If you're in the mood for a movie that's packed full of unintentional comedy, this one's for you! I went into this looking for a cheesy Lifetime movie (I'm guessing if you're reading this review, you are sometimes in the mood for those too), so my expectations were already low. But oh boy. Where to start??
Ok first of all, none of the characters in this film behave like actual human beings would behave in these situations. Imagine having a horrible thing happen to you or another family member, and then just being like, "Wow, that was scary. So do you wanna go get some ice cream?" Like, no call to the police, no sign of being visibly distraught after a trauma, and just "Yeah let's get ice cream!" and then they never discuss the horrible event that just happened. That's what these characters do every time something bad happens, and then the NEXT time something bad happens, they never stop and think hey, why are all these bad things happening? Maybe we should call the police? Nope. It's like the characters in this movie are just vehicles for the plot points, and making them behave like actual humans is something the writers and director weren't at all concerned with.
And not only is the script lazy, but the production is as well. Without giving anything away, there's a scene where one character asks another character out to dinner. He even makes a point of saying the name of the restaurant out loud. He says to meet him at a French restaurant by the river called "Lafayette's Cafe." So when they get to the restaurant and walk in, I'm expecting to see signage that says "Lafayette's Cafe." NOPE. When they walk in, the camera literally focuses on a sign attached to the hostess's podium that says "Cohen's Retreat." Turns out, that's an actual restaurant in Georgia (where this movie was filmed). Lol they couldn't even be bothered to replace the signage in the real restaurant to match the name of the fictional restaurant! And it's not like this was a quick little slip. The camera literally lingers on the sign for Cohen's Retreat for about five seconds as they walk in. Lol I can't stop thinking about that.
Lastly, some of the actors in this movie gave some really bad performances. I don't want to say they're bad actors, because let's face it, they didn't have a lot to work with in this script where nothing makes sense and everyone is treated like a cliche. But boy was the acting flat in a lot of scenes.
I'm giving this movie two stars because while it was horrible (even for a Lifetime movie), the 3rd act was just SO bad and SO cheesy that it was entertaining. In a so-bad-it's-good kind of way. I guarantee that if you make it that far, you will be laughing out loud. So that's kind of a reward for making it to the end, although probably not the reward the filmmakers intended.
PS: I have to mention that in one scene where a character throws coffee into another character's face, you can see that the coffee BARELY touches the character's face. I'm talking just a tiny splash on the cheek. But in the very next shot, the character already has "burns" on his face from the coffee. I'm talking huge red burns where, two seconds prior, we literally saw that the coffee didn't touch that part of his face! And I'm sorry but burns take a while to develop on skin. You don't get raised burns on your skin two seconds after being burned. And in places where the heat source didn't even come in contact with your skin lol. Also, the coffee didn't even look hot. No steam coming up from the coffee cup or anything like that, and it was clear that it wasn't freshly made coffee. Again, so bad and so cheesy. I bet there are even more gems like this (and the restaurant signage) that I missed, so keep your eyes peeled for them!
