I've had a nearly killer case of bronchitis for the past ten days (ahem, Carmen), which is why I haven't posted this sooner. Also, I really did think there would be more comments from others. I know Barb is waiting until the 11th, so she can catch the first half of the show before she says anything. (Barb, I can burn this to CD and send it to you, if you need me to...)

First things first. Mr. Potter's hair did look very pretty. There might even have been a bit of highlighting going on there. In fact, everybody looked pretty in this thing. The DP apparently knew what he was doing and was allowed to take enough time to make sure the lighting worked in every shot.

I was a "Roswell" fan, so it was really good to see Shiri Appleby working in something again. I don't say she's a brilliant actress, but I find her likeable on screen and that's almost as good as being good.

The movie started off with Graydon, CP's character, narrating/reading from his latest mystery novel as we're shown a visual of a real murder. This was very noir (not to be confused with that dreadful two-part SS ep.) and really a lot of fun. The fun was immediately interrupted by a terrible mistake on the part of the director (that I won't reveal here), which pretty much spoiled the ending for me.

I had some pretty big problems with the script. It seems to me that Lifetime underestimates the intellegence of its audience by about 50%. Its a shame that they do because I think this could have been a really good movie.

A best-selling author is on a PR tour promoting his third book. He's asked by a stranger (Kelly) to spend a few days in Vermont and help her solve her sister's (Allison) murder. This would involve getting out of contractual obligations. It's a big upheaval. He'd lose book momentum. He'd lose money. He'd lose goodwill. He might incur lawsuits. Leaving the tour is a really bad idea. And anyway, her sister's still going to be dead in a month when the tour's over. There's nothing new going on to make this urgent for Kelly. So with all this - we don't see Graydon being either reluctant to help RIGHT NOW or being all caught up in what might be a very cool PR stunt or subject for a new book. Maybe those scenes were written and shot, but we don't see them. Graydon, whatever his motivation to help out, seems to just drift into this Mr. Nice Guy adventure with no repercussions from an agent or publisher or anything. That's just so Lifetime.

What wasn't typical of Lifetime was that the dead sister was slutty and kind of a rotten sister. That was refreshing.

Although I enjoyed his performance at the end of the movie, I thought that Mr. Potter's choice to play Mr. Nice Guy so neutrally was a poor one. There's more than one way to do contrast.

So, the end was spoiled for me early on and I had a lot of trouble with the setup for the premise. Overall, I'd still have to say that I had a lot of fun watching this thing. There were some nice red herrings, if less humor and snogging than I usually enjoy. The guy who played Hank did some really interesting stuff. 'Fun' is my fallback if something isn't brilliant. Usually, fun is good enough for TV.

Thanks so much for that, Pan. I hope you feel better.

I have to wait for my copy to arrive until I can watch the complete movie, but was able to watch tiny bits in the meantime. I caught "the terrible mistake", but I'm not really sure if I'd have if you'd haven't told me in the chat what it was. I still don't think it was a big problem for most viewers. From what I've seen so far, it seems to be an entertaining movie. Lol, I caught myself holding my breath in the beginning, when they jumped from the woman reading the book to what happened. Right now I'm torn between waiting to get my copy or watching all the bits and pieces I got as soon as possible. It may sound stupid, but there is a difference between reading all available spoilers and actually watch the end of the movie first (lol, though of course I already know it )

I watched the movie today and I guess the biggest thing for me was how abrupt it all came about as to who the "bad guy" was.... it all seemed a little sudden for me.

Chris was wonderful and I really enjoyed his performance and although I don't know the actress playing Kelly from anything else, I found her quite enjoyable also.

The premise of the movie is great and I enjoyed the ride.

Overall a really likeable movie with lots of Chris which is the best thing about it.



Will have to watch again tomorrow to see if I can pick the epic mistake Pan is referring to... I'm intrigued...

Pan, I hope you are being pampered and cared for by the husband and the critters. My critters are always very solicitous when I'm sick or sad, but I think they are more worried about who's going to feed and play with them if anything should happen to me.

.... duh! I have a new dvd/vcr recorder and thought I knew how to program the darn thing. Once again, I missed the beginning. Pan, dear friend, I need to take you up on your offer to send a copy to me.
I did catch the little secret that only the most fanatic CP fans would pick up on toward the beginning of the movie. It didn't spoil things for me, just made me feel clever.
My opinion is that CP's character did give us subtle hints of what was to come - very subtle. Pan, go back and watch the expressions when they met and when she was describing the murder of her sister and when he was in the sister's bedroom. There was a contained excitement in his character's eyes like only CP can do.
With apologies to our Board Mom, I must say that Chris looked great. The longer hair gives him back his "boyish charm" which I think was important to the character that he was playing. It was less fussy and contrived than the shorter, spikier look he's had in some of his recent roles.
Pan, I think I know what the DP does, but what does DP stand for?
Barb

My pampering was excellent and complete - however short-lived. (Thanks for asking.) I passed this Italian virus on to my husband and ended up having to pamper him for a few days.


I'll put the DVD in the mail tomorrow.


If you saw that part, you didn't miss much of the beginning at all, girl.


I guess I have to be hit over the head with subtlety before I notice it.


Sorry about that. DP stands for Director of Photography (aka Cinematographer). He's the guy who figures out how to use light, shadow, and the camera to achieve the look the director wants. More or less. Some DPs have more influence and input than others.

...and that's all I got.