Kept Woman

It's a B movie for sure and at first it might seems like a Hallmark quality flick but the storyline is decent. The ending is predictable but it's fine.

After a frightening apartment robbery, attractive graphic designer Courtney Ford (as Jessica "Jess" Crowder) and her handsome fiancé Andrew W. Walker (as Evan Crowder) move into a picturesque suburban house. They are immediately welcomed by quirky-looking neighbor Shaun Benson (as Simon), a professor in "Men's Studies." He comes from a 1950s "traditional background," having a father who worked and a mother who cooked. Also an amateur crime investigator, Ms. Ford does not cook. She doesn't watch "Lifetime" TV Movies, either, or she would have known better than to get too chummy with quirky neighbors...

"Kept Woman" follows the formula for making these television movies fun. A great looking cast in an abduction fantasy, with some subtle humor; it's marvelously played. Michel Poulette's direction and the cool set design are quite nice, so stay tuned. The opening scenes are not strong, but they move the story along quickly. It would have been nice to build up more suspense between Ford and Mr. Benson, who is positively delicious as the male chauvinist professor. The "family" formed by Benson could have been further developed, also. Still, it's better to leave viewers expecting to see more, than wanting to see less.

****** Kept Woman (2/28/15) Michel Poulette ~ Courtney Ford, Shaun Benson, Andrew W. Walker, Rachel Wilson

I support all things Canadian so I gave this movie a go. Of course we all know that Canada doesn't have the huge Hollywood budgets. So if you go in knowing that, then you'll enjoy this movie.

A bit far fetched at times, even a bit surreal. But overall a nice flowing story. Acting was solid, again considering the cast isn't Hollywood A listers.

I recommend this movie to any true movie fan.

Of course there have been tens of thousands of real women who have been held captive against their will. As an example there were the three (3) young ladies that were held captive against their will for almost ten (10) years in Cleveland by the serial predator and rapist Ariel Castro. The 2015 film titled Cleveland Abduction documented in detail what these three women went through and how they eventually escaped Castro's in-house prison. (You can read my IMDB review on this film dated May 05th, 2015.)

This Lifetime film was deeply unrealistic by how blatantly neglectful both the local police and newspapers were in not covering the abduction story of missing women if it really did occur. This is a very much exaggerated "women held prisoner" by a neat and tidy wacko neighbor. Although the story line is an interesting concept in which the captor is still living in the 1950's based on his physical appearance, the car he drives, and how is basement prison is decorated with retro 1950's furniture and appliances, there doesn't seem to be any Dick Tracy around to solve the case of these missing women.

As in many other films, the ending leaves a lot to be desired and was a letdown for me. I give the film a 6 out of 10 rating.

The first few minutes almost swayed me away - the robber sucked at acting. But despite being a made for a TV movie, this had some thrills and chills throughout.

I thought the two leads (Jessica & Evan) and the neighbor (Simon) played their roles with tenacity. Simon's character had a dark and ominous aura to him, specifically with the voice that he used.

The limitations were that the viewer doesn't fully understand Simon's motivations for entrapping women into his basement and making the room into a 1950s atmosphere. Also Evan and the police officer (Tyler) each entered Simon's home without any backup. They had substantial evidence that Simon was sadistic and creepy, and yet they just mosey on into his home without a care in the world.

Ultimately it was a decent movie, slightly gory but with a strong script.