Mind Over Murder (2006) starring Tori Spelling, Dean McDermott, Brett Watson, Jasson Finney, Tyrone Benskin, John Koensgen, Carl Marotte directed by Christopher Leitch Movie Review

Mind Over Murder (2006)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Tori Spelling as Holly Winters in Mind Over Murder (2006)

Murder on the Mind

"Mind Over Murder" feels like one of those TV movies which were originally conceived as a launch pad for a TV series, a series a bit like "Diagnosis Murder" or "Monk". The difference being that here we have an Assistant District Attorney who following a bump to the head gets ESP and so has the ability not only to hear what people are thinking but also see things in their past. As such we get the introduction as to how Holly got her powers, meet a variety of characters who would become part of the body of the series plus we have a crime for her to solve. Except not only is the crime weak and the solving off it cheesy but it also feels that towards the end they had second thoughts and finished the movie with no room for a TV series.

After being knocked over Assistant District Attorney Holly Winters (Tori Spelling - A Carol Christmas) wakes up with the ability to not only hear other people's thoughts but also have visions when she is near to someone. When a young woman is found murdered in a van Holly finds herself becoming involved in the case when a carjacker she is prosecuting is discovered to have the woman's credit cards on him. But the plot thickens when Holly and Detective Max Luckett (Dean McDermott - Open Range) discover that the dead woman was having an affair with a Senator and someone is trying to cover things up.

Tyrone Benskin as Julian Hasty in Mind Over Murder (2006)

So "Mind Over Murder" is a movie of two halves with the fist being about Holly, the fact she is an assistant District Attorney who is having an affair with a married lawyer and when she is knocked down by a car comes too with the ability to read thoughts and have visions. What follows is for the most cliche because we have Holly struggling to distinguish between what people say and what they think whilst thinking she is a little mad. It's all a bit "What Women Want" with much of it designed to make you laugh although frankly it struggles to.

Whilst we have this introduction which also introduces us to various character from Detective Max Luckett through to her boss Julian Hasty we also get the crime. The crime is bog standard, a woman's dead, she is connected to a Senator and lo and behold Holly, Max and Julian try to prove he is guilty with Holly secretly using her new powers. It is seriously unoriginal and the twist you can see a mile off, in fact it is not only seriously cheesy but also pointless. Basically the actual crime is not in the least bit mysterious or interesting, poorly put together and laughable.

Laughable also extends to the performances and watching Tori Spelling as Holly either giving us a trance like state or confusion just doesn't work. In fairness the character is poorly written and so Spelling is never going to make it a good character but even so the acting is not good even for a TV movie. Then again the rest of the performances are not good either and so there are times when the smile on your face doesn't arise from amusing writing but because what you see and hear is bad.

What this all boils down to is that maybe when someone thought of the idea "Mind Over Murder" had potential but what gets delivered in this movie is simply not good. Poor characters, over acting and a crime which is not in the least bit exciting make up what ends up quite a laughable TV movie.


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