Dia de Sorte

I'm a fan of Mary Higgins Clark. She is a fantastic mystery novelist and I have all her books. I was expecting a great movie but was deceived. With such an excellent plot the director had all the elements to create a marvelous piece of art but the direction was pretty poor. Even the acting was just okay. Amanda Donahue is a first class actress but she seems to be out of place. The conversation held by the characters didn't sound true to me. I recommend Pretend you don't see her,another Mary Higgins Clark novel, which is of a better quality. The fact that this is made for television is not an excuse for not having made a good movie. Many of my favorite movies have been made for television and they are flawless. Example: Raid on Entebbe, which by the way, I want to buy and has not been made for sale.

When her elderly male friend (who is convinced it's his lucky day) is murdered, a woman who works for a courier service sets out to help the police find his killer.

This is a pretty good tv-movie. It had a good plot with some un-expecting twists. The acting is decent only the directing is a bit lame and the story had a bit more potential. But for a tv movie it's good, so watch it when it comes by on television.

I have read some of Mary Higgins Clark's books and at best they are mediocre to start with. It would be unimaginable to mention her name in the same breath as the likes of classic mystery authors such as Christie or Le Carre. Having said that, this film really takes the biscuit. It is filmed like an Australian/American soap opera with the 'actors' responding to anything that happens or is said to them with a gasp, a sigh and a long look into the distance before delivering a dry and unbelievable reply. The 'star' is the same actress that rose to a short lived part in the UK soap opera Emmerdale...and she was actually more believable in that. I warn you... if you have some paint to watch dry... do that. My girlfriend described it as 'Days of our lives', with less talent than the cast of Friends.

No one had to tell me that this was a product of Canadian producer Sonny Jacobson. He's used that weird suspense-type music a million times.

The TV film versions of Mary Higgins Clark's novels aren't the best. They're usually not well directed with medium production values and blah acting. Also they move like molasses.

That being said, being a mystery buff, I never miss one! This one, Lucky Day, stars Amanda Donohue as an actress, Nora Barkin, who is determined to find out what happened to a close friend, an older man named Bill. He disappears one night en route to her place after possibly winning money in the lottery. She appeals to a police detective (Tony LoBianco) for help. Though he's somewhat dismissive, there's something about her resolve that makes him think there might be something to the disappearance. He's right.

Donohue, who's obviously older than the man playing her husband, German actor Gregor Törzs, seems out of place here somehow. And you can't believe for one minute that her husband cared about this lost friend, even though we hear over and over that the couple was all Bill had. Donohue isn't photographed well. She and Guylaine St-Onge, who plays Sandra, probably weigh 75 pounds each. I've never seen such thin people. That's just a side note, I couldn't help noticing it. Also, though they're supposed to be in New York City, they're obviously not.

Donohue does a good job, but she's fighting slow direction, mediocre dialogue and characters that aren't really fleshed out. Only Nora and friend Bill are given any depth. As far as Nora's marriage, they don't seem like they belong together.

Somehow because of the decent stories, these films come off as mildly entertaining. It's a case of the whole being better than the sum of its parts.