If your Lifetime movie can't even maintain a 5.0 rating, you've got a lot of work to do. I'm a sucker for nostalgia, so the only reason I finally watched this (it airs a lot) was Cody from Baywatch.
It makes zero sense that Peter and Julie have such a close bond, but he never believes her about Lexi. They talk about everything including how she wants him to date again since she's leaving for college, but then there's never a heart to heart between them where he tells her what's going on with Lexi. Lexi just shoves her way into their lives and the dad is fine with it.
This movie would have been 10x better had they used more flashbacks. There needed to be a flashback to Alexis' childhood to explain why she killed her mother, why she was fixated on the family, and maybe even a flashback for Peter or Julie to realize they'd seen her before. It's also not clear how she knew they'd be at the restaurant for dinner? Presumably once Molly, Julie's mom and Peter's wife passed, she would have never had the opportunity to see them again? How did she find them? How could she had known that Julie would create a dating profile for her dad? So many unnecessary unanswered questions.
The online dating thing served no real purpose other than to modernize a pretty standard movie template and to make Peter seem old and behind the times. He could have easily been a software developer or restauranteur or almost any other profession. The movie never EVER had him even randomly catch her in a lie. There should have been a scene where he tried to surprise her at work or something. He was just too whipped entirely too fast.
ALSO, Peter as a divorce lawyer and widow seems like a recipe for having a jaded or at least a more reserved idea about love. He seemed so hesitant and it seemed like Little Peter (no pun intended) took over. It really came off more like lust on his part. As a divorce lawyer, you'd also think he'd have a PI on call that he could have used once he found out she lied about her work. The movie took about a week (maybe two if I'm generous) and going from no relationships ever since the passing of your wife maybe a decade ago, to one with a stage 5 clinger was a bit much to ask us to believe. To the movie's credit, one scene actually invoked emotion out of me. It really pissed me off when Alexis slapped Julie. First off, they looked the same age so that was distracting, but second, Julie calls her dad crying her eyes out and doesn't tell him what happened? I think up to that point, the movie could have had him end his relationship with Alexis there, and turned her into a stalker that wouldn't leave them alone. That would have been better. I cannot imagine he would have not dumped her had he known what she did to his daughter.
Alexis was a cringe villain and there was no clarity as to why she was a killer. Between killing her mother and being employed at the hospital in time to kill Julie's mother, when was she in a mental institution? How did she get out? She killed her mother for stepping out on her father, but then kills her father for spilling the beans? Huh? She's supposed to have daddy issues???
All in all, I've finally watched it. For such a bad movie, it airs at least once a month on LMN, so maybe people are like me who watch it for the nostalgia. It's terrible though.
It makes zero sense that Peter and Julie have such a close bond, but he never believes her about Lexi. They talk about everything including how she wants him to date again since she's leaving for college, but then there's never a heart to heart between them where he tells her what's going on with Lexi. Lexi just shoves her way into their lives and the dad is fine with it.
This movie would have been 10x better had they used more flashbacks. There needed to be a flashback to Alexis' childhood to explain why she killed her mother, why she was fixated on the family, and maybe even a flashback for Peter or Julie to realize they'd seen her before. It's also not clear how she knew they'd be at the restaurant for dinner? Presumably once Molly, Julie's mom and Peter's wife passed, she would have never had the opportunity to see them again? How did she find them? How could she had known that Julie would create a dating profile for her dad? So many unnecessary unanswered questions.
The online dating thing served no real purpose other than to modernize a pretty standard movie template and to make Peter seem old and behind the times. He could have easily been a software developer or restauranteur or almost any other profession. The movie never EVER had him even randomly catch her in a lie. There should have been a scene where he tried to surprise her at work or something. He was just too whipped entirely too fast.
ALSO, Peter as a divorce lawyer and widow seems like a recipe for having a jaded or at least a more reserved idea about love. He seemed so hesitant and it seemed like Little Peter (no pun intended) took over. It really came off more like lust on his part. As a divorce lawyer, you'd also think he'd have a PI on call that he could have used once he found out she lied about her work. The movie took about a week (maybe two if I'm generous) and going from no relationships ever since the passing of your wife maybe a decade ago, to one with a stage 5 clinger was a bit much to ask us to believe. To the movie's credit, one scene actually invoked emotion out of me. It really pissed me off when Alexis slapped Julie. First off, they looked the same age so that was distracting, but second, Julie calls her dad crying her eyes out and doesn't tell him what happened? I think up to that point, the movie could have had him end his relationship with Alexis there, and turned her into a stalker that wouldn't leave them alone. That would have been better. I cannot imagine he would have not dumped her had he known what she did to his daughter.
Alexis was a cringe villain and there was no clarity as to why she was a killer. Between killing her mother and being employed at the hospital in time to kill Julie's mother, when was she in a mental institution? How did she get out? She killed her mother for stepping out on her father, but then kills her father for spilling the beans? Huh? She's supposed to have daddy issues???
All in all, I've finally watched it. For such a bad movie, it airs at least once a month on LMN, so maybe people are like me who watch it for the nostalgia. It's terrible though.