Lies and Deception

Jean Brooks (Mädchen Amick) is shocked when her presumed dead husband Sam turns up in the morgue 5 years later. She hires Eddie Fate (Andrew W. Walker) to investigate the missing years which show no records of him. The police believes it's all about the insurance money.

This is a better-than-most Lifetime movie. The premise has good noir possibilities. Amick is a great actress. Once she hires Eddie, they should investigate together and build chemistry. This should be them having a fun thrilling ride uncovering the mystery. It's a mistake to let them separate. In many ways, I'm not concerned about the mystery. It's a McGuffin. The main aspect is the relationship and there's not enough of it. They get together later which is a little too late.

(2005) Lies and Deception MYSTERY THRILLER

Chicago housewife, Jean Brooks (Madchen Amick) receives a notice that her certified doctor husband's dead body had been discovered in a car located in Detroit who assumed to dead five years ago from a boating accident . And that because this recent news of her late husband's death was labelled as a suicide, the investigation was deemed to be closed. However, Jean then finds out that she has problems returning his body back to Chicago, only to find out later that her husband had lead a double life, and that he has already been cremated by a wife Jean knows nothing about who lives in Detroit. Advising by the Chicago police department not to get involve, the homicide detective who closed the file suggests to Jean that if she wanted to find out more about this other life Jean knows nothing about, that she should employ the services of a private investigator, and he hands her a card. At first, she is reluctant but later gives in meeting, Eddie Fate (Andrew Walker) and upon his investigation there is foul play. And of course, both Jean and Eddie relationship escalates the more they uncover about her late husband's business dealings.

Not bad despite already been done before as there is one revelation after the next, despite attempting to be family friendly - the subject matter is not so much family friendly.

Having seen this TV film twice I was especially taken with the rather ingenious plot involving a doctor's widow attempting to learn the truth after he apparently dies a second time 5 years later. Why did he first fake his death in a boating accident despite a successful practice and a happy marriage? Little wonder she engages the services of a handsome young private investigator to get to the bottom of the baffling mystery. The viewer is kept off balance throughout thanks to numerous novel plot twists. Moreover the acting of the two likable leads is quite satisfactory and the dialogue rings true. Even the photography is a notch above average. All in all I would give this cleverly conceived and executed movie 10 out of 10 stars.

Bad acting (except Mädchen Amick, who is OK), awful dialogs, poor plot but could pass if not the dialogs and acting. Predictable and boring plot. I can go on and on with negativity. Just awful. The first 10 minutes is interesting and intriguing although poor acting is obvious almost from the beginning. Police finds dead men whose wife thought that he had died in boating accident five years ago. There were so many ways to keep the film interesting. I do not think that even good acting could save the film unless somebody would rewrite the script. The rest of the 90 minutes I consider as a wasted time. You can check if you have the same taste but I warned you.

Madchen Amick is so attractive as is her co star Andrew Walker. They are trying to piece together the mystery of her husband's faked death and then his real death. It all has to do with his discovery of a Mexican cancer drug not approved yet in the States. His old friend Joseph Kell is somehow involved. Great popcorn, curl up, and watch.