NOT WITH MY DAUGHTER/CLIENT SEDUCTION (2014 TV movie)
4.5 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 3 min
BASIC PLOT:
Melissa Eco (
Ally Sheedy) is a high powered attorney, who needs an image makeover. She's been defending the rich and powerful for so long, she's forgotten why she got into the law in the first place. Melissa decides she needs to get back to her roots, and find a client who really needs her help. Besides, defending someone pro-bono will look good in the papers.
Unfortunately for Melissa, the defendant she finds is not as innocent as he first appears. Greg Milles (
Rhys Ward) has been charged with the murder of a socialite, but he swears it wasn't him. He claims it was his friend, Dennis Brunner (
Erik Knudsen), and all he did was wait in the car. Melissa is suddenly thrust into a world she doesn't understand, where street kids cover for one another, and manipulate others, just to stay alive. What's worse, her teenage daughter, Abby (
Annie Clark) has been snared by Greg's charms.
Melissa will have to imploy all her wits to uncover Greg's real motivations, and save her daughter from the clutches of a madman, but will it be enough?
WHAT WORKS:
*RHYS WARD IS EXCELLENT AS GREG MILLES
Rhys Ward is just the right amount of creepy, while also being convincing, just like a real sociopath. I never felt like I was watching an actor, just a successful con man.
*THERE ARE SOME GREAT ONE LINERS FROM GREG. When Melissa asks Greg if he provoked the cop into hitting him, he responds, "I'm poor, that's good enough for them." He seems to have just the right thing to say, right on the tip of his tongue. It works.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
*SOME OF THE LEGAL MANEUVERING IS HARD TO BELIEVE Some of the things Melissa says in court are not very believable. And when Greg asks Melissa if she believes he didn't do it, she says that's her job. But that's not true, and most defense attorneys never even ask if their client did it or not. It's irrelevant, and not necessary information to provide the best defense. It's usually better if they don't know.
*THE DAUGHTER LOOKS WAY TOO OLD TO BE PLAYING SIXTEEN
Annie Clark is not convincing as a teenager AT ALL! She was 22 when this was made, but she looks older (just the way she carries herself). It's not good casting. They also imply Greg is under 18 (they say he's being tried as an adult), but he's clearly not, and I don't know the point in saying otherwise. He could be just as sympathetic at 22 (
Rhys Ward could get away with playing 22, as he was only 25 when this was filmed).
*THE DAUGHTER, ABBY, LIKED TOM (GREG'S FRIEND) but after she meets Greg, and he dismisses Tom (
Stephen MacDonald) right in front of her, she suddenly switches to Greg. I know sociopaths are supposed to be charismatic, and all that, but they shouldn't have shown her so into Tom. It's confusing to the viewer, and clunky writing.
*THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MELISSA & ABBY DOESN'T WORK Why is Abby living with her mother, if they hate each other, and there's a father in the picture? Why is their relationship, which was only strained before, coming to a head now? The negative progression feels forced, instead of unfolding in an organic way. It's too bad to, because otherwise, it's not a bad plotline. Also, your daughter commits a felony, and you let her keep her phone? Ummm... Yeah right.
*I'M SICK OF SEEING TV MOVIES USING TEENAGEHOOD AS AN EXCUSE FOR BEING UTTERLY STUPID Just because someone is in their teenage years, does not make them an imbecile. Abby would know better than to commit felonies, or hangout with criminals. Just because she's young, does not make her an idiot.
*WHY WOULD GREG WANT TO ANTAGONIZE MELISSA BY USING HER DAUGHTER? Wouldn't you want your lawyer working hard for you? It doesn't feel believable in any kind of real world way. Lawyers, like doctors, have a myriad of ways to hurt you if they have a mind to, ways you wouldn't even realize. It makes no sense for Greg to take on Melissa, by using her daughter.
*THIS MOVIE COMPLETELY FALLS APART AT THE END and as we all know, the ending is the only part that matters. It's too bad, because there's some quality acting here, but the storyline is completely preposterous, to the point of ridiculousness, even for a melodrama. I don't know what the writer
Al Kratina was thinking when he wrote this ending.
*ALL MELISSA HAD TO DO WAS EMAIL HERSELF THE EVIDENCE ON GREG'S PHONE then all the rest of this is moot. You can't show her using a smartphone, and then not have her backup the incriminating evidence. It's ludicrous to the point of being insulting to the audience.
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION:
*This movie is so much better than the drek they are putting out today, it's hard not to want to give it a better rating. But the ending is a mess, so 4.5 is the best it gets. I would recommend this to fans of
Rhys Ward, who is definitely the standout here. His performance makes the movie watchable, and even semi entertaining. If you like made-for-tv movies, there are worse ones out there. It's not terrible for a background time waster.
CLOSING NOTES:
*This is a made-for-tv movie, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.
*I have no connection to the film, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
