Até Que a Morte os Separe

As soon as I heard the title of this TV film, I almost assumed who the bad person was going to eventually turn into. However, there are lots of twists and turns in this film and I believe a murder is committed that the killer actually got away with accomplishing. There is a father who's wife is killed in an auto accident, leaving the father with a teenage daughter and smaller son, both who loved their mom very much. The former wife's sister lives in the home and is sort of a housekeeper for the entire family. The film goes along rather smoothly until another woman makes an appearance and it upsets the entire household. Nice entertaining film and very good acting.

MAID OF HONOR (2006 TV movie) 2.5 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 2:30min

BASIC PLOT: Laci Collins (Linda Purl) has given up everything to take care of her brother-in-law, Richard Wynn (Linden Ashby), after the tragic death of her sister. She sold her house, moved in, and became maid, and caregiver to her niece Mollie (Dani Kind), and nephew Danny (Steven McPhail). After a year and half of this arrangement, Richard has decided to marry Nicole (Shannon Sturges), a woman from work. She's younger, they've only met her a couple of times, but he's ready to push Laci out the door, and force Nicole on his children as their new "Mom". Unbeknownst to everyone, Laci is secretly in love with Richard, and will do whatever it takes to keep him, including exposing Nicole's dark past. Will she succeed? Or will we find out how all consuming her passion for Richard really is?

WHAT WORKS: *LINDA PURL IS THE ONLY THING WORKING IN THIS MOVIE She knows her way around a melodrama, no matter what role she's playing. Too bad there's nothing here to work with.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *INCREDIBLY SELFISH PROTAGONIST After having his sister-in-law move in, sell everything she owns, so she can become his maid, and the caretaker of his children, he kicks her out for some woman at work he suddenly wants to marry (it smells like he might have been interested in this woman while his wife was still alive). It's less than two years after his wife's death, and he expects his children to just accept his girlfriend, a woman they barely know, and have only met a few times. He wants to move her into their house, and they're supposed to call her mom, no matter their feelings. These reckless, selfish decisions do NOT make a sympathetic protagonist. He doesn't even discuss with Laci her moving out, or where she's supposed to go, but in front of her he talks about making her room his fiancee's office. WOW! WHAT AN A-HOLE! So, once again, I sympathize more with the "villainess" than I do with the "family man" (who seems to have little regard for his family). EPIC FAIL.

*THIS MOVIE IS TOO HARD ON MEN Men can be selfish, vain and weak, but this is ridiculous! Richard Wynn (Linden Ashby) is oblivious to everyone around him, only cares about his wants and needs, and is blind to everything and everyone else. He is so self consumed, he's ready to bring a woman who lied about felony drug possession charges, around his children! It's insulting, and not believable. It's written by men (nn0006438 & Ken Sanders) for women, and that's never a good thing. Women don't want weak men, even if it's what we often have to put up with. Show us the best of what we want, not the lowest of what we have deal with on a daily basis. (Side note: I think their choice of name for this character (Richard) was an inside joke - we all know what the nickname for Richard it's - D*ck.)

*AFTER TWO YEARS, THE TEENAGE DAUGHTER WOULDN'T SUDDENLY BECOME SUSPICIOUS BECAUSE HER AUNT WAS LOOKING AT A RING STRANGELY Give me a break, either these people are the stupidest walking the earth, or the most perceptive, but you can't have it both ways.

*ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE ONE DIMENSIONAL All of the characters are so flat, you don't care what happens to any of them. I know this is a melodrama, but that doesn't excuse bad writing, and selfish protagonists. The only one who does a decent job is Linda Purl, and she can't carry the whole movie.

*THE PACING IS OFF The first act of violence doesn't come till the 1:23 mark, that means there's only 36 min left, and all you've done with the time so far is make the antagonist sympathetic. So, when she finally does commit violence, you understand and empathize with her reasons. EPIC FAIL.

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *Unless you're just a fan of Linda Purl, I'd give this a pass. There's no one sympathetic enough for you to care about, not one plotline that's believable, just a bunch of selfish people concerned with themselves, who you rather see die in a house fire than be happy at the end. HARD PASS

CLOSING NOTES: *This is a made-for-tv movie, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.

This movie was an okay way to pass the time on a day when you're not feeling well. But I wouldn't go out of of my way for it.

Linda Purl did all right, and convinced me that she was a little off-kilter. Linden Ashby is very handsome, but he didn't exhibit much emotion. He seemed mostly stony-faced.

I can truly say that the only person I really loved in the movie was the character Kevin, played by Bruce Dinsmore. I always enjoyed seeing him on the screen. Now he is someone I would make a point of following!

And even though her scene was quite short, Sophie Gedron looked pretty awkward. I've never seen her in any movie where she looked natural. I hope she comes to realize that acting is just not her thing. (Unfortunately, she the Octomom decided to get lip jobs, and their lips now overwhelm their faces. Too bad she decided to go that route.)

While driving in the road, Richard Wynn (Linden Ashby) crashes his car and his beloved wife Carrie Wynn (Caroline Redekopp) dies. Along two years, his sister-in-law Laci Collins (Linda Purl) moves to his house and helps Richard to raise his son Danny Wynn (Steven McPhail) and his teenage daughter Molly Wynn (Danni Kind). When Richard decides to get married with Nicole Harris (Shannon Sturges), the deranged and psychotic Laci that is in love for Richard, tries to force Richard to call off the wedding with malevolence against Nicole and manipulating Danny.

"Maid of Honor" is one of those predictable and forgettable made-for-TV thrillers, which the screenplay seems to be ready in a shelf and the viewer knows what is going to happen and how the movie will end. I do not know how many similar films I have watched with the same psychological structure and conclusion. The good difference is the performance of Linda Purl in the role of a completely unstable woman, capable of plotting the most despicable wicked actions against the poor and beautiful Nicole. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

I picked this up at the video store thinking "this'll be a really bad, unintentionally funny melodrama about a Desperate Woman" -- and I was only half-right. Yes, it is about a desperate woman, but it's actually very well done, powerfully suspenseful and develops all the characters to the point where they come across as real people you care about.

This movie fooled me at least three times, and I like to think I'm fairly quick on the uptake. Linda Purl is a wonderfully expressive and intense actress -- why isn't she famous??? I highly recommend this movie to anybody who likes good thrillers, and/or anyone who enjoys watching a superb actor like Purl as she crafts a brilliantly realized character (even if the movie isn't quite good enough to deserve her).