Obituary (2006 TV Movie) User Reviews

Death Notice

[krorie · 5/10 · 23 July 2006]

The premise of this film is excellent, an obituary columnist for a local newspaper reading obituaries on her PC before the deaths occur, then ultimately reading her own. Reminds one of Mark Twain's comment after reading his own obituary in a newspaper, "The report of my death has been highly exaggerated." Unfortunately this made-for-TV flick does not develop the idea creatively and the viewer ends up with a routine murder mystery full of plot holes and psycho-babble. And it's not even a good whodunit. The killer can be identified early on as a result of quite obvious clues; plus the red herrings are just as easy to pick out. The viewer should be aware, however, that the opening sequence inside a mental institution is crucial for the story; so don't miss it.

The story concerns an obituary reporter for the Tribune, Denise Wilcox (Josie Bissett), with a very unsettling childhood. She is highly ambitious but her steps for advancement are blocked when the old editor expires and the new boss places Denise's ex-lover, Simon Castillo (Grant Nickalls), in the key staff position she was seeking. Her life becomes more complicated when she stumbles upon a dead body while jogging through the woods. The name of the murdered woman had appeared to her in a newspaper earlier but she is unable to verify this.

As the late Red Buttons used to say, "Strange things are happening." Other victims' names begin showing up on Denise's computer screen before they are killed. She begins to think that her old mental illness is returning. Her fears are assuaged by a young assistant, Luke (Craig Olejnik), who obviously has a crush on her. She begins to consult with a Gothic person who runs a Gothic revival shop about a strange sign that appeared as graffiti on a wall near where the first body was found, a sign that has of late been part of a recurring nightmare. It is a symbol of a Hindu goddess for both creation and destruction; this only complicates the situation. There are a few thrills toward the end when Denise's own name pops up on her computer and she is marked for death.

Besides the weak script (written by whom?), the acting leaves much to be desired. The cast is composed mainly of TV performers and it shows. Josie Bissett is a beautiful woman but only a passable actress. Of the three leads, Craig Olejnik does the best job. His final scene is chilling.

This muddled drama is worth watching only if there is nothing else of interest on the TV schedule. You may even want to opt for the shopping channel.

The Dead Column

[wes-connors · 4/10 · 19 October 2013]

Someone looking like our blonde star is in a mental facility for adult women, young boys and a few staffers. Clearly disturbed, she decides to commit suicide. Because we leave it for so long, this opening gets "Obituary" off to a confusing start. Eventually, it is explained. After the credits, attractive Josie Bissett (as Denise Wilcox) introduces herself through narration. She's stuck in a dead end job as an obituary writer. What's weird is that people die after she gets pop-ups on her computer alerting her about their deaths. Most people would assume someone was messing with them, but Bissett considers the messages omens. Some kind of voodoo doll is also involved. Bissett investigates. Male companionship is available with attractive co-workers Craig Olejnik (as Luke) and Grant Nickalls (as Simon). Their roles are obvious and the story winds up following an all too familiar path, with too much of the "shaky camera" look leading the way.

**** Obituary (7/23/06) John Bradshaw ~ Josie Bissett, Craig Olejnik, Grant Nickalls, Joe Pingue

She wore a yellow ribbon, or was it a scarf ?

[sol1218 · 5/10 · 3 June 2008]

**SPOILER ALERT** Overdone murder suspense/drama involving a former mental patient who ended up with a dead-end Job on the prestigious Oakville Tribune as it's obituary columnist.

Denise Wilcox, Josie Bissett,has been working at the Tribune's obituary desk for some three years when something big finally opened up for her. That's when veteran ace reporter Stanley Morgan, Bill Lynn, suddenly collapsed and died of a heart-attack with his job expected to go to Denise. It came as a big surprise that the person getting Morgan's job, as it's star reporter, at the Tribune was non-other then Denise's ex-boyfriend Simon Casteillo, Grat Nickalls. The person who drove Denise to attempted suicide when she, and Simon, was a teenager!

We learn during the course of the movie, in a number of steamy flashbacks, that Denise's mother drove her insane when she broke up her relationship with Simon. This lead to her , after an attempted suicide, to be committed to the Cliffcrest Sanitarium.

Recovered and out in the world Denise is now confronted with the very person, besides her mother, who was responsible for her mental problems Simon Castillo! Not only that it's Simon who got the job, with him just being hired, that she always wanted! This undoubtedly isn't going to help Denise's mental state which we soon see quickly deteriorate.

It's just about the time that Simon shows up to work at the Tribune that things really start getting weird for Denise with her receiving on her computer messages of people who died, by being murdered, before they actually did. One of those persons is a woman whom Denise discovered murdered in the park while she was doing her morning jog! It also happened that Denise possibly saw her killer who, running with a hood over his head, knocked her over while exiting the murder scene.

All these incidents lead to Denise's sever mental problems resurfacing with only the Tribune's mail-room boy the kind and understanding as well as sensitive Luke, Craig Olejnik, trying to help her. Luke seeing what all this strain is doing to Denise goes out on his own in trying to find out who's sending Denise these strange message that by the time the movie is over lead to the deaths, that the massages predicted, of some half dozen persons. The last massage that Denise got predicted the death, by being murdered, of non-other then herself that's to happen at midnight the very next day!

We the audience are really left hanging, like Denise, in this muddled made for TV movie. There's so many potholes in the story that you feel like your walking through a desert minefield. There's an occult angle, Kali or Indian Tugee, to the murders that completely falls apart in that the person who comes up with it, and should have know better, occult store owner Zara, Julia Chantres, ends up becoming a victim of it. Zara's untimely death, by hanging, seemed to be an effort by the movie makers to not only kill her off but put Zara's cockamamie theories to who's been doing the killings finally to rest.

Must have been feeling generous

[rps-2 · 3/10 · 27 April 2008]

I must have been in a good mood to give this shameful, predictable, embarrassing movie even a 3. What's wrong with it? Let's start with the gratuitous sex although I admit the rotational style of bonking was something I had not seen (nor experienced) before. And I guess they also saved a few bucks by showing the same sex scene three times. Then there are the inconsistencies. The "Oakville Tribune" seems to be in a green part of whatever town it was supposed to be. (Hamilton Ontario???) Yet in the scenes on the roof, it appears to be in an industrial area with a steel mill belching smoke and flames. Also, the inside of the building --- the newsroom --- the stairways --- seem much bigger than the outside. SPOILERS HERE Then, when our intrepid reporter finally gets fired, she comes back to the building several times, once after hours. Hardly likely. The ending is also pitifully predictable...the classic bait and switch caper in which the good guy turns out to be the bad guy. But my major objection is the fact this is yet another movie financed with Canadian and Ontario tax credits which is ashamed to set itself in Canada, yet again proving that the Canadian film industry is craven and opportunistic. A country's movies must do more than just provide jobs. They should reflect the culture. It's bad enough that the American studios use Toronto as a stand in for New York. But it is embarrassing and infuriating when Canadian producers (in this case, CanWest Global) do it with help from the federal and provincial governments. In a word... BAH!

Josie Bissett in Obituary

[lroche-2 · 8/10 · 18 November 2006]

Josie Bissett is gorgeous and is a very good actress!! I would have expected her to be in some 'bigger' movies. I think it is one of the better movies made in Canada. The cast performed well in their acting, the story line was interesting. I especially liked Josie's portrayal of the character in the movie but the rest of the cast portrayed their characters very well. I wish the credits at the end would have shown all the songs and performers of the music. One song was performed at least three times in the movie and it would be interesting to know what song it is. I missed seeing where it was filmed also. When you search for the movie on www.movies.com this movie does not show up. When you search for Josie you find the other movies she has been in. The cast in each of those movies are not very well known though. I never did do a search for any of the other members of the cast of Obituary, but I assume it would be the same result - no big name actors or actresses. It would be interesting to see Josie alongside some of the better known, more experiences actors and actresses.

Obituary a big bore

[guilfisher-1 · 8 November 2008]

This is mainly due to such a stupid script idea and bad acting from the leading lady, played by Josie Bisset. Even her hair annoyed me. What is it with these hunks of hair over one eye these days? Is this considered sexy? Please. It looks like the actress is unkempt and sloppy. Doesn't comb her hair. Bisset's form of acting consists of constantly brushing her hair out of her face. Ever hear of hairpins or hair spray? So, watching her was quite painful for this viewer. I finally gave up on this movie after watching an hour of it. I did like Craig Olejnik as an actor. Also Grant Nickalls was worth watching as well.

It seems that most of these made for TV movies consist of women who manage to have hair dos that cover their one eye or their face. When you want to watch a film, you don't want to look at women who lack the taste of looking well groomed. I keep remembering the classics where the face was the thing when it comes to glamor. Not hair. With the exception of Veronica Lake and the peek-a-boo bang. But that was the 40s. This is the new century. Get with it.