Premiers doutes

I caught this on Sky One the other day and initially started watching to see how the lovely Janine Turner looks these days (still scrumptious!) and kept watching to see how things would turn out.

She is a wealthy Romance Novelist and her Husband is a film Producer, played by Costas Mandylor - looking a bit heavy compared to his usual well built look. She is bored with her Marriage and lifestyle and meets a guy online at a dating site.

I don't want to give anything away suffice to say it is a "Thriller" and is better than a lot of these made for TV films but certainly no masterpiece.

If you are into Thrillers and happen to see this scheduled it will be worth checking out.

This movie is really Lifetime cheap. It may've started out with a great premise, but quickly demotes itself to shoddy soap opera.

It is not at all completely unwatchable though. Janine Turner, despite some previous reviews of her aging, is perfectly fine for the role. And does her best with the material, as does Costas Mandylor. But, as you watch movies like this, it reminds you that like professional athletes, sometimes you see a shadow of their greatness and just feel a bit sorry that the game has moved on without them.

Look, it's not easy making a movie. But you have a decent cast. My guess is that the director or producer seems to have a very bad grasp of the English language. The dialogue is really stilted. At some point (as I've been on set) it seems they may've even been given line readings. It's that stiff.

A poor who-dun-it.

For certainly she looks long in the tooth in this film. Janine Turner is constantly in over the hill make-up you wonder what her real face looks like. Even when sleeping, getting up in the morning, taking a bath - always the makeup. Too much eye shadow and mascara make her eyes look like a raccoon. And constantly when she cries, and that is often, it runs and she looks like she has two black eyes. Then there's the blush and that lip gloss. In bed? What must her pillow look like in the morning? And what her poor husband, played well by Costas Mandylor, must do about what smears on him when she kisses him. It's like kissing a wet oil painting.

The story is obvious and performances so so. Maeve Quinlan, also in loads of makeup plays the best friend; Jamie Rose, in low cut dresses, plays her doctor and Amanda Fuller, the only natural looking female in the bunch plays the daughter. It seems Mr. Mandylor is surrounded by women with tons of makeup and low cleavage dresses. Why is it that all these dames have to show their breasts? Is anything new now a days? I mean doesn't acting also enter their minds? If they can manage to stop wearing push-up bras and tight clothes. This is a poor R rated example of the typical female on LMN. Once in a blue moon you get real talent and looks and less sex.

The movie seems nothing more than an excuse to portray the lives of the rich and famous, and not a very flattering depiction of either. In addition, the acting is really - and I mean, *really* - bad, the actresses' make up quite excessive, and the story line so poor you wonder what teenager could have written it! Whatever happened to the standard police procedure, you know, like examining the *evidence*? How about looking for leads and following up on them? Instead, as you will soon see for yourself, we see a couple of so-called detectives basically *harassing* and finger-pointing just about anyone and everyone, with no one so much as protesting, let alone calling a lawyer. You would definitely expect them to, considering how rich everyone is. Instead, everyone seems to be quite oblivious to their "rights" and so "trusting" of the police to believe in their innocence, just because they say so! Indeed, the writers and makers of this movie seem to have such a low opinion of the viewers' intelligence, it's rather insulting. :((

Do my eyes deceive me? Did someone complain because an actress wore makeup in a movie? I would wager that there isn't one in Hollywood who looks as good waking up in the morning as they do while playing their roles in a movie.

Janine Turner is a drop dead gorgeous woman and a good actress, not to mention a great American, and she played her character well in this movie about a bored wife reaching out to another man and having everything go wrong. It isn't the greatest movie of this genre by any means, but it is fun to watch and holds your attention from beginning to end, specifically because of Janine.

I'm going to buy the DVD if there is one so I can get it out every now and then and watch it again.....and again. It is well worth watching, especially if you like Janine Turner.