Site Unseen: An Emma Fielding Mystery

I knew this was going to be a groaner in the very first scene, when some immaculate archaeology students who'd supposedly just been working a dig stood up with perfectly clean clothes and shoes, neat coiffed hair, and not a trace of dirt under their fingernails. It got worse from there. It's a bit of bubblegum, not even close to the level of even the worst British mysteries. Don't waste your time with this potboiler.

I could accept the formulaic script, predictable plot, and two-dimensional characters of this film-I watch this kind of movie to relax and not have to think too hard. But trying to pretend that British Columbia was Maine was more than my imagination could handle! If an east coast location and American actors were too expensive, why couldn't they have tweaked the story to suit a west coast setting? Professor Fielding could just as easily have been searching for artifacts of Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest or Native American burial sites as trying to prove the existence of an early Pilgrim settlement. It was so ridiculously obvious that this was not Maine that I couldn't think of anything else throughout the entire movie.

Archaeologist Emma Fielding (Courtney Thorne-Smith) is trying to prove her father's theory of a lost colony in their home town. She has a map and her group of young students. She has a confrontation with angry old acquaintance Augie and the next day, she finds his dead body in her dig site. FBI Special Agent Jim Connor (James Tupper) arrives to investigate.

It's an ok mystery. It's comparable to anything Lifetime or such channels. CTS seems to have gotten stiffer in her acting over the years. The story has an interesting premise although the movie should start with a young Emma listening to her father talking about the lost colony. This is fine for a TV mystery movie.

Yikes folkes, there is a lot of negativity in the reviews, which surprises me a little, especially towards Courney Thorne Smith, regarding her acting , her age and her looks. I like her very much and found the ageism comments very harsh, and as for her face ?, name any actress that has NOT had a bit of help along the way!!

So , back to the movie, I really enjoyed it for what it is, a light hearted daytime mystery thriller, kept me interested and I really liked the cast members , not as wooden as many other mystery dramas ( namely Garage Sale Mystery movies ) I give a 7 rating, well worth a watch!!

Make more of these please. I've been following Courtney Thorne Smith for over 20 years since Melrose Place (yes I'm old). She always puts in solid and believable performances. We need more strong female leads and Courtney is the one to do it. Love the mystery, setting, and chemistry. Hoping there will be more this year and next.