Determination of Death

Great little made-for-tv murder mystery with a real shocker at the end... Good script, acting was solid, well shot and edited. By all means, this is not big Hollywood stuff, but it was excellent for what it is. I really enjoyed it overall and would recommend it as a good rainy-day popcorn flick.

Not the best on TV movie lists. A stellar cast does mediocre job with bad script. I guessed the killer from the beginning. Won't reveal. A shame to make you watch this terrible movie to find out, but thoze the rules, baby. With the likes of Veronica Hamel as her usual cold look self, Michele Greene, a bit on the boring side, John Ratzenberger a bit on the over weight side, William Katt, looking middle aged these days, George Dzundza, looking like he's serious about this movie, Marty Papazian, looking like he doesn't know what's going on, Alice Hirson, looking like she's lost Ellen DeGeneras and Marc Singer giving an over the hill acting job. Way over the hill.

Now some of these actors are good actors. So you hate to see them do a bad job, but this script demands it from them. I hate to think of the money it cost to hire them, so my heart goes out to the producer.

This was both a mystery and a thriller. Marc Singer played a villain wife beater in this, scheming to get a ton load of cash by faking his death. It doesn't turn out like planned. It got me guessing all the way through. Besides the awesome acting, there is the beautiful scenery of the beach.

It's a long way from Hill Street to this, but Veronica Hamel is still good to watch. In this case in an interesting situation wherein everybody would like to see her brother-in-law dead. And this seems to happen without anyone knowing how. Then a fat insurance policy turns up, the company sends in their investigators, but nobody finds out anything – except the spectator in the last five seconds. Ho, hum; good TV-style scripting, as may be guessed from the director's experience in producing these kinds of films. Of course Hamel is OK, and Michele Green is quite good, but Marc Singer as her husband has played this rôle so many times he did not have to try very much. The result is an entertaining TV-style film, with only a little violence at the beginning, and lightly humourous touches to keep things rolling. Nothing difficult: just to keep you amused trying to guess who did what to whom – and you won't get it right! Worth five out of ten, simply because it does not try to be pretentious and does not leave you with a headache afterwards.

I actually enjoy mad for TV movies of this type, but even I admit some are better than others. This was among the better ones I have seen.

The story was engaging and well told, the acting wasn't bad, it had some good plot twists, and the solution to the "crime" was a complete surprise! It managed to keep you guessing about what had happened till the very end.

Because the main point of the movie wasn't the abuse that Michelle Greene's character suffered, but more what she did about it, it wasn't sickeningly violent, at least not after the first 15 minutes or so.

Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.