authorb22 Reviews

Murder in My House (2006 TV Movie)

Decent, but could have been better

[6/10 · 5 May 2014]

I recently saw this movie online, and it was OK. Gary Hudson played his role of the next-door neighbor with a dark secret. However, for the most part, Barbara Niven and Daniel J. Travanti's acting was wooden and felt like they were just reading off a script. But it was still a pretty good guilty pleasure movie.

The movie plot was that children's author Lauren Kessler (Niven) moved into a new house with her ex-attorney father, Stan Douglas (Travanti). Their neighbor, Brian Ellis (Hudson) starts to become involved in their lives, developing a relationship with Lauren. But after learning of a murder that occurred in the guest house, Stan starts digging into the case, wanting to clear the man's wife (Lifetime movie veteran Sophie Gendron) of the crime.

If you're like me, you could probably tell who the killer was. And the movie wastes no time revealing it. That's a big complaint I have with the movie. It has almost no suspense. We know who the killer is, and there's no twists or surprises along the way.

If you're looking for a quick movie to watch over the weekend, this is a good choice. But if you're looking for something deeper, then you should to look for another movie.

Social Nightmare (2013 TV Movie)

Very good Lifetime movie

[10/10 · 3 May 2014]

I don't understand all the hate that this movie gets. I found the movie very entertaining, and thought I feel Daryl Hannah's acting wasn't the best, it didn't hinder the movie by much. And Kirsten Prout it very talented and attractive.

The plot is that high school senior Kat Hardy (Prout), an academically successful student who's class president and recently accepted into Brown university, has her future jeopardized by a hacker who posts inappropriate and insulting things, turning her friends against her. The hacker's actions slowly cause her life to unravel, ultimately causing her to be pulled to the edge of sanity (that's a little extreme, but she does have to take pills for it).

The plot is very intriguing and the acting, for the most part, was very good. But the twist at the end (which I won't spoil) is pretty obvious after a while. Here's some more negatives I have: 1. The movie's DVD title. I won't say it, because it spoils the entire movie. If they HAD to release the movie under a new title, they should have chosen the working title, Offline. 2. Daryl Hannah's performance as Kat's mother, Susan, isn't the best. But it isn't the worst, either.

This is still a great movie to watch. But I suggest watching it on TV so you don't get it spoiled by the DVD title.

Home Invasion (2012 TV Movie)

Pretty good Lifetime movie

[8/10 · 28 April 2014]

Home Invasion is a pretty good Lifetime movie. It's nothing that would win an award, but it's still pretty good. Haylie Duff and Lisa Sheridan are very well in their respective roles.

The film's premise is very intriguing. Restaurant owner Nicole Johnson (Sheridan) walks in on a (surprise, surprise) home invasion with her adopted daughter, Abigail (Kyla Dang). Nicole is able to shoot and kill on of the intruders, Will (Taymour Ghazi) and forces the other one, Ray (C. Thomas Howell) to flee the house. The gang's lookout, Jade (Duff), is forced by Ray to drive away, leaving Will, her boyfriend, behind.

After ditching Ray in the forest, Jade returns to LA, meets Nicole in a crime victims support group, and sets about destroying her life. The ways that Duff's character goes about destroying the woman's life are very elaborate and seems a bit complicated for a regular person to do. One of the most complex acts she does is make copies of Nicole's keys, breaks into her restaurant (which she's already had closed by putting a substance in the food, making many people sick), setting the place on fire, and planting evidence to frame Nicole for the crime, causing her to lose her daughter.

I won't spoil the ending, but it is pretty good, if not a bit simplistic and predictable. And now, having gotten my positives out of the way, here's my negatives: 1. While Duff and Sheridan shined in their respective roles, Jason Brooks (who plays Nicole's recovering alcoholic boyfriend) is a bit bland in his role as the clueless Lifetime boyfriend who doesn't think anything is amiss until he's nearly killed. And Kyla Dang's portrayal as the innocent Lifetime child pulled into the drama is a bit overly dramatic. 2. C. Thomas Howell's character, Ray, is just awful and could have been taken out, and he should have. Ray is completely unlikable and is your stereotypical "evil Lifetime man" 3. When Jade first meets Nicole at the crime support group, she lies and says her name is Megan. Why does she have to lie about her name? Nicole doesn't know her, so it won't be a risk to reveal her first name. 4. One of Jade's acts of revenge against Nicole is convince her daughter, Abigail, to swim in the pool alone, despite not knowing how to swim. But Abigail's character seems to be between the ages of 8 and 11. Wouldn't she be old enough to know she shouldn't swim alone?

But this movie is still very good and you should watch it if you get the chance.

Starving in Suburbia (2014)

Good, honest depiction of anorexia

[7/10 · 28 April 2014]

Lifetime's latest film, Starving In Suburbia, aired last Saturday and was very good to me. Laura Wiggins (who has already starred in 2 other Lifetime movies, "Girl, Positive" and "The Cheating Pact") did very well in this movie as the insecure teen dancer who turns to anorexia to control her weight. Callie Thorne also does well in the role of the concerned mother trying to help her daughter.

The premise of the movie is that teen dancer Hannah (Wiggins) is shown a Thinspiration website by a fellow dancer friend, which is a community of people who treat anorexia as a way of life and treat the act of being skinny like a religion. The scenes where Hannah "chats" with ButterflyAna seem a little unrealistic in the way they discuss their intentions, but since I haven't met anyone with anorexia, I might not know how seriously they take weight loss.

I also applaud the movie's ending, which shows Hannah's wrestler brother, Leo (Brendan Meyer) is revealed to be anorexic after passing out during a match, being hospitalized, and dies. He is also revealed to be a person that tried to warn Hannah early on that ButterlyAna was a bad influence on her. That was a really nice twist, even though I dislike the father's reaction to the revelation ("He's a boy! He's an athlete!" Seriously? Are people really still that naive?)

Now that I've gotten my praise out of the way, here's some negatives about the movie: 1. The title. I don't feel "Starving In Suburbia" is a good title for it. The original title "Thinspiration" was a better title. 2. The sub-plot involving Hannah and her friend Kayden's boyfriend was pretty unnecessary and could have been cut from the movie entirely. It was dug into for about 2 minutes and was then completely abandoned. 3. In the end, Hannah goes to see ButterflyAna (Izabella Miko) at her house and confronts her about causing her brother's death. How did Hannah find her? I don't think she would've posted her address on the website, and it seems way too convenient that she's within driving distance of Hannah's house. 4. Hannah's confrontation with ButterflyAna felt way too short and kinda shoe-horned in. It should have been at least a few minutes longer.

But nevertheless, this movie was very good and one of Lifetime's best.

A Lover's Revenge (2005 TV Movie)

Great thriller!

[9/10 · 27 April 2014]

I recently watched this on MyLifetime.com (thank you, Lifetime!) and it was great! Alexandra Paul, William Moses, and Gabrielle Carteris shined in their roles in this movie.

The basic plot of the movie is that Dr. Liz Manners (Paul) is a radio psychologist for a radio station that gives relationship advice. When she advises frequent caller Sara Jane (Sophie Gerdon) to leave her abusive, obsessive husband, Kyle Lundstrom (Moses), she tries to escape from him and is hit and killed by a car in the process. It is then that Kyle works his way into Liz's life and plots revenge against her, blaming her for destroying his marriage.

The acting was fantastic and the story was extremely compelling. While there were a few plot holes, (the most obvious for me is how Kyle found Liz to begin with) the movie was very enjoyable and I recommend you watch it on Lifetime's website or buy it on DVD if you can.

Also, this isn't a complaint or compliment; just something I noticed. At one point, Gabrielle Carteris' character looks up Kyle Lundstrom in the police database and says "I knew it" when she finds him. At first, I thought that meant she was Sara Jane's sister (the one she mentioned during some of her calls to Dr. Manners). But that isn't the case. Just wanted to share that.