The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango (2023 TV Movie) User Reviews

As a former dancer myself and a lover of mysteries...this was right up my alley!

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 8 June 2023]

I have grown to appreciate Lacey Chabert through her work on Hallmark (although I did grow up watching Party of Five) and I thought she did a great job in the Crossword Mystery series, so I was delighted to see her back in a mystery series. Lacey plays a detailed oriented and independent police detective Constance Bailey. Her boss has noticed that she does not work well with others...so when the opportunity comes up to prove herself by partnering with a detective in Malta, Constance jumps at the chance.

There in beautiful Malta she meets her contact who explains that if she is up for it she will be going undercover as one half of a married couple in Malta for an executive dance competition. Enter Sebastian Moore, dance teacher extraordinaire...played by Will Kemp (who honestly steals the show). Together, while blending in with the other executives, they dance...interrogate, investigate and solve a murder of an American CEO.

I am a former dancer (although as a dancer you are never really "former"...you are just a dancer) and a big fan of mysteries, so this mystery series was really made for me. I loved Constance's teal dress with the orange and white flowers, gorgeous! I really grew to appreciate this pairing and the characters of Constance and Sebastian. This is the second Hallmark film that I have seen in Malta and I have to comment on what a lovely and interesting backdrop it is.

I have trouble seeing how they are going to keep these two paired together for future murder mysteries, since they don't even live in the same city...but I want them to be put together again and I look forward to seeing more. This was decent as far as the mystery is concerned and a great start to a series. I can recommend this to cosy mystery fans...I think you should check this one out.

A Feast for the Eyes

[Dana12 · 8/10 · 8 June 2023]

This is a treat for the eyes. The scenery is lush, and it's beautifully shot. There is a retro-glam feel to this that's reminiscent of 1960s films.

The dancing is wonderful, and the dance scenes were my favorite parts. The tango rehearsal in water and the black & white dream sequence were standouts.

Will Kemp really is the star of this for me. He is a wonderful dancer, a good comedic actor and has loads of charm.

From other reviews, it seems some didn't care for Lacey in this. But her character was meant to evolve, and she does. From a stiff detective who is anti-social to quipping with Will's character. I thought they were a good pairing.

The mystery was the least of it for me. I think they were so many moving parts - the dancing, showing the scenery and building their partnership, that it was a bit hard to fit everything in. That said, there are some stellar parts to this movie. I would watch another installment.

More Will Kemp

[dsklodginski · 7/10 · 12 June 2023]

Maybe it's the British accent and dancer's.confidence but I really like Will Kemp in Hallmark movies. I also like Lacey Chabert a lot and generally like the movies in which she stars.

But they were not well served by this mystery - if you can call it that. I did like really cute clever bit of calling him names of other detectives which added to the their banter as well the beautiful black and white dancing sequence. However I fail to see how a Dancing Detective can really continue to be a thing. It really was a waste of the lovely Malta setting. So to meet the IMDB required characters I will say that that I loved the characters but the mystery not so much but will continue to watch Hallmark movies with Will Kemp and Lacey Chabert.

Loved the duo. The scenery was gorgeous. The rest was disappointing.

[mamachikn · 6/10 · 4 June 2023]

Of course everyone was waiting for this pairing of Will Kemp and Lacey Chabert. And that part was good. He was very funny, the dancing was nice. Great chemistry, as we knew there would be.

The story started out interesting.

Beautiful scenery, a great advertisement for travel to Malta.

Lots of potential suspects.

The final half hour was disappointing.

Lacey is lovely but her hair and makeup in the final scenes are unflattering. Pasty lipstick and the hairdo which looked okay while moving was distracting in the initial close-up scene.

The ending was bizarre but funny with them dancing through the crowded dance floor.

It was wrapped up way too quickly.

The chase in the dark with high heels on a cobblestone street, yet the man says the ladies are too fast for him, is not believable. Lol.

A deflated ending, ordinary, rather boring.

But Will and Lacey were great, in spite of it.

A seven!!!

[coltras35 · 7/10 · 15 July 2023]

Constance Bailey (Lacey Chabert) is a no-nonsense detective who prefers to work alone. When a high-profile CEO is murdered on the eve of his company's corporate event in Malta - a high stakes ballroom competition between senior executives - Detective Bailey is sent undercover as one of the contestants. The only problem? She can't dance. To convincingly compete, she must team up with charismatic and free-spirited performer Sebastian Moore( Will Kemp). But with a killer on the loose and a growing list of suspects, it's going to take more than a little fancy footwork to solve this case.

The mystery elements are simplistic, a little lacking in intrigue and you are likely to work out who the culprit is, however I found this quite fun to watch, mainly due to the Malta location, Lacey Chabert-charming as ever - and her chemistry with Will Kemp, and the old time classic film feel. It could have been stronger with the mystery and the characterisation, but it's enjoyable and the combination of Ballroom and mystery is a good idea.

Fantastic 80's Style Romanic Caper Comedy

[scainiprod · 9/10 · 25 July 2023]

Remember those great series of the 80's like Hart to Hart, Moonlighting. MacMillan & Wife and so on? Complete escapist fun with a romantic twist. This one is extra special because it takes place on the magnificent island of Malta. The scenery is a feast for the eyes and the local culture is beautifully embraced. Lacey Chabert & Will Kemp are wonderful together. Their chemistry is easy and natural. There are several showcase scenes in the film including a very sexy water tango scene where Bailey & Sebastian practice their dance in a shallow pool overlooking the island. And a dream sequence dance number done in 40's style black & white, harkening back to the days of Fred & Ginger. All in all, good fun and doesn't take itself too seriously.

Possible new series

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 18 October 2023]

Hallmark Mysteries and Movies might have a new series - The Dancing Detective starring Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp.

In Chabert's latest iteration, she is Detective Constance Bailey who goes undercover to find out who murdered the head of a corporation. This corporation is kind of like the old Arthur Murray Dance Studios - they own these ballroom dance places everywhere. This is their annual get together where the execs participate in a dance competition.

So the premise is ridiculous. Despite this, no expense was spared. It was filmed in beautiful Malta. I will say Lacey's gowns were hideous, very matronly.

I thought Will Kemp's first scene as a dance teacher was wonderful.

Unfortunately there just wasn't much of a script. The other thing is, people are too familiar with Dancing With the Stars and know Lacey couldn't learn those dances with a couple of rehearsals.

I don't know if this will be a series. Typical Hallmark fare though with better scripts this could have potential.

Dance and detect

[wjspears · 8/10 · 16 March 2024]

This was an enjoyable Hallmark mystery, lightly plotted with fun and interesting lead characters. Also, pretty much like all Hallmark mysteries, it is a pairing of a male and female who are typically "oil and water" at the beginning, and gradually come to respect one another, and their different approaches and perspectives.

When these Hallmark series work, it is usually because of the writing and the chemistry between the male and female leads.

Lacey Chabert plays the stiff, loner detective very well. Her character is polite, but tightly wound, and serious minded. Lacey does a good job playing gradually loosening up. Her reveal of her mother's death at 14, and how that affected her ever after, was very believable.

Will Kemp, who I was not familiar with, was equally good, playing a character that could have been written, and acted, as a caricature in so many different ways. Kemp kept the character grounded, while also making him funny, intelligent and charming.

The other feature of Hallmark mysteries that often makes or breaks the show is the banter between the lead characters. As another reviewer mentioned, Detective Bailey, calling the dancing instructor by different fictional detective names every time she wanted to bring him back down to earth, was funny, and gradually became sweet as their partnership grew.

The mystery itself was okay. But the setup really made no sense. No police detective would ever have an unknown civilian as a partner in an undercover operation, never mind the added complication of making them husband and wife.

There were other implausibilites. But all that is just nit picking, so far as I am concerned.

As long as the mystery itself is agreeable, and the solution doesn't strain credibility, I'm generally content with Hallmark mysteries. As I said, it is the writing and chemistry of the performers that matters most to me.

And The Dancing Detective delivers on both counts.

good coupling

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 3 June 2023]

High profile CEO Mark Aston is poisoned in Malta. He's the brother of a Senator who insists on sending his own investigator. In Lorimar Cove, New York, detective Constance Bailey (Lacey Chabert) is obsessive and likes to work alone. She gets sent to Malta. She is forced to go undercover in a dance competition, but she can't dance. Her dance partner is arrogant teacher Sebastian Moore (Will Kemp) and they are pretending to be married.

The setup is way too clunky. The heart of the movie is Chabert and Kemp's chemistry. It's the classic 'she's frustrated and grows in love with him'. Chabert is always lovely. Kemp has the nice combination of infuriating and endearing. They are good together. That's half the battle with any Hallmark movie. It's too bad that the other half isn't that good. The writing definitely needs help. This is much more about seeing a non-dancing Chabert trying to dance. It's her own Dancing with the Stars.

Dreadful!

[tonjagj88 · 5/10 · 10 June 2023]

Lacey Chabert has been a favorite of mine since she starred in Party of Five many years ago. I've thoroughly enjoyed many of her Hallmark movies, and The Crossword Mysteries are absolutely amazing! So, naturally I was really excited to see this new movie... Wow, was I disappointed. The script was stale, boring & just plain unimaginative.

I mean, I know these mystery movies pretty much stick to a formula, but the script for this one was so horribly predictable I had it solved almost immediately. Crossword Mysteries, Garage Sale Mysteries, Mystery 101... ALL of these are far superior to this one.

The only thing that *was* inspiring is the location. Now that was beautiful, but I don't have to lose hours of my valuable time to view the breathtaking images of Malta/Italy... I can simply look up images on my computer & save myself the disappointment of watching this movie.

Great movie

[karensam-74290 · 9/10 · 10 April 2024]

Mystery, romance, and comedy all perfectly intertwined in this movie. I generally don't get into hallmark movies, but this one was different. It really was thoroughly entertaining and kept my attention. A lighthearted romcom mystery and sometimes these are the best. I sincerely hope that hallmark plans on creating more dancing detective movies, because they'd be a great series that I'd definitely be excited to watch. The story itself wasn't the typical one that you could predict every aspect of. I didn't even figure out the ending. The plot was good and the actors were great, so really no negatives here.

Malta Mediocrity

[haa4 · 6/10 · 18 June 2023]

Hallmark seems insistent on inexplicably killing all of its successful mystery series and replacing them with mediocre replacements. This latest iteration features Lacey Chabert playing a police detective and Will Kemp playing a dance teacher/actor. They fake being married to solve a murder case in Malta.

First off, the production value of this movie was terrific. It's also nice to see new faces both in front of and behind the camera. I love that both Lacey and Will were EPs on this because it felt like a true partnership in solving the mystery and both characters were equally important. Oftentimes these mysteries only have the female lead as the EP and the story tends to be focused on her with the male lead as supporting. That was not the case here. Lacey and Will also have great chemistry and I liked all the Easter eggs of mentioning other tv detectives. And Will finally gets to use his own accent.

The mystery itself was not very interesting or well developed and I figured out who the murderer was in the first 10 minutes. Also, nobody in 2023 has a paper copy of a boarding pass just lying around before going to the airport. I'd watch more of these jetsetting dancing mysteries but preferably with a different writer. Probably the best of these new mystery series.

HORRIBLE

[mdema-65202 · 1/10 · 19 June 2023]

What was Hallmark thinking? I don't know where to begin describing all that is wrong with this movie. Lacey Chabert looked like an old lady. I was embarrassed for her and all the actors. That chase on the scooters was a joke. I couldn't stop laughing!!! The acting was stiff and forced between all the actors. The plot was clumsy and disjointed. Hallmark has gone down hill. So many of the so-called "new" movies are just remakes of old story lines. No point in watching them. They canceled Garage Sales Mysteries, Mystery 101, Hailey Dean Mysteries, Picture Perfect Mysteries, Matchmaker Mysteries, all excellent series. The 2 new mysteries, The Dancing Detective and The Jane Mysteries are both awful.

Puhleeze Hallmark, what were you thinking?

[jnh-123-746786 · 6/10 · 11 June 2023]

I had been looking forward to this movie and sadly my wait wasn't worthwhile. Great leads, good chemistry and acting, beautiful scenery, however none of this could save a dreadful script. Weak from the first minute.

You take someone who supposedly is not a dancer and without any real lessons or hours of practicing turns into a top-notch dancer. Really? As for the ridiculous car/scooter chase around the streets of Malta, words truly do fail me.

As a longtime fan of Hallmark and your Mysteries this one is a real BIG loser and I sincerely hope you are not planning on making this into a series. Put you time, effort and money into something with a lot more substance that this. Thank you.

Not your usual detective story

[sahobbs-40766 · 6/10 · 28 February 2024]

This was absolutely fanciful, impossible, and seriously humorous for Hallmark to attempt a new angle on the mystery genre with a dancing detective! And not only for Lacey Chabert to go from zero to 120 in learning to dance (the tango!) after NEVER having danced once in her entire life, but to end this episode with the hope that her dance instructor partner and she might team up in other foreign locales to detect & dance their way through more adventures...

As other reviewers have averred, the Malta shots on location are the real attraction here, and I was thrilled with those shots (hoping that the dialogue would not start up too soon.) But the silly premise hangs over the whole enterprise and dooms this "series" to a poisoned ending, in spite of the fun relationship developing between our two stars.

Flatline

[d-robold · 4/10 · 7 June 2023]

Stale story, stale dialogue, mediocre acting, drab costumes, bad hair and make-up. Beautiful scenery. I picked out the murderer as soon as they were introduced.

It's hard to make Lacey Chabert look bad, but this movie managed to do that. The storyline was poor, the dialogue tedious, and the costumes and hairstyles aged her. I usually love her movies but this one was a huge disappointment. So predictable. Sadly lacking in connection among the characters, especially the lead characters. No spark, no magic. No need for another in this series. The Crossword Mysteries were so much better. Will Kemp was entertaining as a dancer and teacher, but the storyline did him no favors. Second banana character instead of a lead. His performance in Jolly Good Christmas was delightful and much more memorable. He deserves better, we all do.

Horrible script!

[aka-30266 · 5/10 · 5 June 2023]

I was really looking forward to a new movie with Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp. I know these 2 are wonderful together so it was just an awful script. The disjointed plot, the sequence of events and the dialog was terrible.

I was hoping it would be a series but it's going to have to improve tenfold. It was as if they were short on time and cut out entire scenes that were integral to the flow of the movie. What a downer.

I've seen every Hallmark movie starring these actors so I know they are fantastic together but I guess even their chemistry can't save a bad movie. Please give them some decent material to work with next time!

If you get the chance, watch them in Love, Romance & Chocolate and Christmas Waltz. I have watched these movies many times over! Absolutely love both the acting and the scripts!

At least, Malta is is beautiful

[gfrasmd · 4/10 · 11 June 2023]

This thriller wanted to be too many things: a romantic story, a mystery ,dancing entertainment, and a showcase of Malta's attractions. The mystery action is choppy, with two sleuths that seem far too distracted, flirting or dancing, to devote their attention to serious investigations. Of course, there was not enough time to highlight Malta's scenery with sufficient depth.

The premises, themselves, were farfetched. A flighty and arrogant dancing teacher who transforms instantly into a detective and a 'tenacious' detective who has never danced in her life and masters various dancing styles, to a competition level, in a few days. The results are a somewhat forced love story and an insipid thriller, interspersed with almost painful dancing acts and a few snapshots of the island.

Thankfully, whatever seen of Malta was beautiful.

Great Location, Terrible Acting

[lakebotany-32808 · 4/10 · 3 June 2023]

The Malta setting is breathtaking, just too bad that the acting is so poor. Lacey Chabert who is usually good in Hallmark romances movies is miscast here. Her dancing & acting skills are laughable. Will Kemp is an actual dancer but paired with Lacey they aren't a good fit as dance partners or as pretend detectives. Their sleuthing skills (?!) will have you rolling your eyes, if not switching channels.. The writing & dialogue delivery is unbelievably bad. At the halfway point, I really couldn't care less about the mystery. The only reason I didn't quit watching was because of the beautiful scenery.

This does Lacey Chabert a disservice.

[justamandalouise · 4/10 · 10 September 2023]

Lacey Chabert is one of my absolute favorite Hallmark actresses. If she comes out with a new movie, you can bet I'm going to watch it.

She can usually make even the cheesiest Hallmark scripts enjoyable.

Unfortunately, even she couldn't save this movie.

The setting was gorgeous.

That's it. That's all the good I have to say for this.

To be fair to Lacey and all the other actors, it was very clearly the script that kept their hands tied here (metaphorically).

The script was even cheesier and more predictable than your typical Hallmark movie. And so stiff!! It was borderline uncomfortable.

I have to say, I do disagree with other reviewers who thought the chemistry between the leads was good. I didn't feel it at all. I've seen Lacey have incredible chemistry with her co-leads in other movies. This missed that mark by far.

Oh, and can we talk about the fact that we're supposed to believe that a woman who has never even so much as been to a school dance took MAYBE a handful of dance lessons, in what I assume was approx a week's time in the movie, and suddenly dances in a way that would get her perfect 10s on Dancing With The Stars?

I mean, it would have been far more believable to have her be a former dancer who lost her passion due to life circumstances and has her passion and talent reignited due to the case.

Again. Bad writing.

This is clearly not one of the Hallmark movies that will earn a spot on my rewatch list.