Second Chances (2010) Melissa George, Ryan Scott Greene, Ellen Dubin, Quinn Lord Movie Review

Second Chances (2010)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Melissa George in Second Chances (2010)

Protecting Professor

When as a journalist Kate Fisher (Melissa George) was covering the September Slayer serial killings she sparked public outrage by having interviewed the man who turned out to be the killer but having not believed him at the time of the interview didn't tell the police. It resulted in not just another woman killed but Kate's career and her marriage in ruins. But two years later Kate finds herself back in the news when she takes the job as professor of ethics at the college where she studied and she also finds herself back in touch with former flame, detective Lucas Kelley (Ryan Scott Greene). But it seems that someone, maybe one of her students cannot forget what happened 2 years ago and she finds herself the target of a copycat killer.

"Second Chances" reminds me of the nursery rhyme "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" as it is a case of which of the various characters is the one with the hidden, bitter vendetta against Kate. As such during the set up we get various characters thrust upon us from the fellow professor who not only is unhappy that Kate has been given the job he wanted but also because she once wrote a scathing review of his book. There is also the student who sees to know a lot about the "September Slayer" whilst her ex husband has plenty of anger issues going on. Although there is always a chance it could be the quiet student with blonde hair or maybe the pleasant assistant we met early on. It is all pretty standard and when you have watched a few of this type of movie you can not only take a decent stab as to who it is but also what their motives will be.

Ryan Scott Greene in Second Chances (2010)

The thing is that this whole guessing game over who the danger is, is not back up by anything to make it stand out from the crowd and so for the most "Second Chances" ends up forgettably ordinary. As such you have that cliche romantic element as Kate finds herself getting some very personal protection from former boyfriend Lucas Kelley. The one thing I will say is that compared to other similar movies the inevitable jumping in to bed scene is not as gratuitous as some and in fact almost comical even if it is a little corny.

What this all boils down to is that at best "Second Chances" is only an average made for TV thriller with it staying tight to the formula used by other similar movies and often dipping below being average. That simply means for some it will be easy to watch entertainment but for others it will incredibly cheesy.


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