The Perfect Marriage

The ironic title "The Perfect Marriage" gets the viewer in the right mood to expect the worst. It seems that successful and rich entrepreneur, Richard Danforth (William Moses), has the perfect wife in Marrianne, aka Annie (Jamie Luner), who is adept at party mixing. She appears to be the ideal spouse for her clean-cut aspiring husband. Adding to Marrianne's blissful state is the fact that her father-in-law is president of the company where Richard works. All is going well for the happy couple when suddenly Marrianne's deadly past catches up with her in the form of a slimy leach called Brent Richter (James Wilder). Some time ago in another state, Brent and Marrianne had engineered the death of her aged husband. The good wife, Marrianne,had jabbed her old man in the neck with a fatal dose of potassium chloride. But poor Marriane finds her partner in crime with another woman. Even worse, she learns that Brent has squandered the old fellow's money on wine, women, and bad debts.

Marrianne attempts to buy Brent off. When he refuses, she decides that she loves him once more. Together they concoct a scheme to get her father-in-law's fortune. This time around, however, Richard's secretaries become suspicious, leading to complications involving murder and mayhem. Most of this is routine at best, but there are a few novel twists and turns thrown in from time to time, especially in the way the writers deal with Marrianne at the end of the film.

The acting is not bad for a made-for-TV flick. The direction is adequate, though at times the film is a bit talky. So though the viewer has seen most of it before in a different guise, there is enough excitement to please fans of the genre.