Meurtre à l'esprit

The only redemptive feature of this made-for-TV movie is the fact that it contains a performance by Ellen Burstyn. It is sad to see that talented, Academy Award winning former superstar reduced to doing trash like A Deadly Vision (or Murder in Mind, depending). It features a hokey, predictable, overdone plot and laughable writing. Even Ms. Burstyn can't save this sinking ship. Watch it only if you are a diehard Kristin Davis fan, but this is far from her best work.

A very below average made for tv movie. The two leads (Babette and Max) were like a pair of love-struck junior high-school kids, which made it more comical than a crime thriller. In fact the first time the two set eyes on each other in the police precinct followed by Max telling her "I noticed you noticing me" and chasing her out of the building and jumping on the taxi's hood to get her out of the cab, all in all were cheesy and super cringe. Max's stylist in the movie played a dirty joke on him. I thought puffed up hair-sprayed hair on men had gone out well into the late 90s. His hair reminded me of British new wave pop bands like Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran!

It did have two familiar stars in it namely the late Peter Boyle and Ellen Burstyn. Aside from that the story was mediocre at best. For a split second I confused this movie with Carrie, what with Ellen the mom being strict and religious and Babette the daughter being a virgin preached by her mom.

Oh and incidentally the late Kip Niven was NOT legendary British actor David Niven's son. I did a check on that and nothing indicated that they were related. Having the same surname does not always mean there's a familial connection.

P.s. I liked Kristin Davis in Shaggy Dog.

The highlight of this movie is Ellen Burstyn's role as a fire-and-brimstone mom who preaches the evils of "fornication" to her daughter, who she's constantly accusing of sleeping with the detective. Kristin Davis, however, comes across as a whiny psychic whose powers are dubious, though the movie is supposedly about said powers. Peter Niven, the cute son of David Niven, plays wimpy well enough here to make you wonder if he's actually that wimpy in real life.

Kristin Davis plays a psychic with visions of crimes they and Matthew Settle plays a cop who fancies her. They make a cute couple. The cast is surprisingly good with Ellen Burstyn as her religious mom. Even Peter Boyle plays a Detective. They don't cast TV crime shows like this anymore.

Worth a watch.

I wouldn't say it was anything special, but this movie was entertaining as well as suspenseful, and (thankfully) didn't overdo it with violence and gory scenes, despite its subject matter. It goes to show you that subtlety is often best.

Kristen Davis (in her pre-"Sex and the City" days) did a good job as waitress with psychic powers, as did Matthew Settle as the love interest/only cop to believe in her abilities. There are two famous faces here: Peter Boyle (famous as the title monster in "Young Frankenstein" and later for the character of Frank in "Everybody Loves Raymond") as the tough policeman with no time for psychic nonsense, and Ellen Burston, with a long list of movie/TV credits, who plays the overly zealous Catholic mom.

Worth watching.