A Crime Against Cosmetics
When Samantha (Kellie Martin) gets asked to take photos for a local health spa she takes best friend Cassie (Nina Siemaszko) along with her to enjoy the facilities. But not only does Sam get a bit suspicious of the surgical treatments which Dr. Drummonds (Charles Shaughnessy) and his team push on their guests but finds herself involved in a murder case when one of the guests is found dead and dumped in the woods. Whilst Chief Connors (Casey Sander) focuses his investigations on Emily (Felicia Day), a nervous young woman with psychic powers who lead Sam to the body, Sam suspects something else is going on involving the treatments offered at the spa.
Just before I watched "Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder" by coincidence I watched the episode of "Columbo" which Peter Falk directed himself and mentioned that his directing was, compared to others, ordinary. It is how I feel when it comes to Kellie Martin's first foray behind the camera to direct an episode of "Mystery Woman" as whilst her directing in "Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder" is solid and has some stylish flourishes when it comes to Emily having visions it isn't really captivating.
Having said that I also wonder whether it is not so much Martin's directing which is ordinary or the actual mystery in "Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder" as this is a slim idea which feels excessively stretched out. We have a murder, some shady goings on at a spa involving the use of untested products plus a psychic but it just seems to be lacking something, it is as if all these elements were thrown together but not truly connected in a completely coherent manner. As such at one point out of nowhere a couple of muscle bound heavies appear out of nowhere to act threatening at Sam's book store but have no real purpose.
What this means is that "Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder" feels like a TV movie which is more reliant on the fans of the series watching because they like Kellie Martin as Sam and Nina Siemaszko as Cassie and so on than because of what the story is. And all the regulars show up and deliver the same fun performances which they had done previously. In truth Felicia Day as Emily makes the greatest impression in this as she makes her character slightly kooky in a good way rather than an over the top way which some of the supporting actors and actresses appear prone to do.
What this all boils down to is that "Mystery Woman: Vision of a Murder" is a perfectly passable episode from this series of TV mystery movies but it lacks something to make it really come alive and as such it isn't one you will feel like you need to watch more than once.
Tags: TV Mystery Movie Crime Solvers, Mystery Woman Movies
