Second to Die

This would be a watchable Hollywood mediocre if it had a good editing. It relies on the typical American thriller plot - "who is going to outsmart everyone". Acting is below average, but with shining appearance of the detective who is the best actor in the film and he is mostly responsible if the tension in the film rises. Film was completely suffocated by blank video and sound shots and most of it looks like raw film material. All in all, if you don't mind watching a movie that looks like a student film project, this is a film to watch. I guess that would be enough to say on this film, everything else could really spoil the tension that is probably low enough.

The premise couldn't be so foolish, a unhappy married dumb blonde Sara Bratchett (Erika Eleniak) and his closest friend Raymond Scucello (Jery Kroll) having an affair, suddenly they have a fabulous idea, frame an efficient plan to kill the husband Jim Bratchett (John Wesley Ship) in a explosion in his own airplane to get rid of him for good, it won't raise any kind of mistrust, due him works on demolition, using those plastic explosives and devices to ignite it, after a week or something she get marry with Scudello, however Sara found dead on his swimming pool, the Detective Grady ( Paul Winfield) in charge of the investigation, Sara has a sister Amber (Kimberley Rowe) that appears there, Sara left an diary, through this Amber will slowly figure out all about, anyway a poor screenplay, on weakest acting, apart the veteran actor Paul Winfield who gave some reliability to the movie, the remaining is awful and no make sense!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 5.5

I've never written a review on IMDb but after catching this little stinker today on Lifetime Movie Network, or whatever it is called, I jumped on here to see what others had written. I couldn't believe the number of people giving this piece of you-know-what good ratings! First of all, the writing was mindless. Anyone could have written this script. It is generic and bland. The worst part of this movie HAS to be the acting. Half the time the cast sounds as if they are simply reading their lines, the other half they sound like they are too bored to bother. And who could blame them? I don't excuse the sloppy filmmaking and apathetic acting just because it is a small budget film. Many others have managed to produce well-scripted and acted movies on tight budgets. One of the critics said this is the perfect movie for 3am on Showtime when you can't sleep. I agree. Better than Unisom!

Mystery. An engaging, interesting storyline is killed by a ridiculous ending.

The story of a beautiful blond who does away with the image of a dumb blond by building a bomb to kill her husband. She had everything until they found out that wife #1 killed herself and a few days later, their handicapped daughter shows up to live with them. Her husband makes her a maid for this child. Enter the guy's best friend, played by Jerry Kroll, who is a definite look alike to Eddie Fisher. The two plot to kill Jim (#1) for an insurance policy. Turns out they can't do anything until she dies since the policy can only kick in then and it will be for the surviving child.

In the meantime, suspicions are aroused when Kroll weds our blond shortly after Jim's death.

The late Paul Winfield plays a widowed detective who is on the trail of the two.

Again, the ending is ridiculous as everyone comes together suggesting that everyone was in this for the money. Ridiculous.

I like Second to Die for mindless entertainment, and despite criticism to the opposite, I think Eleniak is a good actress. But mostly, agreeing with other review, I can watch the movie again and again just to see Paul Winfield as a cute, comical detective, always polite while he has everyone's number. Truly, Winfield was an underrated actor. How tragic that he died so soon.