Il figlio dell'inganno

And Baby Will Fall is a much-better than average, meat-and-potatoes psychological thriller. It's a TV movie airing on Lifetime Movie Network, so the best that I hope for is a well crafted story that engages and entertains me - keeps me in my chair for two hours. And Baby Will Fall not only kept me glued to it, it provided a few surprising and fun twists and turns along the way. The second hour is particularly fast-paced. All three of the lead actors turn in strong performances. Anastasia Griffith and Brenden Fehr make a visually beautiful pairing and the tension that grows between their characters as the drama unfolds is authentic and original. Without giving anything away, Clea Duvall steals the last act of the movie with a shrewd performance that could have gone horribly wrong in the hands of a lesser actor. This is a well-made movie with strong performances and a fun story. It's the type of entertainment I hope for when I tune-in to LMN.

A nightmare awakens pretty pregnant Anastasia Griffith (as Ivy). After two miscarriages, Ms. Griffith is afraid of losing another baby. Handsome husband Brendan Fehr (as David Rose) assures her they're not leaving the hospital without a live baby. To make room in their big, beautiful house, the happy couple has a yard sale. Their high school classmate Clea DuVall (as Melinda "Mindy" White) attends. Coincidently, Ms. DuVall is quite visible pregnant. A fourth former classmate, lawyer Stephen Lobo (as Theo Gavros) enters the story. Good thing he's a lawyer, because everyone's going to need one before this story is over...

Director Bradley Walsh and his crew do a good job keeping this "Lifetime" TV movie interesting. Cheers to Mr. Walsh and film editor Roger Mattiussi for making the simple pulling of a piece glass from the lead actress's foot look real and nasty. Having the main players know each other back to their high school days (at least) adds some depth to the usual formula. Therein, we do find a good reason for the villain's derangement. However, it does add a problem to the mix. That being, with everything else seeming fine in their relationship, it's difficult to believe one character thinks another character is capable of such a gruesome murder. In spite of this challenge, the players do well in their roles. The ending is way too rough for any miscarriage-prone mother, but it keeps you watching.

***** And Baby Will Fall (2011-01-23) Bradley Walsh ~ Anastasia Griffith, Brendan Fehr, Clea DuVall, Stephen Lobo

This Lifetime Movie Channel has a very pregnant woman involved in a murder investigation as her husband is accused of murdering another very pregnant woman. Despite the fact that they have known each other since they were children, she seems to have no trouble believing the other woman was his mistress, that the baby was his, that he stabbed both to death, moved the body to where it could not be found, then put the murder weapon and her bloody dress in their trash for pickup in a few days.... until her neighbor gets her head bashed in while her husband is in custody, at which point she decides that the police are wrong and she goes off to investigate on her own.

This revelation takes place about two-thirds of the way through the movie and after that it becomes a decent enough bit of private-citizen-out-investigates-the-cops. Unfortunately, by the time this happened, not only had I figured out the solution to the mystery, but I was thoroughly disgusted with the way the lead was written. I stuck around to the end, but only to marvel at the obvious issues of the movie. As is all too typical for these LMN TV-movies, it all turns into a woman-at-risk piece, shot in low light levels for that air of lurking paranoia.

The structure of the traditional murder mystery is that society and the individual are dealt a terrible blow by murder, but that solution and punishment of the criminal work mightily to mitigate that. As the form evolved and matured, it came to recognize that there is no going back. However, this movie is simply pandering to paranoia.

I should note that actors involved do a fine job. It's just a pity that they couldn't have done so with a less loathsome script.