Au coeur des secrets

Tommy Heaton dies and his friend lawyer Rafe Marino (James Thomas) slowly suspects foul-play. Rafe starts finding a series of other death like Tommy. He investigates with his cop friend Gloria Moretti (Victoria Sanchez)'s help. He keeps running into Laura Clifford (Charisma Carpenter) and starts a passionate relationship with her.

James Thomas is a rather bland lead. Every woman in this is a thirtysomething former hot girl. There is a blurry forgettable sameness about all the actresses except for Carpenter and Sanchez. The movie is trying too hard to be sexual which comes off very cheesy and soft-porny. It's a murder mystery with a flashing neon sign flashing on Charisma Carpenter. The investigation is slow and boring. It's a lower rate Lifetime TV movie. By the time the twist comes, the interest is long gone.

After his handsome friend "Tommy" dies unexpectedly from heart failure, likewise handsome lawyer James Thomas (as Rafe Marino) suspects foul play. More otherwise healthy young men die in their hot tubs (but one victim who doesn't fit the mold). Often showing off his muscular chest for the camera, Mr. Thomas meets ultra-sexy Charisma Carpenter (as Laura Clifford). Her chest is the feminine match for his, and they are quickly smacking. Meanwhile, Mr. Thomas uncovers more facts about serial heart failures, with help from childhood lover Victoria Sanchez (as Gloria Moretti), now a police detective. Other beautiful women include aroused tennis club blonde Karen Cliché (as Ellen Antonelli). It figures.

The accent on Cliché isn't mine.

**** Flirting with Danger (2/13/06) Richard Roy ~ James Thomas, Charisma Carpenter, Victoria Sanchez, Karen Cliché

the only sin in this case is the great expectations. because more than a crime, it is a kind of cocktail. sex, murders, love, hesitations, a story who has not sense but who looking for it after hot scenes? a film who use each classic ingredient of genre in a pretty game who not gives nothing interesting. only beauty of actors, vulnerability of a hansom guy, the maleficent woman. game of clichés and stereotypes, it is nice if you ignore the mistakes or consider it only a joke. James Thomas does a decent job and that is the best thing to say about the movie. because it is only one from many, many easy films who remains the perfect choice in a Saturday evening.

I had some outdoor activity delayed by a heavy rain, so flipped-on t.v. just as this movie was beginning.

In the first few minutes, when the main four characters (James Thomas (Rafe); Victoria Sanchez (Gloria); Charisma Carpenter (Laura); and Karen Cliché (Ellen) were all introduced on-screen, one thought immediately came to mind.

I remembered a funny scene in "Everybody Loves Raymond." Peter Boyle, as Ray's Dad is talking to Robert Culp, who played Ray's father-in-law. I think it was the show where Culp and wife had separated, but he appeared at a family gathering with an older, plain new girlfriend, rather than a younger "trophy" type which everybody was expecting.

Talking with him while the women elsewhere, Boyle's "Frank" character expressed to Culp his puzzlement and curiosity about the reason for this surprising choice. He noted Culp was a good-looking guy, and then said something like "You've got a full set of teeth, AND THEN SOME."

Robert Culp has always been one of these people with a pleasant appearance, along with a set of prodigious choppers, impossible to ignore.

Well, the four leads in this flick must have four of, say, the other 49 among the top 50 or so sets of teeth in the country, and perhaps the world. All of them are handsome specimens and there is more ivory flashing across the screen than you'll find in a documentary about elephant herds.

Among the mysterious Laura, his old friend (who'd like to be more), Gloria, as well as the equally-attractive Ellen (to provide to the mystery) - James Thomas/Rafe has one of the better gigs ever presented to a male lead.

As a "Lifetime" presentation, with personnel a bit down the chain from Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, Glenn Close, etc., as well as budget and production constraints, we wouldn't expect this to rival "Fatal Attraction," "Basic Instinct," and the like. It is, perhaps, the "poor man's version" of these.

But it does present a far more attractive cast and a bit better quality scenery than typical of the Lifetime genre, and there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours on a rainy day, awaiting the weather to clear.

Really good made for TV movie with Charisma displaying her fantastic sexual appeal on camera, she is definitely fantasy material.

The plot was above average as far as lifetime movies are concerned, although I didn't really prefer the ending, the bulk more than made up for it.

Charisma really needs to get her face into a big screen production, because a woman this fantastic is being drastically underused in this business.

Frankly, I can't wait to see more of her future projects, hoping she graces the entertainment industry for a long time to come.