O Casamento Perfeito

So I have to correct a particular contributor here. Wilder is in fact 3 years older than Luner. Oh and Lunar is not in her forties in the movie. In fact she's only 35. A simple 30 second research would clarify that. I honestly don't know why this particular contributor trashed the movie. I found it pretty good for an LMN tv movie!

A few years ago, still sexy Jamie Luner (as Marianne "Annie" Grayson) was in love with seductively sleazy James Wilder (as Brent Richter). They conspired to kill her husband and collect $250,000. After Mr. Wilder loses most of the money on "debts," Ms. Luner wises up and decides to start a new life. She marries successful businessman William R. Moses (as Richard Danforth) and settles down in Philadelphia. Of course, her past catches up with Luner. Wilder finds her and proposes they murder Mr. Moses, and his father, to collect $30,000,000. Getting tangled with the potentially lethal twosome is Mr. Moses' faithful full-lipped associate Sophie Gendron (as Tia Montgomery).

***** The Perfect Marriage (5/22/06) Douglas Jackson ~ Jamie Luner, James Wilder, William R. Moses, Sophie Gendron

If Marianne's marriage to Richard is so perfect, why does she need to have an affair with Christopher? Or is it Brent? There's a lot Marianne is keeping secret. The movie starts with a couple of chilling scenes from Marianne's past.

Richard's secretary Carrie worked hard to plan a party, but Carrie isn't even invited and she doesn't feel appreciated. This will become important later. At the party Marianne meets Tia, the head of public relations, and her "date" Kendra. Tia's boyfriend resents that she considers her work more important than her relationship, so she brings her sister. Marianne invents a past, but Tia and Kendra later find they must investigate that past to protect Richard.

Richard and his father run the company, and Marianne has the chance to kill the father and get a big inheritance. Actually, Richard has a heart attack, and Marianne could stand there and do nothing, but the company is on the verge of a major deal which will mean the company is worth even more--provided the father lives. Later, Marianne can once again use the poison we saw her use earlier, and no one will know the difference. We know it will make people think the person had a heart attack but leave no trace. That's IF she gets to use it.

The plotting and the investigating are quite interesting, and there is real excitement toward the end. There are romantic scenes as well, but I didn't enjoy those as much.

I have seen clips of Jamie Luner in other shows, but I have only seen full episodes of "Just the Ten of Us" and "Growing Pains", from which the sitcom spun off. Both are regarded as evidence that TV is garbage, but I enjoyed them. I would not have recognized the girl who I knew as the adorable brainless teen who wasn't as hot as her sister. She's actually quite good. Not over-the-top nasty, but deceptively ordinary.

There are a lot of good performances here. Sophie Gendron is gorgeous, especially in that hot dress she wears to the party, but also when dressed professionally. But the important thing is she has brains and determination. And the father (apparently Lawrence Dane) does an impressive job as well.

A very good effort.

...not a bad movie either. Just mediocre. Nothing happened that was real exciting, no plot twists. But also nothing so bad to make me mad. It held my interest for the most part. Not bad acting or anything, just a typical generic Lifetime movie.

My two least favorite LMN actresses, that seem to work all the time are Jamie Luner and Sophie Gendron. One looks like she's the mother of most of her leading men and the other, with those thick lips that you feel would suction her to any surface. Hard to watch them.

The plot is typical and reminds me of many other LMN film plots where the husband gets it from the bitchy wife who in turns either takes on with a younger man or the son of the husband, etc, etc. This movie is no different except it's hard to watch. Ah, Jamie and her hypo killing machine. And Sophie and her woeful looks. Better to watch the men folk, a bit more interesting. William Moses as the husband and James Wilder as the poor young fool who buys the bull she gives him. How many of these "perfect" film titles are there? LMN seems to conquer them all. For almost every day we see one or another.