panaceamedia

Binge watching a series sure make continuity errors/irregularities more noticeable! "Last Scene Alive" had so many that I literally paused on separate occasions thrice and triple checked that I was watching the series in correct order.

This entry in the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series was a little off in many ways. Here are three examples without spoilers (any details I use are mentioned within the first few minutes after the intro):

1) Aurora very casually moved out of the house she fought so hard to stay in. Where she lived had no bearing on this movie and mentioning this was confusing and pointless. Aurora's tone didn't match her previous feelings toward her living arrangements.

2) John was gone abruptly (along with Doig) and both Aurora and her Mom's feelings about this were way too casual. That's another gripe about this film: many scenes were either a little overacted, or a little underacted.

3) Either Lynn was pregnant again (the other baby was never mentioned) or she had a reverse immaculate conception and the baby shrunk and morphed back inside her. A subtle shoutout to vore enthusiasts perhaps?

The intro of the movie was good enough. The panning was excessive, but the intro captured my interest. Also, the last 25 minutes were much better, aside from one scene that was plain ridiculous while at the same time having a "Chekov's Gun" so pointless, it was shooting nerf balls.

The middle portion was quite boring and predictable and if this was my first entry into this series, I would have given up on the show and series entirely. The guilty party was spotted immediately. I'm pretty sure this was not intended, and those responsible for this film were being sloppy. The acting was a little too big, the character makeup a bit too shiny, the camera zoomed in a little too much...just a combination of "not quite right" of many involved ended up spoiling a good chunk of the mystery.

The writing felt rushed, it seemed like each scene was only a few takes and the producers said "good enough", and the capable editing team must have been paid for the assignment, not by the hour.

Still, there were enjoyable scenes such as in the police hallway with Arthur and Robin who both acted quite well throughout. Also, something I did not realize until coming to this IMDB page would cause me to stick around if this movie popped up on TV so I could rewatch a few scenes. Providing more info than that -might- be considered a spoiler. Maybe just one more phrase: clever meta usage! An extra star tacked on for that.

I certainly hope the rest of these Mysteries are more enjoyable and the script, character developments, and dynamic between characters are treated with better care.

This is a story about a couple of TV Repairmen, somewhat reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy, who accidentally get mixed up with the local mob and wind up smack in the middle between the mob family and the coppers. It's never not a comedy though, but still takes the plot seriously enough. So, no one turns into a horse (a L&H reference). However, there were a couple times I thought they went a bit too silly.

I'm not Italian, have never been to Sicily, and do not speak the language. I understood the jokes just fine, so not sure what the other reviewers were talking about.

The subs seemed accurate as the words matched the character's tone and body language.

Overall, this was an enjoyable watch. Now that I know this is a comedy duo, I plan to watch more of their work. A well-deserved 7* is my rating.