Liaisons interdites

From thequickflickcritic.blogspot.com/

"talhotblond" is a passable made for television docudrama account of a tragic and bizarre 2005 case of fabricated internet identities and murderous jealousy.

Courteney Cox does an adequate job of directing the mostly uninspired(ing) cast (the former "Friends" star also co-produced and appears in her film, which Cox reportedly shot over just 16 days), with Garret Dillahunt (Fox TV's "Raising Hope") emerging as the most commendable of the bunch. Dillahunt is suitably creepy as a mild-mannered middle-aged Midwest husband and father who comes completely unhinged with obsession over an online persona he knows only as "talhotblond", whom he believes to be a teenage girl.

Really, can anything good possibly come of this?

Yeah, it could have been better. But if you've seen any measure of flicks fully fashioned for the tube, then you have almost undoubtedly seen way worse.

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Ok, 1st, my rating of 3/10 is for the movie, not the story. Earlier today I watched this story on, "Killer in plain sight" & learned that Courtney Cox made a movie about it. & after watching it I found myself feeling the same way I felt when I watched her other movie, "Just before I go" which was boredom. Just before I go had Seann William Scott & Garret Dillahunt (who also played Thomas Montgomery in this film.) For me I feel like I more interested in the tv show version than Courtney's version. They focused too much on Thomas's life. They should've split the story, some about him & some about Brian. & even the woman who started this whole mess... I'd like to know how the woman's daughter Jesse felt about what her mother did. Sharing inappropriate pictures of her to these men? I know this woman's husband divorced her. & the aftermath of Thomas's family & Brian's, the movie would've been better if it focused on the victims instead of Thomas.

Seen this a few times & although.. He ultimately commits murder,don't blame him for looking elsewhere.

His wife talked to and treated him like a child,seemed he was carrying too much & finally snapped.. Everytime she(wife)said his name,it made me cringe.. Anybody else?

Some might feel how can I say this? Although based on a true movie,probably many facts might of been glossed over.. Plus he as well,got lied to by someone.

Again.. doesn't justify several things,but room for understanding & healing should be considered.

This movie was cast & acted decent,as well cinematography was done with quality.

Is it worth checking out? Yes! A better Lifetime production.

Based off a true story (most are) but I remember this case in the news last year. A family is totally turned around when 47 yr old married father of 2 Thomas Montgomery becomes obsessed with a certain chat room and then becomes fixated on a young blond woman/Kate . He develops a keen interest in her too so he pretends he is a 21 year old marine sniper.This online affair last almost a year and then it starts to get out of hand when his wife used his computer and found a couple days worth of chat logs. She confronted her husband and informs this young woman her husband is not who he seems. So both Thomas's relationships are in serious trouble. He cannot seem to stay off of the computer so he signs on and actually again chats with Kate. Kate tells him she intends on seeing a much younger man Brian, a friend of Thomas's. He gets incredibly jealous and then tragedy happens. This is a surreal story of people who cannot separate fantasy from reality and they caused an absolute disaster.

Thomas Montgomery is 47 and still works as a laborer in a factory that makes metal parts. His wife Carol does office work for a doctor, along with Amanda. Their marriage seems okay but he has trouble in bed. They have two young daughters, one on a swim team.

Thomas plays poker with his friends, including Brian Barrett. One night the friends tell Thomas that they also play online and invite him to join them. Part of the fun of online poker is chatting with other players. Immediately after Thomas signs up for the site, Talhotblond, who says her real name is Katie, invites him to chat. Thomas, who uses the name "marinesniper", served in the Marines and was a sniper in his younger days, but he got hurt. Talhotblond sends him a photo of a gorgeous young blonde in a bikini. Is it really her? Or if it is, is it an old photo? I won't say, but Thomas definitely deceives his new friend by telling her that he is currently serving and getting ready to go to Iraq and Afghanistan (this movie is set in a time when we still had troops in those countries). He also finds an old picture of himself in his uniform and sends it. You can't really blame Thomas for being tempted. He'd like to be this young macho marine again, and the first time we see his wife, she is really not much to look at. Taking off the glasses and fixing up her hair help, but Carol is not Katie.

Thomas becomes obsessed with his chats, often staying on the computer late at night. Since his wife sometimes needs the computer, he buys a laptop so he can "cheat" without Carol finding out. But she eventually does, and this introduces complications.

I enjoy "Raising Hope" a lot, and Garret Dillahunt makes a very good moron, but here his character is at least somewhat intelligent and just uses poor judgment. With a beard and glasses, I did not know who he was. I knew the name from somewhere, but couldn't remember at the time. So Dillahunt really becomes the character for me, since I didn't know him any other way. He does a good job, and in some scenes he really exceeds expectations. For those who don't know the story, I won't explain just what I mean.

Laura San Giacomo does a very good job, particularly in the scene where she confronts her husband. She made me really uncomfortable, and that's actually a good thing. Women will probably be pleased with her performance in the scene. As a guy, I kind of want Thomas to get away with it, and it's kind of unsettling to see what happens.

Ashley Hinshaw is pretty to look at. I can't say her acting is anything outstanding, but who cares? Just look at her. "Tommy" (Drew Seeley) and Katie appear in scenes that take place entirely in the imagination of Thomas.

One thing bothered me. Thomas claimed one reason he got a laptop was that the desktop was old and slow. But the Internet is almost never slow in movies and TV. And this web site was fast! Katie's messages to Thomas appeared long before any real person could have actually typed that much.

This was a mostly enjoyable experience.