When Vows Break

Danielle Churchran is a good actress and very pretty, good to see in Lifetime. She plays a woman concerned when her sister played by Christa B Allen goes missing off a boat while on her honeymoon. She doesn't like her abusive brother in law. She goes to the Caribbean to investigate. It's pretty obvious there is more to the disappearance than meets the eye. Her sister is actually alive and faking her own death. So she faces a dilemma whether to help or not and if so how much. It's quite complex for Lifetime with quite a few twists and turns. It's a bit of a Hitchcockian wannabe. Things are told in flashback a little. A few minus points. Direction is a bit monotonous. The way they deliver the dialogue seems stiff.

Worth a watch for the actresses.

The premise is good but for the love of everything holy...so much is awful about this I don't know where to start! Is it the director, the actors? I don't even know!! I consider myself so very forgiving when it comes to Lifetime movies but...no...not this one. Throwing a Boxleitner and Jaleel White into the mix only makes me feel sorry for them which furthers my discomfort watching it. I will skip through to the end to see what happens only because I have invested 35 minutes into it.

Ah, Lifetime. Their original movies have a definite reputation - blunt, direct, and ham-handed. Some titles surprise by being genuinely enjoyable ('Under the Christmas tree'), some are glaringly gauche but a good time all the same ('Adopted in danger'), and still others are so wildly and intentionally over the top that they become a barrel of laughs ('Driven to kill'). The nice thing about them all is that we can glean their nature very quickly, and 'When vows break' falls into the second category. There's no mistaking what this picture is, but for those who are receptive to everything Lifetime represents, it's suitably entertaining.

First things first, I can only commend the hair and makeup artists, and wardrobe, for their contributions - the cast look fantastic. Their appearances are bolstered by Seth Johnson's crisp, clear cinematography that lets every color pop out, while also bearing a soft glow that makes the picture easy on the eyes. If not essential and captivating - and unquestionably forced into a corner by the tenor of the feature - I think the performances that the cast turn in vary from fine to very good, with capable range and poise. Given the most time on screen as Lydia and Ella, of course Danielle C. Ryan and Christa B. Allen stand out the most, but it's a small joy to see Jaleel White here, too, among others.

All this is well and good; the writing is the real question mark. Chris Lancey's story is strong enough in the broad strokes, and Christine Conradt's screenplay. Without a doubt, however, 'When vows break' is classic Lifetime fare. The dialogue and scene writing actively decline any degree of subtlety, including frequent flashbacks in the first half, which mean that the cast in turn are coerced into displays of acting largely bereft of nuance. (Where it does shine through, it's like a beacon in a storm.) Plot development, too, is characterized by a straightforward ease that can only be Movie Magic. On the other hand, while the core of the narrative is filled with staples of Lifetime originals, there are also slight tinges of cleverness such that the plot goes in a direction I didn't anticipate, and the premise is teased out longer and more sharply than it otherwise may have been. I'm not saying that 'When vows break' is a must-see, but relative to some other content the network produces, there's some meaningful intelligence here. Kudos!

It's noteworthy and unfortunate that there's a measure of inelegance in the editing and sequencing. The climax and ending also feels distinctly rushed, smashed together with a certain gracelessness that makes the resolution sloppy. It kind of feels like these scenes were shot last, but time and resources ran short as the production schedule came to a close, so there wasn't much chance to rework it. Still, bearing in mind the typical indelicacies of Lifetime flicks, what weaknesses there are here aren't so substantial as to overshadow the value of the content. Nothing about this title will sway those who can't get on board with its brethren, yet it stands tall enough on its own merits that those open to the style will surely enjoy it. 'When vows break' doesn't break any molds, but is duly satisfying to pass the time on a quiet night.

Terrible. Just terrible. For a minute I thought it was a good plot. But, once again, I was fooled by Lifetime. Fool me once...

In 2019's When Vows Break, Ella (Christa B. Allen - Revenge) is in an abusive relationship with Tolan (Jacob Young - Bold and the Beautiful), both physically and verbally. After about a year of being together, they decide to get married. Ella's sister Lydia (Danielle C. Ryan - Stalked by My Mother, Criminal Minds) has reservations about the whole thing, especially about Tolan.

To help relieve her mind, she visits a fortune teller named Madame Diedra (Milena Phillips). During their session, Madame Diedra states that she sees dark waters. This statement becomes significant later in the movie, but I promise not to give anything away.

Ella asks her sister numerous time to be happy for her, paraphrasing of course, and to let her and Tolan be. Lydia complies, against her better judgment and just wanting to protect her sister.

Their honeymoon is spent in Barbados on a boat. A nice boat I might add. Oh, I should add that Tolan has money. Not only does he have money, but he's also rich, for only rich people can have their own private jet always on stand by at the airport. While walking on the boat, Ella loses her balance and falls overboard. As corny as that sounds, and as familiar as that sounds, that's exactly what happens.

Learning of her sister's death, Lydia feels that it wasn't an accident and that Tolan killed her sister and thus begins her quest to find out what really happened in Barbados upon the boat.

ALLEN (Ella) AND RYAN (Lydia): I enjoyed Christa B. Allen when she played Charlotte Grayson on Revenge from 2011-2015. As for Danielle C. Ryan, I didn't recognize anything she's done, therefore, prior to this movie, I can't comment on her work. As for When Vows Break I did enjoy her acting. Ryan and Sam Boxleitner (yes, the son of Bruce Boxleitner) who played her husband Harrison, had good chemistry together. As for Allen and Jacob Young (who played Tolan), I didn't see much chemistry. They were an odd pair and that's probably why they were together. Tolan seemed way above her pay grade. Perhaps he saw someone he could manipulate and push around, which he did.

Allen played the "I know he's no good for me, but I love him" role really well. She made you feel sorry for her, while at the same time, you hoped she falls flat on her face.

JACOB YOUNG (Tolan): Jacob Young brought the role of Rick Forrester to life on Bold and the Beautiful. Not only is he incredibly good looking, to me, but he's a good actor, and this role will prove it. His acts of abuse (we saw mostly verbal than physical abuse) were scary to the point of you could almost dislike the actor and not the character. Very few actors have had this effect on me. The first being Judd Hirsh (Taxi) when he played a rapist in 1990's She Said No and Ted Danson (Cheers, CSI) who played a child molester in 1984's Something About Amelia.

Young has the type of face and acting chops to play both nice characters and bad characters and still come out unscathed. I look forward to more work by him

FINAL THOUGHTS:The movie as a whole was good, until the ending. There's nothing like a horrible ending to make you curse the whole movie and time you feel you have wasted watching. Up until the end, the ride was a good one and so many twists were there.

Would I recommend this movie? I really can't say. Only because I like endings with a bit more teeth in it. I want to leave a movie having deep thoughts about what took place or what didn't take place. I don't like endings wrapped in a bow. I like ending wrapped in meat and potatoes.