The original movies of the Lifetime network are mostly the exact opposite of what comes out of Hallmark. If Hallmark gives you romantic comedies, Lifetime gives you overly dramatic films about infidelity, stalking or murder, with the term ‘Ripped from the Headlines’ often used. They sometimes have a name star but do not have the regular roster of actors seen in Hallmark movies. It stars Amy Smart, Matthew Davis, Billy Zane, and Ne-Yo which is shocking to many considering the title of the latest dramatic thriller, Held Hostage In My House. One would think that the network had to spend a fortune to obtain these big names but … the picture was simply an acquisition. And the film’s original title was Blunt, and was most likely made for a Netflix or Hulu release that never happened. You won’t have to wonder why after watching the movie.
They mostly focus on a single mother, Dawn Van Brocklin (Smart), who has begun leasing her house to people she doesn’t know. Marilyn rented out her house, now christened ‘Chalet in the Country’, on Airbnb all the time to assist her and her son Charlie and her patience in hopes of becoming an artist and getting a huge break. She has an ex Matt Davis who is not pleased with her renting situation. He informs Dawn he very soon intends to apply for full custody of Charlie after what he calls a ‘dangerous’ incident involving one of her tenants at her house. It is always through the eyes of the flashes In calm, there’s the crux of why Matt is behaving like this, or why they are even calling for the interim. It is in the beginning of the movie where we find Dawn tied to the bed, having a panic attack and racking her brain on how did she end up in this mess.
Was it the woman of Eastern European heritage who had turned the house into a brothel – something Dawn managed to prevent by phoning the police? Was it the burly man who had leased the house for a racy holiday with his male partner and was almost caught by his wife, who ranted to Dawn for not shielding him? Was it the wife with her boyfriend who offered the house to take the fantasy game a little further and also invited Dawn to join them in the fun? Was it her agent who wished her dead in order to sell out her artistic works after her death? Was it her ex who for some reason got a call that she was going to win the child and then sad on the phone saying it’s the time for Plan B? No one knows, because the one who actually did the deed makes perfect nonsense.
Anna Elizabeth James and her film Deadly Illusions make the entire Netflix movie picture seem really bright. At least that’s what we thought until we scoured through IMDb reviews, which state that ill behavior went on behind the scenes of the film and the final product is no different than an pg 13 film. To be productive, I appreciate James who is a woman in the film producing and actually gets movies made. However, there is a limit as to how many people there are who are willing to watch her films which have numerous bad reviews which are more amusing than the film itself.
Toward the start of the movie, James’ biography promo suggests that an MFA degree holder from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts produced it but still I have my doubts over what the degree is because none of the actual writing can be found in this film. This, however, is not blame. I don’t want to be too negative in my evaluation so I will say that Held Hostage In My House is a steal of my two hours of my life that I will not get compensated for.
Additional, I know filmmakers who have directed nice and awarded indie movies who cannot raise the cash but somehow someone who has written and directed few unsuccessful and low rating films is now able to make them so successful. How insane is life! I wouldn’t say the direction is incompetent but it does come across as low quality, mercifully it is at least decent.
All the scenes are well lit and there are some nice angles but apart from a jarring cut or two there’s really nothing remarkable. The script, however, makes it look like James has never watched a mystery-thriller, when most of her movies seem to belong to that genre anyway. This of course has some twists because almost all mysteries contain red herrings that are meant to mislead the audience in the hunt for the true villain, but there are probably enough herrings in this bag to feed a household of 12, and the twist was so excruciatingly unexpected that you will be throwing your shoes at the television and wondering what on earth Matt’s Plan B was all about.
If one is unfortunate enough to decide to resort to a kidnapping for ransom, it would be advisable to turn up personally with the captive and get them to agree with the ‘conditions’, rather than just lay the captive somewhere and allow them to die out of hunger. Yes, there is the rebuttal that a low life Sue does not wet the sheets after spending several days sleeping on them, but that is probably the only thing anyone can be grateful about in this situation. Introduce fire ants into the story and two pieces of peach pie left on the table in Dawn’s bedroom.
Sure, she makes a pie before her hostage sitch in the kitchen, but it is not as if the pie plates were taken into the bedroom. For the fire ants to come in and eat the cheese and how did they get in? A couple of them end up doing so eventually, but they are not the threat that James wants to believe are. Everything in this script begs a reasonable and fair criticism as torturous incompetence, but at least the real artist in the end of the film, credited Dawn’s Paintings as one of his works.
Let’s get back to the credits, something quite amusing related to them, the main cast actually should erase this from there IMDb pages. Amy Smart, tired perhaps of nice girls and otherwise simple-minded mothers (Stargirl), most definitely wanted to sink her teeth into something very meaty and dramatic and that’s exactly what she does with the character of Dawn and it is so gratifying when in the final scene she gets to have some revenge even if it doesn’t make any sense. Matt Davis does come off as someone we can believe is responsible, and Greer Grammer also plays her role in such a way that you do not understand if she is involved in Plans A or B but later on in the film she has a moment in which she totally looks like she is in on it though who did her goabolic makeup for that scene should be fired. Harrison Fox is in fact a good child actor and makes you see his agony over being outdoors and his concerns about being on a camping trip with dad and not receiving his mothers call.
Billy Zane with his ridiculous wig gives some levity to the situation but even that is not remotely close to making Held Hostage In My House watchable at all.
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