Two years later, we meet Southern California brunette Marguerite Moreau (as Emilie). She quits her job to spend more time with husband Richard Ruccolo (as Brian Valentine), their young daughter Natalie Lind (as Olive) and "Hunter" the family pooch. A new family moves in next door, from Denver. They are blonde single mom Abby (as Tamara) and her two sons, Julien Lacroix and Aidan Potter (as Titus and Billy Moor). This new family sends off creepy vibes, which irk Ms. Moreau. Her little girl has a "first official crush" on young rough-playing Potter. Moreau notices her neighbors have bruises and a man caught trespassing demands the return of his son...

Of the cast, devoted mother Brammell is most engagingly mysterious. The younger children are more silly than intriguing; most parents would separate the mismatched pair before they separated themselves. Older son Lacroix uses his hair to play the moody, distant teenager. Director Andrew C. Erin keeps it moving, though. He and his crew effectively uses close-ups to have characters abruptly enter a scene, or has them slither around in the background. By the end of "Playdate" we have a sufficient idea about what has happened, but there are some details which remain too sketchy. Kraig Wenman's original story may have been trimmed. It's not incomplete, just vague.

**** Playdate (2012-04-28) Andrew C. Erin ~ Marguerite Moreau, Abby Brammell, Richard Ruccolo, Julien Lacroix

Typical "Lifetime" style movie thriller fluff, very generic no surprises very PG13. Saw this on Netflix (Netflix is really going downhill fast). Perhaps I'm getting a bit sensitive in my old age but, how can a writer of the script have a character compare restoring a muscle car to "his Vietnam"? I had to rewind to make sure I heard it right. How old are the writers? Did they finish high school? Honestly, clean your litter box, organize your socks, alphabetize your spices rather than watch this movie.

I went into this movie with fairly low expectations, but in the end I was left extremely disappointed.

The build up of this movie was slow but thanks to the acting it kept me interested. It's a recognisable situation, family gets new neighbours & don't know if they're trustworthy. We all worry who our kids play with at some point. During the movie you're left wondering who's to trust and who's not. So far, an OK movie experience. The slow build up made me look forward to the ending, in suspense. Then comes the plot. Which is so incredibly weak & not answering many questions -if any- that left me feeling i wasted my time. Personally I absolutely can't stand movies to end with this many unanswered questions. It feels as though the writer had some good ideas for a story but was suddenly out of inspiration when it came to the end. Also, some things are just not realistic. Without giving any spoilers away, the apparent ease at which an APB is warranted left me astonished. There's plenty of stuff in the last part of the movie that had me scratching my head, which I can't get into without giving spoilers away. I'm sure you'll know what I mean when you've seen it.

Huge disappointment for me this one. 2/10.

A boy is driven off a cliff. Emily Valentine (Marguerite Moreau) leaves work to be a stay-at-home mom for her husband Brian (Richard Ruccolo) and daughter Olive (Natalie Alyn Lind). A new family moves in next door. It's single mom Tamara Moor (Abby Brammell) with her sons Titus and Billy. Olive has playdates with Billy but he seems have a dark side. Titus lurks around and spends his time looking out his bedroom window. A man attacks Emily's family at home. Tamara claims that he's her violent ex-husband. When that man is killed later in a motel room, she claims to not know him. Olive gets hurt while playing with Billy. The family dog shows up dead on their doorstep.

This has the potential of a good horror but as a TV movie, it struggles to be more. It has no style. The dark tension comes mostly from the constant dread of a creepy child. Creepy children is a great horror trope. Otherwise, this does not have much of a punch. I like Moreau but the suburban mom character is limited. The acting is mostly fine. I don't buy the father's cavalier attitude towards his daughter getting rough-housed by a boy. It would make sense for two boys but a girl is different. That's not to say anything is wrong with Natalie Alyn Lind. She's great. In addition, there is a trick to a red herring. It needs to be revealed before revealing the truth. This red herring is somewhat anti-climatic and it loses its power. It could have been a great reveal if it's done earlier. This limited TV horror struggles for mediocrity and almost makes it.