Thomas Montgomery is 47 and still works as a laborer in a factory that makes metal parts. His wife Carol does office work for a doctor, along with Amanda. Their marriage seems okay but he has trouble in bed. They have two young daughters, one on a swim team.
Thomas plays poker with his friends, including Brian Barrett. One night the friends tell Thomas that they also play online and invite him to join them. Part of the fun of online poker is chatting with other players. Immediately after Thomas signs up for the site, Talhotblond, who says her real name is Katie, invites him to chat. Thomas, who uses the name "marinesniper", served in the Marines and was a sniper in his younger days, but he got hurt. Talhotblond sends him a photo of a gorgeous young blonde in a bikini. Is it really her? Or if it is, is it an old photo? I won't say, but Thomas definitely deceives his new friend by telling her that he is currently serving and getting ready to go to Iraq and Afghanistan (this movie is set in a time when we still had troops in those countries). He also finds an old picture of himself in his uniform and sends it. You can't really blame Thomas for being tempted. He'd like to be this young macho marine again, and the first time we see his wife, she is really not much to look at. Taking off the glasses and fixing up her hair help, but Carol is not Katie.
Thomas becomes obsessed with his chats, often staying on the computer late at night. Since his wife sometimes needs the computer, he buys a laptop so he can "cheat" without Carol finding out. But she eventually does, and this introduces complications.
I enjoy "Raising Hope" a lot, and Garret Dillahunt makes a very good moron, but here his character is at least somewhat intelligent and just uses poor judgment. With a beard and glasses, I did not know who he was. I knew the name from somewhere, but couldn't remember at the time. So Dillahunt really becomes the character for me, since I didn't know him any other way. He does a good job, and in some scenes he really exceeds expectations. For those who don't know the story, I won't explain just what I mean.
Laura San Giacomo does a very good job, particularly in the scene where she confronts her husband. She made me really uncomfortable, and that's actually a good thing. Women will probably be pleased with her performance in the scene. As a guy, I kind of want Thomas to get away with it, and it's kind of unsettling to see what happens.
Ashley Hinshaw is pretty to look at. I can't say her acting is anything outstanding, but who cares? Just look at her. "Tommy" (Drew Seeley) and Katie appear in scenes that take place entirely in the imagination of Thomas.
One thing bothered me. Thomas claimed one reason he got a laptop was that the desktop was old and slow. But the Internet is almost never slow in movies and TV. And this web site was fast! Katie's messages to Thomas appeared long before any real person could have actually typed that much.
This was a mostly enjoyable experience.
