not bad

I watched this movie today on TV and I'll say that it's not bad. It's not groundbreaking material or anything. The story has been done many times before, but the movie itself wasn't bad.

I watched because I like Nastassja Kinski and the movie didn't sound boring. It wasn't. The beginning was actally pretty realistic. She is unhappy in her marriage because her husband is out of work and doesn't want to do things with her anymore. Her friends see she could use a break and send her on vacation to Miami where she meets William Baldwin. Even though she doesn't seem interested at first, she sleeps with him anyway.

Of course, once she returns home, he insinuates himself into her life by hiring her husband for a job in his company, showing up at restaurants she's dining at, getting himself invited to her home, etc. He's obsessed with her and won't let her forget it. The husband doesn't know anything about the affair until it is revealed toward the end of the movie. The way she tells him is very realistic. She breaks down and says it didn't mean anything. The same old story, but she's a good actress and makes it work.

This is where I thought the movie got interesting. Don't read ahead if you haven't seen it yet. Even after the husband knows of his wife's affair, he continues to work with William Baldwin, his boss. He even accepts a promotion to be his 'right-hand man'. The boss obviously does this as a way to 'bring your enemies closer' and uses him to be the fall guy for a shady business deal. He also manages to hurt Nastassja Kinski's daughter and sends her to the emergency room. When the husband sues for custody, William Baldwin offers up his lawyers to help the mom win custody, thereby getting to see her more often and prove to her that she needs him. I thought all that was an interesting spin on the same old story.

It's clear by now that he's a pyschopath that's been obsessed with her for longer than anybody thought. The husband and wife figure out the game this guy is playing and come up with a plan to implicate him in the attempted murder of their daughter. However, I thought the ending was very unrealistic and didn't fit with the rest of the movie at all. Instead of being a dramatic Lifetime movie, it tries to be an action thriller. With about 10 seconds to come up with a plan before being run off the road by this maniac, the wife says something like "you know what we have to do", points to the cliff, and within seconds they both unbuckle their seatbelts and dive out of the car inches before it goes flying off a cliff. The husband managed to jump out with a baseball bat which he procedes to beat the crazy guy with. It would have been much more realistic if the couple decided to crash the car into a tree or something, then get out and surprise him with the baseball bat. The car going off the cliff thing was too over the top and inconsistent with the style of the movie.

Luckily, there is a happy ending. The couple gets back together and puts the whole ordeal behind them. This movie has it's flaws, but it works well as your typical Lifetime movie. The cast was very good, making it a little above average. The story isn't too cliche. It adds it's own twists to the kind of story that's been told many times. So like the title says, it's not bad if you're looking to kill a few hours. Very watchable, rather enjoyable, and recommended.

Tomorrow's just your future yesterday!