This movie starts out with a bang. No pun intended. The first scene is very dark and shocking and very personal. It sets a tone for the movie. The first fifteen minutes has a lot involved. But as the movie progresses, there are issues that arise. Tom Cavanaugh and Boris Kodjoe are both good actors, but I'm thinking this movie looked better on paper.
First off, the glaring one. In what world would a police officer be able to use a minor to help with his case? I like how when Alex originally goes to the station about her mom's case, they won't give her info because she's a minor. Why didn't they just make her an 18 yr old college freshman? I'm sitting here where Detective Moran is telling Alex don't tell anyone what they're doing. Come on, guy. Like that wouldn't come back to bite you? Not to mention (well others have mentioned), she can't just take stuff on behalf of the police as evidence. TV's portrayal of law and order is how people in real life get hemmed up bc "tv said they could." I'm still early in the movie, but there's no way any of this would pass in court.
Where were Mom's parents? Siblings? There were no scenes of Nick (father) telling the wife's family and we didn't see them at all. This girl taking on mothering responsibilities and being allowed to was kind of crazy. But somehow she also has time for track. Where's grandma or family to help out? It would make more sense for a family member to come help out and have the suspicions. I could see the mom confiding in her mom or sisters or brothers that she was having marital problems and was considering divorce. The detective basically planted the idea in the daughter's head.
I have no problem with who is obviously playing the villain, but the character barely has a personality, so at this point in the movie, there's no sort of indication of how this could happen. He doesn't come off as Father of the Year, or obsessive about his family and the status quo (he gets rid of mom's stuff immediately for crying out loud), he lets the daughter play mom to her siblings. This movie is terrible. It would have been better for the movie to have him be all these things and have the facade slowly unravel under the pressure. There were no real scenes of Nick "acting" like the devastated husband who just wanted to be there for his kids. In Suspicion, the ending could have gone either way, but the entire time we are questioning events. In Dial M for Murder...you know the villain but his own lies get him caught without the characters trying too hard or even believing him capable. This set up is nothing like either of those films.
Another failure, when a spouse is a suspect in real life, most of the time, they aren't just "left alone." Nick has yet to be brought back in for questioning, asked about his marriage, the affair, etc. There have been some extremely high profile cases where the spouse was very much publicly under the investigative eye. This entire investigation is dependent on the MINOR child. Good grief! I'm finally at the climax and this terrible detective sent the minor child to retrieve a murder weapon and then tells his boss about it and asks him why he hasn't sent anyone there. WTF!! On top of the obvious danger, it would be inadmissible in court. This is basic and you don't need to be a lawyer to know this.
P. S. What was the point of the younger kids? Just so that they could give Alex a different father? Why did the mom lie and allow Alex to believe Nick was her dad? She was clearly at least 3-4 years older than the next kid. Why did the dad stay away and allow another man to raise his child? Then he's here at the end like he hadn't been missing her whole life? This movie is a MESS.
P. S. S. OK, so I'm sure by the time the father went to jail some other family came around... possibly with a lawyer.? And yet they let this girl go to an IA hearing by herself? This movie is so crazy. Also, the voiceover at the end...the detective saying he would do the same thing over again...aka endanger a minor??? WHO WROTE THIS MOVIE? Maybe next time it'll get the minor killed.
One realistic thing is the sister and brother not believing their dad could be a killer and not speaking to their sister. That's believable. And the fact that there was even an IA hearing makes me wonder if they started there and worked backwards to have all the absurd things happen that lead to a hearing.
This review is my long-winded way of saying skip this movie. This movie airs often and I finally caught it. Not worth it.
First off, the glaring one. In what world would a police officer be able to use a minor to help with his case? I like how when Alex originally goes to the station about her mom's case, they won't give her info because she's a minor. Why didn't they just make her an 18 yr old college freshman? I'm sitting here where Detective Moran is telling Alex don't tell anyone what they're doing. Come on, guy. Like that wouldn't come back to bite you? Not to mention (well others have mentioned), she can't just take stuff on behalf of the police as evidence. TV's portrayal of law and order is how people in real life get hemmed up bc "tv said they could." I'm still early in the movie, but there's no way any of this would pass in court.
Where were Mom's parents? Siblings? There were no scenes of Nick (father) telling the wife's family and we didn't see them at all. This girl taking on mothering responsibilities and being allowed to was kind of crazy. But somehow she also has time for track. Where's grandma or family to help out? It would make more sense for a family member to come help out and have the suspicions. I could see the mom confiding in her mom or sisters or brothers that she was having marital problems and was considering divorce. The detective basically planted the idea in the daughter's head.
I have no problem with who is obviously playing the villain, but the character barely has a personality, so at this point in the movie, there's no sort of indication of how this could happen. He doesn't come off as Father of the Year, or obsessive about his family and the status quo (he gets rid of mom's stuff immediately for crying out loud), he lets the daughter play mom to her siblings. This movie is terrible. It would have been better for the movie to have him be all these things and have the facade slowly unravel under the pressure. There were no real scenes of Nick "acting" like the devastated husband who just wanted to be there for his kids. In Suspicion, the ending could have gone either way, but the entire time we are questioning events. In Dial M for Murder...you know the villain but his own lies get him caught without the characters trying too hard or even believing him capable. This set up is nothing like either of those films.
Another failure, when a spouse is a suspect in real life, most of the time, they aren't just "left alone." Nick has yet to be brought back in for questioning, asked about his marriage, the affair, etc. There have been some extremely high profile cases where the spouse was very much publicly under the investigative eye. This entire investigation is dependent on the MINOR child. Good grief! I'm finally at the climax and this terrible detective sent the minor child to retrieve a murder weapon and then tells his boss about it and asks him why he hasn't sent anyone there. WTF!! On top of the obvious danger, it would be inadmissible in court. This is basic and you don't need to be a lawyer to know this.
P. S. What was the point of the younger kids? Just so that they could give Alex a different father? Why did the mom lie and allow Alex to believe Nick was her dad? She was clearly at least 3-4 years older than the next kid. Why did the dad stay away and allow another man to raise his child? Then he's here at the end like he hadn't been missing her whole life? This movie is a MESS.
P. S. S. OK, so I'm sure by the time the father went to jail some other family came around... possibly with a lawyer.? And yet they let this girl go to an IA hearing by herself? This movie is so crazy. Also, the voiceover at the end...the detective saying he would do the same thing over again...aka endanger a minor??? WHO WROTE THIS MOVIE? Maybe next time it'll get the minor killed.
One realistic thing is the sister and brother not believing their dad could be a killer and not speaking to their sister. That's believable. And the fact that there was even an IA hearing makes me wonder if they started there and worked backwards to have all the absurd things happen that lead to a hearing.
This review is my long-winded way of saying skip this movie. This movie airs often and I finally caught it. Not worth it.