A Date to Die For (2015) Victoria Pratt, Bart Johnson, Jennifer Taylor, Alyvia Alyn Lind Movie Review

A Date to Die For (2015)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Victoria Pratt in A Date to Die For (2015)

I Don't Know What I Was Doing Last Night

Laura Armstrong (Victoria Pratt - A Daughter's Nightmare) is a mother of two who is in the midst of divorcing her husband, Derek (Bart Johnson - Perfect on Paper), a lawyer. But it doesn't stop her girl friends from encouraging her to start over by going out on a date with Michael Hill (Zen Gesner), a divorced father. The morning after her date with Michael, Laura wakes with no memory of the night before or how she ended up in bed with him and is horrified to find him lying next to her with a knife plunged into his chest. With Laura suffering from bipolar and unable to remember anything she finds herself charged with his murder and thrown in to jail. Eventually released on bail Laura sets about proving her innocence whilst also fighting for the rights to keep her daughters.

Technically "A Date to Die For" is a made for TV thriller but you could be excused for thinking it is a comedy during the opening scenes. Not only do we have Laura and her girl friends acting loud and over the top but it force feeds information to us from Laura being bipolar and not taking her meds to her estranged husband being mean and moody. This force feeding of information continues through out the rest of the movie and not a single actor in "A Date to Die For" is able to deliver a line in a subtle, natural manner. Trust me you will laugh when the cop at the crime scene says the murderer was left handed and then makes a point of asking Laura to write something down just so he can see which hand she uses.

Of course whilst you have all this forced detail, which ends up laughable, we have the usual storyline going on with a woman, charged with a crime, setting out to prove their innocence before it is too late. So on one hand there is Laura's estranged husband who appears to be a bully and not in the least bit understanding when it comes to her bipolar condition. But on the other there is Laura's inability to remember which means maybe she was involved and doesn't remember. The thing is that none of this is that engaging because the whole story of a woman trying to prove her innocence is too common and the unfortunately comical dialogue and acting makes "A Date to Die For" feel weak.

What this all boils down to is that "A Date to Die For" is entertaining but not in the way it was probably intended with the combination of forced acting with information being force fed and the familiarity of a woman trying to prove her innocence making it often amusingly bad.


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