Tag Archives: Austin Highsmith

What Lisa Watched Last Night #185: Did I Kill My Mother? (dir by David Bush)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Last night, along with Prescription For Danger, I watched Did I Kill My Mother? on Lifetime!

Why Was I Watching It?

I actually watched Did I Kill My Mother when it originally premiered, was back on May 12th.  Unfortunately, at that time, I was suffering from some sinus and allergy problems that pretty much knocked me out for that entire month so I didn’t write a review.  Fortunately, Lifetime was kind enough to give me a second chance at that review by rebroadcasting the film last night!

Thanks, Lifetime!

What’s It About?

At one time, Natalie Romero (Megan Park) had a great future.  She was going to leave the small town where she grew up and she was going to go to law school!  But then, one night, her father mysteriously died.  Natalie’s mother, Laura (Alice Davis Johnson), became convinced that her husband was murdered by local mobsters and insisted on investigating the case even after the police announced that it was closed.  As for Natalie, she started drinking and hanging out with losers like Ethan (Jordan Salloum).

One night, when Natalie comes home drunk from the local bar, she has just enough time for a very loud argument with her mother before she goes upstairs and passes out.  When Natalie wakes up, she discovers that her mother has been murdered!  Despite the fact that the chief of police (Dane Rhodes) is a family friend, Natalie quickly senses that Detective Monroe (Austin Highsmith) considers her to be the number one suspect.

Natalie must now not only solve two murders but also clear her name.  The town is full of suspects.  Everyone knows that Ethan was obsessed with Natalie and disliked her mom.  There’s a true crime author (Stephen Colletti) with a shady past poking around.  Even Natalie’s best friend (Karina Willis) seems to be awfully eager to tell Natalie what to say and do.  And, of course, Natalie can’t remember what she did or didn’t do on the night of the murder.  Could Monroe be correct?  Could Natalie have murdered her own mother?

What Worked?

This was a really entertaining movie.  Along with giving you two mysteries for the price of one, it also featured a memorable collection of potential murderers.  While watching the film, it was easy to imagine that any one of them could have been the killer.

Out of the talented cast, Stephen Colletti really stood out.  He played the struggling writer with just the right combination of rakishness and dorkiness.  The enthusiasm that he brought to uncovering clues was a lot of fun to watch.  Colletti’s best moment?  When he commented that a recently deceased character was an “idiot.”  “Sorry,” he tells the dead body, with such sincerity that you believe his regret.

The script was full of witty dialogue.  This was one of those films where everyone — from the lead character to the most minor of rolls — had the gift of snark.

What Did Not Work?

It all worked!  This was an entertaining Lifetime murder mystery!

“Oh my God!  Just like me!” Moments

I related to the character of Natalie’s best friend, played by Karina Willis.  Like her, I enjoy solving mysteries.  When she started to excitedly explain what it meant when a person went to the funeral of someone who they were suspected of having killed, I was right there with her.

(She was right, too!  The guilty party always comes to the funeral.)

Lessons Learned

Murders are more fun to solve when you work with your friends!

Lisa Cleans Out Her DVR: Nanny Seduction (dir by Emily Moss Wilson)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

(Hi, everyone!  I’ve been cleaning out my DVR over the past week and, today, I’ve been sharing reviews of the film’s that I watched!  I recorded Nanny Seduction off of the Lifetime Movie Network on February 26th!)

Before I talk too much about Nanny Seduction, I want to engage in a little speculation.

First off, looking at the credits, I noticed that several crew members of Nanny Seduction have also been involved with some of the shark films that usually show up on SyFy in the week before the premiere of the latest Sharknado.  That wasn’t a shock.  SyFy and Lifetime movies often tend to be produced by the same companies.  But what I loved about Nanny Seduction is that, in the very first scene, a child is seen receiving a book about sharks for her birthday!  I’m assuming that was an inside joke and I absolutely loved it.

Secondly, I’m going to guess that Nanny Seduction and A Deadly Affair were both filmed at roughly the same time.  Not only do the two films share several actors in common but I’m also pretty sure that the main house in A Deadly Affair was also the main house in Nanny Seduction.  And again, I found that to be very charming.  One of the fun things about watching both Lifetime and SyFy movies is making the connections between them.  It’s actually rather fun to see a familiar face pop up and wonder what their role is going to be this time.  It’s kind of like when Dick Miller shows up in a Roger Corman film or Giovanni Lombardo Radice pops up in one of Michele Soavi’s movies.

As for the film itself, Nanny Seduction pretty much takes the standard Lifetime nanny film to its logical extreme.  Lifetime has a long history of nanny paranoia.  It makes sense, of course.  By hiring a nanny, you’re not only trusting your child with a stranger but, in a way, you’re also admitting that you can’t be two places at once.  You’re admitting that your powers are limited.  Of course, by hiring a nanny — who is inevitably always younger, prettier and more exciting than boring old mommy — you’re running the risk that the nanny will either try to run off with your child or your husband.  Nanny Seduction is one of the first films to suggest that the nanny might do both.

Of course, that’s not all that Kara (Austin Highsmith) has to worry about.  She also has to worry about the fact that her daughter, Erin (Lauren Gobuzzi), is adopted and that Erin’s birth mother (Erin Cahill) is apparently stalking her.  And then there’s the fact that Kara’s husband, Ben (Wes Brown), has a history of cheating.  Even more than the typical Lifetime protagonist, Kara has good reason to be worried when the new nanny, Alyssa (Valerie Azlynn), keeps hitting on her husband.

Speaking of Alyssa, she’s one of my favorite Lifetime nannies.  It’s not that she’s any more evil than the typical Lifetime nanny.  Instead, it’s just that she’s so unapologetic about it.  Most evil nannies at least try to be subtle but Alyssa never even pretends to be Kara’s friend.  She pretty much steps into the house and announces, “I’m going to kidnap your child and run off with your husband.  Deal with it!”  Alyssa is so joyfully and unapologetically evil and Valeria Azlynn is clearly having such a blast playing her that she elevates the entire film.

Nanny Seduction is a lot of fun.  It embraces the melodrama and thank goodness for that!

 

Lisa Cleans Out Her DVR: A Deadly Affair (dir by David Bush)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

(Once again, I am trying to clean out my DVR.  I recorded A Deadly Affair off of the Lifetime Movie Network on March 5th.)

At first glance, Charlie (Alan Powell) and Mary (Austin Highsmith) might look like the perfect couple.  They’re attractive.  They’re apparently in love.  They’ve got a nice house.  Charlie has a manly job as a house renovator and he even has a badass lion tattoo on his chest.

Even better, they’re best friends with another perfect couple!  Susan (Valerie Azlynn) and Trevor (Luke Edwards) are also attractive and apparently in love and they’ve got a nice house of their own!  Susan’s a lawyer and Trevor has got a sexy tattoo too!  Two perfect couples living so close to each other?  What could possibly go wrong?

Well, Mary thinks that Charlie might be cheating on her.  And Trevor says that Susan isn’t really responsive to his needs.  One night, Mary and Trevor have a bit too much to drink.  They end up sharing a kiss.  Mary freaks out and says that she can’t cheat on Charlie, especially not with the husband of her best friend.  Essentially, Mary says, “There’s no way this is going to happen.”  Trevor, being a guy, interprets that to mean, “It’ll happen later.”

Later, Mary gets a call from her husband.  He sounds like he’s in some sort of trouble.  When he doesn’t subsequently return home, Mary goes out to the house that was renovating.  Walking through the dark house, she stumbles across the dead body of her husband.  Someone’s murdered Charlie!

Well, of course, the entire town suspects that Mary killed Charlie.  Even her sister-in-law, the possibly unstable Crystal (Lorna Street Dopson), is convinced that she saw (and heard) Mary with Trevor.  It doesn’t matter how much Mary protests her innocence.  The detective (J. Terry Garces) in charge of the case thinks that she did it.  The entire town thinks that she did it.  Soon, Mary is running the risk of losing her teaching job.  The parents don’t want a murderer teaching their kids…

In fact, it appears that only one person is willing to stand up for Mary and that’s Susan!  Susan is not only Mary’s lawyer but she’s her best friend as well.  But how is Susan going to react if she finds out that Mary kissed her husband…

Towards the end of A Deadly Affair, there’s a scene where the murderer says, “Thank you for begging.  I appreciate that.”  I love that line and it pretty much sums up the reason why I enjoyed this movie.  A Deadly Affair is an enjoyably twisty and over the top murder mystery, the type of movie where characters interrupt meetings by storming into the room, shouting, “You bitch!” and then slapping someone hard.  It’s a lot of fun.

And, I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I will say that the person playing the murderer did a really good job when it came time for the big reveal.  It takes a definite skill to make the confessional monologue compelling but this person did it.

A Deadly Affair was a lot of fun.  If you enjoy over the top melodrama (and who doesn’t?), you’ll enjoy this one.