In Love with Murder

Yet another Lifetime movie depicting women as dumb, naïve, stupid and sl-tty! In this instance it is a professional woman called Catherine. Going for an interview at a firm she is immediately hired by the boss Paul, and the flirtations between them kick off straight away. On her way out she is confronted by a disgruntled angry woman Jackie who tells her that she took her job and warns her about Paul. Next thing Catherine is out for a drink with Pam, Paul's receptionist/secretary, and Paul happens to arrive and Pam excuses herself leaving the two together. Paul takes Catherine home, and the next day she confides to her mother (who is also totally the same adjectives as I mentioned earlier) and confesses to her that she feels there is an attraction between her and Paul. Mother of course does not discourage her or even warn her that it is too early or that Paul is her boss. Next thing the doorbell rings and it is a delivery guy who hands her an envelope. As mother and daughter go outside to investigate they see a top model expensive SUV parked in their driveway. She opens the envelope that was delivered to her and there is a note inside from Paul inviting her and her mom to a party at his house. Mom encourages her to go and says she won't go but mildly warns her to be careful. Next thing there is another knock on the door and it is none other than Julie, Paul's estranged wife who also warns her about Paul. One would think that all these occurrences would be enough to raise suspicion in Catherine and for her to try an distance herself from Paul and his lavish gifts and cash bonuses. But on no she does not, and even after being drugged at Paul's house and waking up to Julia's corpse she continues to believe in Paul and she goes away with Paul to his hideout sleeping with him. Anyway that is as far as I am going to narrate the synopsis. But my point is that Lifetime continues to spew out unrealistic garbage trash movies most of which depict women as weak and stupid. I like Alicia Willis, but she did nothing but degrade herself by accepting the role in this movie!

There was a strong screenplay that made for a crackling good story in "The Kept Mistress Killer" with lively twists and a clever ending. The film had a dynamic lead in Catherine, who accepts a new job, receives some perks, then is accused of murder while sleeping in her boss' home. She's not really a kept woman, but a pawn in the world of the greedy. The production values were solid with interesting locations, colorful costumes, oblique camera angles, and effective lighting. The houses were a visual feast. And the film included intriguing uses of technology with Catherine's wizard-like friend Sol and one inventive use of an enormous flat screen tv. The characters included a set of women who thought of themselves as individuals. One of the all-time best Lifetime detectives is Det. Barr, who was spirited and sassy. Jackie and Zoey were quite a pair in their on-again-off-again relationship. Skye and Julia were unstinting in their abilities to assert themselves, often to their own detriment. The office manager Pam was a force of nature. Even Catherine's mom Hailey was a fireball. One character spoke for them all when she asserted, "It's every woman for herself, now"!!!