Loves Music, Loves to Dance

This movie was a bit cringy because of the music and how it was shot. The story was hard to follow at first, but better by the end. Most acting was fine, but the lead was maybe miscast. Again, not sure why random people are allowed to investigate murders with the police.

Darcy Scott ( Patsy Kensit ) works as a producer of a daytime reality show. As such, she sometimes clashes on story ideas with the Diva lady who hosts. Nevertheless, one idea pleases them both. Darcy's best friend Erin goes on multiple dates with beaux she meets on a dating website and then tells all. Unhappily, on date 7 Erin never comes back home. She has been murdered and her body dumped in a dead end alley. What is startling is her shoes when found. One foot has a snug boot and the other, a dancing shoe. Research shows this was a matching method to another beautiful lady killed seven years ago. Was it the same killer or a copycat? The police start investigating but won't listen when she tells them it was one of the Internet dates. So, Darcy, having Erin's file, decides to go meet all the same men and nab the killer herself. BAD IDEA. Clark is one of my favorite authors and this title one of her best. If you love thrillers, go find the book. However, this adaptation is not awful and has some good moments. Kensit looks beautiful and performs well in the leading role. The story has been truncated while still retaining the most vital elements. By all means, view it if you love mysteries or the incomparable MHC!

I was honestly surprised someone said Loves Music Loves to Dance was one of Clarke's weaker novels. I thought it was one of her best. The who done it cliffhanger was executed to perfection, there are plenty enough curveballs thrown to keep you guessing. The characters are much more believable and compelling.

However, this movie was far inferior. Key characters who made the plot much more interesting were left out, most notably a couple of men who could have easily been the killer themselves, along with the man who it actually turns out to be. Its not nearly as obvious who the killer is in the book. Even many of the characters who were included were changed from the novel, sometimes in unappealing ways. Even the villain himself is far more compelling and far more dangerous in the novel.

I won't go into all the differences between the novel and the movie, there is no room or time. But don't let this third rate film discourage you from reading the book if you haven't. Its much better. Pass the film up.

All of Clarke's books with the possible exception of While My Pretty One Sleeps were done poorly on the screen. Its ashame because I feel all of them could have been good box office films in competent hands, including Loves Music Loves To Dance. I would like to see them redone someday by more competent directors and screenwriters. Doubt it though.

I have read with great enjoyment all of Mary Higgins Clark's novels, but when it comes to this movie (I use this term lightly), don't waste your time! The script was horrible and the acting (I use that term very lightly) even worse. My husband and I could not stop laughing and that was the only reason we did not turn it off after the first 3 minutes.

I have read most of Mary Higgins Clark's books and can't help but be interested in seeing how they are adapted to television. Loves Music, Loves To Dance was one of her weaker novels, and it results in a TV movie that is amongst one of the worst I have seen.

The plot involves the murder of Darcy's best friend while doing a report on on-line dating. In order to solve the mystery, Darcy decides to also date each one of her friend's on-line pals to see which one of them might have something to do with the death. Sounds safe, huh? Darcy must be one of the most incompetent, air-headed heroines to ever grace a made-for-TV mystery. Some of her behaviours during the film's climax are so empty-headed and irrational your mouth will likely hang open in disbelief. And the method by which the killer's identity is discovered is also hard to fathom. A serial killer who has gotten away with murder for seven years would slip up like that? Well, obviously, because it's the only way our clueless heroine could discover the truth.

Production values are also low, resulting in a movie that looks like it was made sometime in the mid 1980s. But as bad as this movie was, I somehow get the feeling I'll be watching further made-for-TV Mary Higgins Clark mysteries.