Simon Says
After being confronted by a robber, Jessica (Courtney Ford - Meet My Valentine) and her boyfriend, Evan (Andrew W. Walker - Web of Lies), sell up and move from the city to the suburbs where they meet their new neighbour Simon, (Shaun Benson), who says he is a lecturer at a nearby college whilst having the dress sense of a man living in the 1950's. But things are not easy between Jessica and Evan as she is hooked on online crime solving which frequently distracts her from her work and in turn not keeping up with her side of the bills. When Jessica becomes suspicious of Simon, as he says he is single but smells of perfume and buys more food than he needs, she ends up accepting an invitation to pop over and see him only to end up being taken hostage in his basement, which is a perfect replica of a 1950s home. But that is not all that Jessica finds in his basement as she meets Robin (Rachel Wilson - My Daughter Must Live) who seems to have been brain washed to be the perfect 1950s housewife.
That seems a lot of plot I have given away but in fact it only just covers the first third of "Kept Woman" and so there is a lot more to follow. Yet at the same time it pretty much tells you everything you need to know and that is because in reality "Kept Woman" is a one trick pony with Simon being stuck in the 1950s with his basement being a 1950's prison for women. Once this is revealed and we become aware how deluded and unhinged Simon is there isn't a great deal more to the movie which is worth talking about.
What I mean is that after Jessica goes missing Evan eventually gives up on hearing from her as she never answers her phone, how could she as Simon has it. We have Simon monitoring his prisoners with Jessica deciding to play along and having to deal with Robin becoming jealous as Simon gives Jessica his attention. Oh and of course you have Jessica's online crime solving buddy uncovering things about Simon. Yes there are some surprises but for the most "Kept Woman" sticks to a familiar formula which isn't going to wow you beyond the initial set-up of Simon's basement prison with its 1950s look.
Of course "Kept Woman" is a made for TV movie and like many a modern made for TV movie this features an attractive cast which I hate to say it seems to be of huge importance when it comes to who they cast in the movie. Combined with the fact the characters of Jessica and Evan are similar to those you will see in other TV movies they end up pretty forgettable.
What this all boils down to is that "Kept Woman" has its moments and has some interesting ideas, which are suggested to be inspired by actual events. But in the end the ideas end up gimmicks make way for a regular storyline and routine characters which in turn makes "Kept Woman" entertaining but forgettable.
