Jane Doe: il rapimento

I've never been a fan of Leah Thompson, although she's good at comedy, I've never thought her capable of great drama. My opinion is borne out by her Jane Doe series. This installment is little different from the others I've seen.

She's a wife, mother, secret agent. As with other secret agent/housewife vehicles (Mr. & Mr. Smith, etc.), she runs herself slightly ragged hiding her *other* job from her husband and children. The premise is that she works for a puzzle game company, but the puzzles she actually solves have to do with high-level crimes.

As an agent of the fictional "CSA," Jane Doe outwits her boss, played by Joe Penny, every time. Which, of course, only makes her more valuable with every new film.

Billy Moses plays her husband, and he's as sweet and supportive as can be. Almost too much so, as if my partner were running around at all hours and disappearing, I'd want to know why. Jane Doe's family is just *too* perfect, with no terrible issues that embroil the rest of humanity.

I enjoy these movies, and "The Wrong Face" is one of them. They're a nice, uncomplicated way to spend a couple of hours when the chores are done, and there's nothing else you'd rather do.

Just a note to the other commenter: Jane Doe and "Mystery Woman" are two different series, not the same one. You've gotten yourself confused.

In "Jane Doe: The Wrong Face," prosecutor Phil Rafelson's wife Caroline goes into the hospital for plastic surgery. When the bandages come off, it's not his wife, but a teenage girl who takes off. His wife has been kidnapped by a drug dealer who wants the charges dropped. Frank Darnell (Joe Penny) calls in housewife Kathy Davis (Lea Thompson).

The best thing about the "Jane Doe" series, or, in fact, any of the Hallmark shows, is that it gives one a chance to see some of the old mainstays of television again. Thompson is a pleasant actress; Joe Penny deserves better, but these days, we take him where we can get him. In this episode, former One Life to Live star Brynn Thayer plays a nurse, and, of course, Billy Moses is on hand as Kathy's husband. Also in this episode were Twin Peaks star Ray Wise and Crazy Like a Fox's John Rubinstein. So for us boomers, it was like old home week.

The Jane Doe series is more interesting than Mystery Woman or McBride with its Scarecrow and Mrs. King type thing happening. Thompson, however, doesn't quite have Kate Jackson's attack on the material, and the pace of these shows is on the slow side. Not much in the way of pizazz but okay mindless entertainment.

With the feds closing in on his operations, drug dealer Alex Brant decides to step up the pressure on those that are after him by kidnapping the wife of district prosecutor Phil Rafelson. Coincidently Caroline Rafeslon is in hospital for plastic surgery to her face but, when the bandages are removed it is not her but a younger woman that is revealed. Before Phil can say "value for money" the woman has fled the hospital and soon he gets a call from someone saying they have his wife and he needs to do what they say. With the need for Phil to be on top form for his case, Frank Darnell turns to Jane Doe for help to solve the mystery.

This was my first look at the Jane Doe series and, before pressing play, I didn't even know it existed. The presence of Perry Mason regular Moses and a few other names I knew made me think that I should give it a go and maybe find a new detective film series to start finding. The plot here is reasonably good and is delivered with a nice pace to it that helps cover up how very thin it is at times. The main problem I had was that I didn't get a feel for who Jane Doe was as a character – she is a mix of housewife and secret agent for the government but her homely approach to life didn't really endear her to me, nor did it work within the mystery. For example, Columbo has his mannerisms but they are part of the formula whereas here I wasn't sure what Jane brought to the party.

Lea Thompson is quite good in the lead regardless though and she was quite fun. However she should thank her stars for the hefty presence of Penny, who made the film seem a bit tougher by his mere size and delivery. The support cast features some nice turns from Starr and Wise but the presence of faces and names I recognised just made it easier to figure out who was the bad guys and not. Overall though, the standard was OK for a TVM mystery and I found it relatively breezy and easy to just watch. Not enough of a hook to it to make me seek out any more of the Jane Doe films but if I get the chance I'll take a look at another one on the basis that this was average.

Greatly enjoyed these Jane Doe TV series, with Lea Thompson,(Kathy Davis/Jane Doe); Lea Thompson, is a cute looking gal and a nice body, but her acting was rather weak and she seemed to be struggling with her lines or it was the fact that the story became over powered with too many actors and all kinds of suspects. The "Mystery Women's Bookstore" was a nice setting and it seemed to get broken into quite often for no apparent reason. I found the acting horrible and the entire TV film was long and boring, after a while I gave up on trying to figure out who the killer could possibly be and got lost in the entire story. I hope other Jane Doe films are better than this one turned out to be.

5/10 - a bland plot and only okay acting makes for a not very memorable mystery