Apparences trompeuses

Original title: Happy Face Murders

TV Movie
1999
R
1h 38m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Ann-Margret, Marg Helgenberger, and Henry Thomas in Apparences trompeuses (1999)

An eccentric older woman (Ann-Margret) implicates her brutal & controlling lover in the murder of a young intellectually disabled girl. Absorbed with "Murder She Wrote" and "Matlock", she cr... Read allAn eccentric older woman (Ann-Margret) implicates her brutal & controlling lover in the murder of a young intellectually disabled girl. Absorbed with "Murder She Wrote" and "Matlock", she creates details of the murder from clues she picks up from the detectives (Marg Helgenberger... Read allAn eccentric older woman (Ann-Margret) implicates her brutal & controlling lover in the murder of a young intellectually disabled girl. Absorbed with "Murder She Wrote" and "Matlock", she creates details of the murder from clues she picks up from the detectives (Marg Helgenberger, Henry Thomas) on the case. Implicating herself and sentenced to jail, she then recants h... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.7/10

408

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Photos3

User reviews13

5.7408

Featured reviews

6moonspinner55

Granny with a whip

Made-for-cable movie is appropriately quirky and darkly comic. Clues regarding a small-town sex murder leads a wise female police detective and her rookie partner (Marg Helgenberger and Henry Thomas, both excellent) to a twisted grandma who keeps changing her story. Off-putting details and a few nasty sequences made me wince, but the actors certainly don't look embarrassed, especially Ann-Margret as the granny with a whip (she has a ball!). The story threads are complex and engrossing, but I had trouble with the presentation, which borders on smut with a bigger budget. Some funny lines and memorable bits (like A-M referring to her "bad ticker"), but overall just so-so.

rrauwl

A 'strange but true' award winner.

Without a doubt one of the most interesting movies that I've seen in a while that claimed to be mostly true. It claimed, in fact, that the parts that they made up are the ones that you would believe at the drop of a hat. It's the TRUTH that leaves your head shaking and your jaw wide open.

The movie is funny, strange, and a little chilling; with decent acting to boot. If you have some time to kill, catch this on re-run.

8the_brush

Marg rocks!

this movie was on TV here last night and I only watched it because I'm a huge fan of CSI & Marg Helgenberger and I had never seen it before. this movie is no masterpiece, but i thought it was hilarious. yes, some of the humor is cliché' and when you're watching it it's like, oh my god this is so lame, but i still liked it. Jen's comment to the "doc" about getting a jigsaw puzzle from Goodwill or whatever and finding it's missing a few pieces and how it was like the case they were working on was the best line of the whole movie. Ann Margaret, whom I also like, was just fabulous, that her character annoyed the #$&@ out of me but then by the end I felt sorry for her. Her hair, is another story. If you're a MH or AM fan, totally watch this movie. Otherwise you'll probably be better off watching something else :)

Ann-MargretGrL

Always INCREDIBLE A-M!

I got this movie because it stars my idol, Ann-Margret, and yet again, she totally and completely blew me away with her performance!!!! It's so hard to picture her as this frumpy little old lady, and ya know what...she REALLY pulls it off well! She has a blast with the role, that's obvious:) And who doesn't love hearing her cry "Sonny boy!" at every guy she meets! She's FABULOUS! Everyone did a great job in this one, and the story was very appealing and instantly had me glued. There's one thing though that they just couldn't conceal... and that's the beauty of A-M:) Even with the padding, grey wig, and whited out eyelashes, she's still the one and ONLY kitten With a Whip! She's gorgeous, inside and out:) KILLER MOVIE! I reccomend this to everyone!!

7MystiKef

People are strange

I saw this at the Directors Guild the other night at the premiere. It's a very strange story, especially since it is based on truth. It makes you think about how many truly bizarre people we actually have in our world. Watch this when you get the chance. It will be on Showtime.