The Obsession

I usually like to leave positive comments but I just have to react to this horrible movie. Like everyone else said, the teenage victim is one of the worst actresses I have ever seen. She was especially bad in the beginning when she is yelling at her mother for getting a divorce. She showed no emotion whatsoever. In fact, she barely showed any emotion throughout the whole movie. She had nothing to offer in looks, either. Her dancing was barely any better. Daphne Zuniga, who is usually a decent actress, fails to rise above the pathetic storyline. Sebastian Spence is the only actor in the whole movie who is worth watching. His character is very interesting but how can he fall for an unattractive, untalented teenage girl?! The red haired lady who was doing the teaching was very unattractive and was such a weird actress, whoever she is. The ending is very predictable and the movie never goes anywhere.

I'm only giving this movie three stars for Sebastian Spence of "First Wave" fame. Let's see more of him!

After finding a condom wrapper in her car, attractive architecture designer Daphne Zuniga (as Deborah) suspects her husband is unfaithful. Newly divorced, Ms. Zuniga finds herself attracted to handsome young ballet instructor Sebastian Spence (as Reed Halton). He takes over as dance teacher for Zuniga's sweet 16-year-old daughter Elise Gatien (as Erika Matthews), after her regular teacher resigns abruptly. At first, Zuniga worries that dating her daughter's teacher may be unprofessional, but she needs to be "happy again." Maybe they should have included a scene with her checking out any condom wrappers around her own bed, or her daughter's...

"The Obsession" features central characters that are simply not convincing. We're told a mother loves her husband, yet there are no scenes questioning the condom wrapper and romantic video clip. Writer Christopher Morro and director David Winkler should have given us more reasons to understand Zuniga's conclusion (a previous affair, perhaps). Later, a quick slip into the sheets, with your daughter's doorway open, doesn't make sense. And, she could have been a little concerned and sneaky about her own activity. Also, nobody advises Ms. Gatien's character about other career options. She's a fine dancer, but seems quite unlike a professional ballerina.

*** The Obsession (2006-07-17) David Winkler ~ Daphne Zuniga, Sebastian Spence, Elise Gatien, William MacDonald

To be brutally honest, this movie was extremely hard to sit through because the acting was just completely horrible. Elise Gatien, who played Erika Matthews (the teenage girl who was being stalked by her ballet teacher), was one of the characters that I kept asking myself, "How ON EARTH did she get this role?!?" I apologize for sounding so harsh but w/ all due respect, she can't act nor can she dance. As a big movie fan (be it TV or the silver screen), I have high expectations from Hollywood & most of the time, if I'm disappointed w/ a movie, it's usually because of the storyline & not because of the acting. So not the case w/ this movie. Of course, you can't blame everything on the actors because directors are just as responsible & the directing in this movie was very poor. I mean how many times do you need to see Erika's audition performance? This part of the movie was over kill for me & it didn't help that she wasn't a great ballet dancer to begin w/. Overall, a disappointing Lifetime movie!

This movie needs to serve crackers for as cheesy as it is! The entire plot is predictable and b-o-r-i-n-g.

Daphne needs some serious acting lessons - does she play the same character in everything she does? Always a surprised victim, duh! Actually ALL of the performers need to learn to act. I think the local elementary school would have done a more convincing job!

The dancing is good, but it can't save this made for TV movie.

Save yourself the time and trouble, sit down and watch the dust settle on the mantle for more entertainment! Because this will bore you to death! Y U C K!

I've seen a lot of Lifetime movies in the past and have a pretty good idea of what's good and what's not. This one does not even live up to the most basic Lifetime movie, which is disappointing because the story could have been good.

Deborah Matthews is recently divorced mother of 16-year old daughter, Erika. Erika is an aspiring ballet dancer who is eligible to audition for a prestigious dance company and tries to spend every spare moment rehearsing for the big day. The ballet instructor, Mr. Kappas, leaves town without warning, forcing the dance school to hire Reed Halton. Of course, as in all Lifetime movies, he is not who he says he is, but before any of the other characters can figure it out, he's already insinuated himself into their lives.

I figured out every upcoming plot twist within 20 minutes of watching this movie. I was looking forward to it being a fan of Daphne Zuniga, but I was quickly bored with the story, with the acting, and with the direction of the film. We were subjected to dozens of slow montages of Erika dancing in various outfits in the ballet studio. I grew tired of the accompanying music very quickly. I won't pretend to know much about ballet, but I do know ballerinas are supposed to be graceful and light on their feet. In this film, Erika didn't appear to be the magnificent ballerina everyone around her said she was. The transitions from one step to another seemed clumsy and her entire routine seemed simplistic and unimpressive. I believe the filmmakers were trying to drive home that she's so beautiful a dancer, who wouldn't be mesmerized and become obsessed with her? They overdid it and failed.

Reed's character was not well-written. At first, he seems fairly normal and gets along with everybody well. Halfway through the movie he turns into a creep. His motives are weak and undeveloped. We're given one explanation about why he's so crazy, but it doesn't hold up well. There are many unrealistic things in this movie, like a website you can just click around and find someone's criminal record from another state. The way the cops act throughout the movie are very unrealistic as well.

Overall, this movie is just poorly executed. The subplots are predictable and the acting is sub-par. I can think of plenty of other Lifetime movies which are better than this one in every way. Avoid it if you can. 4/10