Tis might have supposedly have been inspired by a true life crime case . I say supposedly because the TV company behind this film had to publish one of those disclaimers about any living people or real life events being entirely coincidental ? Was this a double bluff or were the company genuinely worried about being sued in litigation happy America . One can only speculate because " true life crimes " are a shaky subject . Remember BADLANDS where Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek went on a killing spree ? that was supposedly inspired by a real case of serial killing until it became clear that a certain protagonist was up for parole so the movie company started getting cold feet and insisted it wasn't inspired by real life . The premise to DEADLY HONEYMOON might share a basic and vague connection to a real life crime where a newly wed husband disappears aboard a cruise ship but surely nearly every film outside the fantasy genre could claim it too mirrors real events and people though be it in a loose form ?
Actually DEADLY HONEYMOON might actually benefit from being a low budget TVM . This means not very good actors . Why is that a benefit you ask ? Well a man disappears and his wife is a prime suspect for his disappearance . This means the audience aren't asking themselves if the director should have cast a pool cue as the lead actress since it'd be less wooden , or if Summer Glau has less range than a water pistol but is her character really upset about her husband going missing or is it all just an act to cover up the crime . Same as the Hungarians with their generic foreign accents which will have you asking maybe they're Romanian Gypsies or stowaways from Latin America
One aspect of being made for television that did surprise me is that the early sections of the TVM has the shots relatively close up , especially on the cruise ship deck where the swimming pool is located . We also don't get to see a long tracking establishing shot where the protagonists board the ship which instantly made me think that a lack of budget meant the production team couldn't get access to a real ship and were going to manfully spend the story trying and failing to convince the audience the story was taking place outside of a TV studio . Strangely later on we do see shots that are undoubtedly film on board a ship . Okay it's probably not a cruise ship but it's still a sea going vessel . I'm guessing director Paul Shapiro doesn't know how to handle an establishing shot ?
