Deadly Vows (1994 TV Movie) User Reviews

Blue collar murder mystery....

[MarieGabrielle · 6/10 · 30 September 2006]

Actually, it's not a mystery as to who did it, but as to why.

Gerald McRaney is Tom, an unhappily married truck driver in northeast Michigan who tires of married life (his wife is well portrayed by veteran actress Peggy Lipton, who looks quite good). Lipton is getting older, so Tom finds a young waif (Josie Bissett) whom he can manipulate and impress with his "wisdom". (I couldn't resist the sarcasm).

At any rate, Bissett thinks she has found her dream man, and buys into his tales of divorce, threats of violence, strange car explosions, etc. Apparently Tom is a borderline personality who must get what he wants, when he wants it (in this case, Bissett). He marries her, and takes her away from her job at an industrial laundry service. (She appears to have some brain cells, but nonetheless works at a minimum wage job). She is the perfect target for him. He gets her to manipulate his wife as well, who is almost murdered in the car explosion he has engineered, at the behest of a friend.

All in all, it is a bit over the top, but McRaney always adds something, and this was actually based on a true story. It is sad to believe some young girls can be so ignorant. 6/10

Secret Love

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 30 August 2007]

***SPOILERS*** Suffering from an unnerving mid-life crisis Saginaw Mich. truck driver Tom Weston, Gerald McRadeny, starts drifting into a second childhood where he looks to ditch his wife Nancy, Peggy Lipton, for a much younger woman. Having met 19 year-old Bobbi Gilbert, Josie Bissett, at a local bowling alley Tom starts to work on the unsuspecting and naive young woman by hounding her at her job at the Nelsons Linens laundry factory every afternoon that she leaves from work.

It doesn't take long for the smooth talking Tom to get the shy and inexperienced Bobbi to go along with him in being his, who's well over 20 years her senior, girlfriend. To Bobbi's credit she puts up with the silver tongued Romeo only because she thinks that he's, like her, single and unattached but when she accidentally finds out otherwise things start to go sour between her and "Tommy Boy".

Tom feeds the very impressionable Bobbi this line of BS that she swallows hook line and sinker that he's going to divorce Nancy and marry her. In fact Tom whats to have it both ways with a wife and girlfriend on the side with the danger of him divorcing Nancy he'll lose everything, the house his cherry red mustang and bank account, and end up in the street. It's later in the movie that Tom comes up with this bright idea to have Nancy killed in a car explosion that he'll set up for her. Nancy already caught Tom and Bobbi together and had her suspicions about him only to have him convince her that Bobbi is only a friend of his and nothing more. You wonder how much longer Nancy would fall for her husbands half-a** excuses whenever she finds him and Bobbi alone together.

Back to Tom's plan of doing Nancy in he concocts this scenario of him being threatened by someone out to get him going so far as having his prized mustang bobby-trapped and blown up. Tom of course was nowhere next to his totaled car but made like, rubbing oil and and grease all over himself, that he was to throw off suspicion by the police. Tom's plan to kill Nancy in a similar car explosion backfires with her miraculously surviving and it's that very unpleasant fact, on Tom's part, that makes him a prime suspect in his wife's attempted murder.

Bobbi now implicated in Nancy's attempted murder, which she had no knowledge off, comes clean and tells all that she knows of her lovers, and secretly married husband, Tom's double life. This all leads Bobbi in losing her job at Nelsons Linens and later losing her life in a, even though it's never proved, contract murder engineered by Tom behind bars in order to keep her from testifying against him at his trial.

Nancy who was very reluctant to testify against Tom later changes her mind after Bobbi's murder knowing now for the first time what a murderous sleaze-ball he really is. Nancy's testimony leads to a conviction of her cheating husband Tom Waston on a charge of attempted murder together with a charge of bigamy. The criminal charge,if convicted of it, that would have really put Tom away for good, Bobbi's contracted murder, he got away with thus being given only a 20 year sentence.

Tom Weston had the distinction of cheating on both his wife Nancy and girlfriend Bobbi Gilbert at the same time with both his victims totally kept in the dark about his real intentions. It was Toms attempt to shut Bobbi up by having her killed that in the end sealed his fate by finally opening Nancy's eyes and seeing what she failed to see during the entire movie; that he wasn't worth lying or perjuring herself for to save his rotten neck.

Being Mrs. Weston

[lavatch · 7/10 · 5 August 2021]

Tom Weston has to be one of the most repellent characters in any film of the 1990s. In "Deadly Vows," the smooth-talking Tom is married to Helen, a beautiful and devoted woman. Yet he squanders that precious relationship by committing bigamy with young Bobbi Gilbert, who becomes the second Mrs. Weston.

It is shocking to contemplate that the film was based on a true story. From the outset, the narcissistic Tom was a dirty old man, stealing the innocence of young Bobbi. An ordinary factory worker and naïve girl, Bobbi is swept off her feet, then makes the fateful decision to marry Tom, knowing that he is married. She believed that would be "our little secret."

The most interesting character in the film was Helen, the long-suffering wife, who is finally forced to take a stand against her husband by testifying against him. Helen makes the right call and puts the "Ol' Saginaw Flash" away for twenty years.

One of the best scenes in the film is the denouement that takes place in the prison yard. Ol' Saginaw is regaling his fellow inmates with one of his yarns about how he seduced young Bobbi. Grinning and leaning in to emphasize his words, Tom speaks as if has forgotten that he ordered Bobbi's execution.

A grim and depressing true story of human depravity.

Good Cheap Made for TV Melodrama Sleaze

[Jakealope · 6/10 · 15 July 2022]

I liked it. Yes it is a Lifetime movie where TWO women get victimized by their sleazebag joint hubby, played well by Gerald McRaney as Tom Weston. He is obviously having a mid life crisis of his life of comfortable blue collar delivery truck driving dullness. His attractive wife Nancy, played by Peggy Lipton, looks too good to be rejected by her not very fabulous husband. Then he finds some young dull but pretty laundry worker Bobbie played by Josie Bissett to woo and then secretly and illegally married. It was a real comic set up where young Bobbi acted like just a family friend in front of Nancy because Tom managed to buffalo Nancy to not trust her feelings. Bobbie even befriended Nancy. Weird. Then Tom came up with this hare brained plan to use explosives to off his 1st wife. Then after he fails and is arrested for attempted murder, he becomes sort of a jailhouse heavy as he plans to have one of his wives bumped off.

OK it was a low budget Canadian flick where Vancouver doubled in for Northern Michigan, which is not a stretch. But It was watchable and fun and wasn't that predictable. I recommend it!

Gut- churning TV movie thriller will touch you ...in all the wrong places

[whooshmail · 3/10 · 26 March 2021]

Well you know what... I quite like made for TV movies with "Deadly" in the title but this one is kind of an unholy storm of very wrong things.

If I'm honest it's skating quite close to being horror so don't put it on in front of grandma

Basically a creepy middle aged man decides to have a full on midlife crisis and get himself a 20 year old girlfriend. He then concocts a rubbish plan to get rid of one of the women in his life.

Highlights of this film include one of the most cringe- inducing vomitus love scenes ever. I don't want to call it love but I can't call it sex because that doesn't happen thankfully for us all. If you enjoy seeing a podgy middle aged man perving over a boggle- eyed dense young girl then your luck is well and truly in. For the rest of us prepare for gut heaving scenes of unparalleled grossness that will have you shouting at the TV and making retching noises. If you are hoping to see a young made for TV actress without her top on watch something else. The only person without their top on here is our leading man. So if what you most want to see hairy moobs, you have also hit the jackpot.

To be fair, this guy does an amazing job of being absolutely repellent and loathsome, so hats off to you big man -have three stars for your trouble.

Great movie, Great memories

[aggiesweets · 27 July 2003]

WOW! This was the first movie Î had ever seen on Lifetime Movie Network with my cousin a few years ago, and it was wonderful. Sure, it probably has a horrible plot, bad actors, and a terrible ending, but it's the memories that count. Anyway, I recommend this movie to anyone who wants to have fun with a lot of friends.

I'm not convinced

[nightroses · 6/10 · 29 July 2020]

This TV movie from the 1990's was filled with a lot of annoying themes. A young woman falls in love with a much older man, who is already married. He spins her a lot of lies so that she's pulled in. This man is sly and creepy, portrayed well by the actor, but it's still disgusting. He's abusive to his wife who lives at home, and he's got his mistress that he shows off to everyone. It says based on a true story but I can't find any evidence of that. I was appalled by this film.

Middle Age Crisis at its Worst

[donnagray519 · 1/10 · 21 January 2021]

Old creepy guy who changing young and dumb flesh.

Microphone peeking at 36 minutes. Sloppy.

Shutting this show down and moving onto an intelligent one.

I recommend watching it

[Carol_R · 8/10 · 12 August 2020]

Great performances by all actors. I really enjoyed this movie.