Au coeur des secrets

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.

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

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.

Enjoyed this TV film and the great acting, romance and mystery involved with so many men getting bumped off. Chrisma Carpenter,(Laura Clifford),"Angel TV series,'99'-'03", took one look at James Thomas,(Rafe Marino) and fell madly in love and had some very torrid scenes together. This romance took James's mind off his recent loss, however, the police were starting to question James and his old friend from the past, Victoria Sanchez,(Gloria Moretti),"Noel",'04, who was a police officer, comes to his aid. You could almost see that Victoria was also very attracted to James, however, James just did not seem the gleam in her eyes or her attractive body. This film entertained and is worth your time to view it the next time it appears on TV. Enjoy

It's more than just a rainy day's fun. The plot's tight, the characters look good, the locales are excellent and there's more. Carpenter's 'talents' have been totally wasted however. Victoria Sanchez looks very credible in her role as a longtime friend. James Thomas as the male lead does a good job.

The key thing for me was that as a murder mystery, every other scene did not have blood and gore. That part was handled elegantly, I thought. As a relationship drama, the dialogs were well written and rather credible. The steamy scenes were probably designed to be a grade schooler's delight, I guess.

It's much better than a typical Lifetime flick.