Inspired but Doesn't Kill It
It's been a year since her boyfriend, who was also her publisher, was murdered and it is part of the reason why Kara (Karissa Lee Staples - Betting on the Bride) has decided to leave NYC and relocate to LA in the hope of a fresh start. That start sees her moving into a room in the home of Charlie (Olivia d'Abo - Presumed Dead in Paradise) as well as working for her in her diner, that is when she isn't attending writing classes. It is at the diner that she meets Jason (Matthew Atkinson), a law student, who takes a shine to her but lacks the confidence to ask her out. Someone who certainly doesn't lack confidence is, established crime writer, Paul K. Reese (Antonio Sabato Jr. - Dark Paradise) who Kara quickly falls for after they meet. Trouble is those who are close to Kara start being bumped off leaving her concerned that some one is going to come after her.
Trying to put myself in the position of someone who hasn't watched the hours of Lifetime movies that I have and I reckon despite being flawed "Inspired to Kill" would entertain. Here is a movie with a storyline which isn't too out of the ordinary but nicely puts things in places when it comes to establishing characters. Those characters include the innocent Kara, the kooky Charlie, the quiet Jason, the confident and controlling Paul as well as one I didn't mention in the synopsis, that being Professor Cross who makes a pass at Kara. As such, as "Inspired to Kill" plays out and people start to die it clearly leads us to suspect that Paul, who is possessive and a little creepy, is the one trying to keep Kara all too himself.
But there is a twist and to be honest it is one which, as a veteran TV movie watcher, I wondered if it was coming. But putting myself back in the shoes of someone who might not have watched hours of Lifetime movies there is just as much chance you won't spot it at first. Either way "Inspired to Kill" works because of the good performances of the main characters from Olivia d'Abo being almost comical yet slightly strange as Charlie to Antonio Sabato Jr. giving us nice guy with an air of a dark side about him. It is because all the actors playing suspects manage to give their characters a nice and also slightly sinister air about them makes "Inspired to Kill" a lot more entertaining than you might have been expecting.
What this all boils down to is that "Inspired to Kill" works because of the acting and the writing of the characters as they give this a touch of ambiguity when it comes to how it will play out. Beyond that, well the rest of the movie almost feels a little generic and it is certainly not the storyline which you will end up remembering about this movie.
