Double visage

I watched this movie, because it's Friday night and it's Pick-A-Flick night on Lifetime Movie Channel. But 15 minutes into the movie, it was obvious that this was a remake of "Strangers on a Train." Having watched "Accidental Meeting" a few days ago - not a bad movie - I wasn't really in the mood to watch the same plot again, but I gave a try.

What a waste of time!

First, the writing was bad. The dialogue was inane, and unlike "Accidental Meeting," it didn't even make much sense. The writers didn't seem to know how they wanted to end this thing, and seemed to lose their own train of thought. Second, the acting was pretty bad. The delivery was flat and strained - but that's excusable, given the lines they had to deliver!

I usually enjoy Lifetime movies, except for the almost obligatory bedroom scenes, and I usually rate movies higher than the average, but I cannot recommend this at all, and a 3 is overly generous!

This movie was so bad it was laughable. I couldn't resist watching it though. The plot is standard, the acting quite horrible (supporting cast such as the nutty neighbor and the lawyer friend were better actors). Kind of amusing if you have some time to waste and like seeing the conclusion to a dramatic plot.

The headliner who plays "Kathy" was just fascinating because I couldn't decide if her deadpan, flat affect was the result of bad surgery or simply bad acting (I decided it was both). This leaves the script to comment on, which was pretty awful. Pat remarks, idiotic decisions, and reckless stupidity on the part of every character in the movie. Maybe this is what was so riveting; I don't know. I just watched it to see how bad it could be. (Actually the dialog doesn't even qualify to be called "cliche'" - but it's almost completely inane.)

All in all, very bad, cheaply made movie. The sets, the same scenes (a house, a building) were shown over and over with no artistry or actual tie-in to the action; more like props that were randomly dropped into the action in a bad play. A chase scene could have been shot by any juvenile in a warehouse or an old school: poorly shot, cheap props, minimal action.... and I still wanted to see the ending. Go figure.

This is a TV movie that aired on the Lifetime Network. It's just a variation on the old 'Strangers on a Train' story of two people pondering the removal of someone close to them (in this movie's case it's the husbands) and how that would improve their lives, then one of them goes off and kills the other's spouse then demands that her friend do the same for her in exchange. As in the original, the killer friend is a nutcase who continues to force the unwilling "partner" toward fulfilling the murder pact, otherwise be framed for the murder of her own husband. This film is such a retread it should pay royalties (or at least credit it) to the original writers. Story aside, the dialogue is pedestrian and the set up and follow through is clunky. Somehow we're supposed to believe that bad hubby Boxleitner, a multi-millionaire, can just hand his wife a quickie divorce settlement offer with a 24 hour deadline and she can't contest it. We're also supposed to believe that Yancy Butler's husband, shot dead in his backyard, might have been the victim of a "robbery gone wrong." Really.... one of those "Backyard Invasion Robberies" we hear about so often. They must have been after that fine cigar he was smoking. Anyway, this is just a mild entertainment not worth much notice, except as a comeback vehicle for the recently troubled Yancy Butler. She boozed her way out of the business for a few years and is trying to climb back in. Interesting that the pivotal "murder-the-spouses deal" scene is conducted with much wine drinking (not the real kind of course). Might have been a tough scene for Yancy to deal with. All the best to her, regardless. She is an interesting-looking (those eyes and brows) and sounding actress (that husky crackle).

Yancyl Butler always has a sad look on her face like she's crying! This movie another variant of Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN! Not bad! Acting isn't terrible!

Although her husband, "Dean Swanson" (William deVry) has cheated on her in the past, they have resolved their differences and "Kathy Swanson" (Yancy Butler) has found happiness in her marriage. The same cannot be said for her good friend "Sheryl" (Laura Soltis) who has just been asked for a divorce from her husband "James" (Bruce Boxleitner). Needless to say, both Kathy and her other good friend "Suzanne Debson" (Barbara Niven) reach out to Sheryl to extend their sympathies and lend their support during her time of emotional crisis. It's during this time that Kathy begins to suspect that Dean is cheating on her once again and needing to reach out to someone she goes to Sheryl's house to unwind. To her surprise, after several glasses of wine, Sheryl recommends that they each kill the other one's husband and Kathy-not realizing Sheryl is quite serious-laughingly agrees. Not long afterward, she is horrified to learn that Dean has indeed been murdered and that Sheryl is determined to have Kathy uphold her end of the supposed deal-or else an edited tape of their conversation will go to the police investigating the crime. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was obviously a remake of the Hitchcock classic "Strangers on a Train" and it suffers somewhat from the lack of originality along with the rather generic made-for-television format. On that note, the acting was adequate for the most part and, as far as remakes go, I suppose this one wasn't too bad and I have rated it accordingly. Average.