Ok women fall in love easily and get physical if the chemistry is there within a few hours of meeting a date We have attractive educated women, one writes a cheque shortly after meeting her date, another who willingly robs and is even willing to rob millions from her boss after being in a relationship of less than a month with her new man
This film is a thriller but it turns out to be a mystery really. A mystery as to why the producers made the plot so hard to believe. The conversations with the police and the conversations between the two women was just, errm, daft. Then it concludes with what some will do to get their kid through college and win friends in the work place. Daftest film I have seen in a while.
9 Reviews
Missed Connections
wes-connors5 May 2016
In and around Southern California's beachy Venice community, a serial killer is on the loose. This murderer favors attractive redheads. Meanwhile, red-haired widow Elisabeth Rohm (as Caroline Prati) manages a successful career as an accountant while playing single mom to blonde teenager Jessica Amlee (as Issie). While still very attractive, Ms. Rohm doesn't have much interest in dating. That's about to change. Encouraged by her daughter, Rohm reluctantly checks out an Internet dating site. She meets handsome consultant Jon Prescott (as Gavin Donato). He's extraordinarily good-looking, perfectly toned, and apparently quite wealthy. Possessing a sexy accent, Mr. Prescott also likes to cook. As if that wasn't enough, Prescott focuses his high level of sexual stamina on fulfilling his female companion's every fantasy...
What could possibly go wrong?
Before you answer, remember this is a "Lifetime" TV movie. We know something isn't quite right in the opening scenes, since redheads are being killed while red-haired Rohm is making her "too-good-to-be-true" Internet connection. In a sub-plot, Ms. Amlee considers losing it with sexy Tanner Stine (as Noah). Perhaps this story's greatest strength is that director Jessica Janos and her crew give us an attractive cast and nice photography (by Chris Ekstein). After lulling you to half-sleep on TV romance, the story switches into a higher gear. Dressed to arouse, mysterious Julie Mond (as Margo Fouratt) joins the cast of misconnected characters. The conclusion of "Seduced" is a mash-up of nonsensical scenes that appear to have been put together by a blind squirrel. The story ends up making absolutely no sense.
*** Seduced (4/20/2016) Jessica Janos ~ Elisabeth Rohm, Jon Prescott, Julie Mond, Jessica Amlee
What could possibly go wrong?
Before you answer, remember this is a "Lifetime" TV movie. We know something isn't quite right in the opening scenes, since redheads are being killed while red-haired Rohm is making her "too-good-to-be-true" Internet connection. In a sub-plot, Ms. Amlee considers losing it with sexy Tanner Stine (as Noah). Perhaps this story's greatest strength is that director Jessica Janos and her crew give us an attractive cast and nice photography (by Chris Ekstein). After lulling you to half-sleep on TV romance, the story switches into a higher gear. Dressed to arouse, mysterious Julie Mond (as Margo Fouratt) joins the cast of misconnected characters. The conclusion of "Seduced" is a mash-up of nonsensical scenes that appear to have been put together by a blind squirrel. The story ends up making absolutely no sense.
*** Seduced (4/20/2016) Jessica Janos ~ Elisabeth Rohm, Jon Prescott, Julie Mond, Jessica Amlee
When will writers stop throwing these stupid reversals at us?
mgconlan-14 May 2016
After "Break-Up Nightmare" on April 30 Lifetime showed a typically ballyhooed "world premiere" of something called Seduced, set in the Los Angeles beach community (with scenes in Santa Monica and Venice Beach as well as L.A. itself), written by Brian McAuley (a name I've seen on previous Lifetime movies) and directed by Jessica Janos (a name I haven't, though judging by this work she's unlikely to advance the cause of women directors). It's also about a mother and the daughter she's raising as a single parent, though this time mom is Caroline Prati (ex-"Law and Order" Elizabeth Röhm), daughter is Issie (Jessica Amlee, who does not look much like her on-screen mom), and Caroline is single-parenting Issie not because she and Issie's dad broke up but because Issie's dad Paul died of cancer two years earlier. Caroline is a redhead (that's a significant plot point) and Issie a blonde, and when she's not dealing with Issie's problems — including a boyfriend, Noah (Tanner Stine), who dumps her when she won't have sex with him — she's the principal accountant for an Internet crowd-funding Web site called Fundercrack. Alas, the owner of Fundercrack, Jason Birch (Robert Mailhouse), is a typical asshole 1-percenter, taking the $3.7 million that was allocated for bonuses to the top staffers (including Caroline herself) and moving it into a "secret account" where he's spending it on himself, including buying a hot sports car with a six-figure price tag. What's more, the IRS is investigating Fundercrack and Jason flat-out orders Caroline to commit accounting fraud to conceal his embezzlement — and when she tells him that the only way he can avoid prosecution for tax fraud is actually to pay the bonuses he promised and told the IRS he was going to pay, he counters that the money no longer exists. While all of this is going on Caroline's daughter Issie is researching "Missed Connections" — people who might be right for each other but never meet — and has even logged onto a Web site (in Lifetime movies, as too often in real life, the Internet appears mainly as a device to make ordinary sorts of crimes considerably easier to pull off) called Missed Connections.
Issie reads an ambiguous note from a man who calls himself Gavin Donati (Jon Prescott, considerably less attractive than one would think his part called for) and immediately concludes that the mystery woman he saw and is trying to attract is her mom. Mom is understandably reluctant to follow up but Issie responds for her, and for the first hour of this film Gavin and Caroline go on a series of increasingly intimate and hot dates. It's only at one point when they're taking a bath together in Gavin's oval-shaped bathtub in his palatial mansion in the Hollywood hills that we start getting an inkling of what he's really after (though, if nothing else, his rotten fake accent — he seems unable to decide whether he wants to sound English, French or Italian — has made us suspicious), when he offers Caroline an "investment opportunity" and encourages her to embezzle from her company to give him the money. Midway through the movie Caroline, who's enthralled with Gavin's rather nondescript body but so far has maintained enough good sense and moral values not to steal from her company to fund his "investments," comes to Gavin's place and meets his other girlfriend, Halle (pronounced "Halley") (Alexandria Basso), whom he started dating two months before — right around the same time he started dating Caroline. The two hatch a revenge plot to ruin Gavin and bust him for being a con artist — Halle said she'd been about to put her entire life savings into Gavin's (nonexistent) enterprises — and by the next-to-last act Gavin has been busted not only for being a con artist but for murdering Halle and two young redheaded women, and Caroline is the star of a TV documentary hailing them as the woman who had the courage to fight back against the rotter and lead to his arrest. Only writer McAuley has two surprise reversals up his sleeve in the final act, which not only blow his story's credibility but totally throw Elizabeth Röhm as an actress. It also doesn't help that director Janos is addicted to sunset shots — frame after frame of this film looks like the cover of the Eagles' album "Hotel California" (indeed, one such shot inevitably inspired me to warble a few bars of its title song) — or that, not content just to show the spectacular California sunsets, she insists on flanging them in that annoying music-video way that's got really oppressive and which Mark Quod wisely avoided in "Break-Up Nightmare." All in all, Seduced was a grandly silly movie — or rather two grandly silly movies arbitrarily spliced together — and a grim reminder of how badly the U.S. film industry's skills at doing this sort of story have deteriorated since the 1944 "Gaslight," directed by George Cukor and starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer (despite his accent problems!).
Issie reads an ambiguous note from a man who calls himself Gavin Donati (Jon Prescott, considerably less attractive than one would think his part called for) and immediately concludes that the mystery woman he saw and is trying to attract is her mom. Mom is understandably reluctant to follow up but Issie responds for her, and for the first hour of this film Gavin and Caroline go on a series of increasingly intimate and hot dates. It's only at one point when they're taking a bath together in Gavin's oval-shaped bathtub in his palatial mansion in the Hollywood hills that we start getting an inkling of what he's really after (though, if nothing else, his rotten fake accent — he seems unable to decide whether he wants to sound English, French or Italian — has made us suspicious), when he offers Caroline an "investment opportunity" and encourages her to embezzle from her company to give him the money. Midway through the movie Caroline, who's enthralled with Gavin's rather nondescript body but so far has maintained enough good sense and moral values not to steal from her company to fund his "investments," comes to Gavin's place and meets his other girlfriend, Halle (pronounced "Halley") (Alexandria Basso), whom he started dating two months before — right around the same time he started dating Caroline. The two hatch a revenge plot to ruin Gavin and bust him for being a con artist — Halle said she'd been about to put her entire life savings into Gavin's (nonexistent) enterprises — and by the next-to-last act Gavin has been busted not only for being a con artist but for murdering Halle and two young redheaded women, and Caroline is the star of a TV documentary hailing them as the woman who had the courage to fight back against the rotter and lead to his arrest. Only writer McAuley has two surprise reversals up his sleeve in the final act, which not only blow his story's credibility but totally throw Elizabeth Röhm as an actress. It also doesn't help that director Janos is addicted to sunset shots — frame after frame of this film looks like the cover of the Eagles' album "Hotel California" (indeed, one such shot inevitably inspired me to warble a few bars of its title song) — or that, not content just to show the spectacular California sunsets, she insists on flanging them in that annoying music-video way that's got really oppressive and which Mark Quod wisely avoided in "Break-Up Nightmare." All in all, Seduced was a grandly silly movie — or rather two grandly silly movies arbitrarily spliced together — and a grim reminder of how badly the U.S. film industry's skills at doing this sort of story have deteriorated since the 1944 "Gaslight," directed by George Cukor and starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer (despite his accent problems!).
Great Looking Lifetime Movie
kevinthedragon23 May 2016
By now, you should know what you're getting when you start a Lifetime movie. Seduced fits the bill in many ways, but I was pleasantly surprised by the production value of a number of scenes. The plot progresses exactly as you expect it to and, as per tradition with this genre, leaves you scratching your head over a major twist with about five minutes to clean up the crazy. It's just as fun as it is frustrating and most of all, it is familiar. You either are on board from the jump, or you should wait until you're in the mood.
What sets Seduced apart are a handful of beautifully shot and curated scenes between the two lead actors. The standout is a highly stylized and romantic beach scene that could have been pulled from footage of a perfume commercial or an art house short. Cinematographer Chris Ekstein perfectly captured the chemistry between the actors, and managed to deliver the film's most visually appetizing moments. In what could have been a very campy, common couple of minutes, Ekstein elevates the genre and gives us something unexpectedly beautiful. The romantic scenes are the film's strong point due to his eye; the bookstore and bathtub dates standout on a visual level.
For fans of Lifetime movies (I am one myself), Seduced gives you what you came for in a package that will pleasantly surprise you from a production standpoint. Definitely worth the watch!
What sets Seduced apart are a handful of beautifully shot and curated scenes between the two lead actors. The standout is a highly stylized and romantic beach scene that could have been pulled from footage of a perfume commercial or an art house short. Cinematographer Chris Ekstein perfectly captured the chemistry between the actors, and managed to deliver the film's most visually appetizing moments. In what could have been a very campy, common couple of minutes, Ekstein elevates the genre and gives us something unexpectedly beautiful. The romantic scenes are the film's strong point due to his eye; the bookstore and bathtub dates standout on a visual level.
For fans of Lifetime movies (I am one myself), Seduced gives you what you came for in a package that will pleasantly surprise you from a production standpoint. Definitely worth the watch!
Artistic and authentic film
HaleyPermenter12 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
I am an avid movie watcher, but not an avid movie reviewer. I saw this film on Lifetime Network and, as I do all films I watch, I looked it up on IMDb. I was very surprised to see some of the negative reviews! I thoroughly enjoyed this film. That is why I am reviewing it. I thought this film was 10x better than some of my fellow reviewers thought, and I want to encourage others to watch this great film!! I truly enjoyed it, and I am sure that many others enjoyed it as well!
First of all, I loved Elizabeth Rohn in this film. She was fantastic in American Hustle and I've been hooked on her ever since. I didn't immediately recognize her in this, but she is great and always delivers a stellar performance. This movie is slow at the beginning, but that is typical of Lifetime Network's films. However, unlike many Lifetime films, Seduced has many character scenes that are so well done and feel very real and authentic. **SPOILER ALERT!!** I about died watching the scene where Caroline is laying in bed thinking about her dead husband... talk about tear jerker! I am not usually one to get emotional during films, but that scene felt so genuine that I was moved to tears! Kudos to the cast and production team -- very artistic and authentic work.
The script was not the greatest, but that is pretty typical of Lifetime films. This film is on Lifetime Network, which means that it is such a guilty pleasure of mine! It looks like a higher budget film. I loved the way they portrayed Venice so well! I felt like I was really there!
I really do not understand why some of these reviews are so negative! This film had everything you could want in a Lifetime film -- love, scandal, death, drama, and characters and moments that you can relate to! I thought this film really stood out in a positive way. All in all, beautiful and well done film.
First of all, I loved Elizabeth Rohn in this film. She was fantastic in American Hustle and I've been hooked on her ever since. I didn't immediately recognize her in this, but she is great and always delivers a stellar performance. This movie is slow at the beginning, but that is typical of Lifetime Network's films. However, unlike many Lifetime films, Seduced has many character scenes that are so well done and feel very real and authentic. **SPOILER ALERT!!** I about died watching the scene where Caroline is laying in bed thinking about her dead husband... talk about tear jerker! I am not usually one to get emotional during films, but that scene felt so genuine that I was moved to tears! Kudos to the cast and production team -- very artistic and authentic work.
The script was not the greatest, but that is pretty typical of Lifetime films. This film is on Lifetime Network, which means that it is such a guilty pleasure of mine! It looks like a higher budget film. I loved the way they portrayed Venice so well! I felt like I was really there!
I really do not understand why some of these reviews are so negative! This film had everything you could want in a Lifetime film -- love, scandal, death, drama, and characters and moments that you can relate to! I thought this film really stood out in a positive way. All in all, beautiful and well done film.
Surprisingly effective! Well-directed with some GOOD performances!
susanbaronoff-972-1802626 May 2016
I was surprised and delightfully so - by the quality of this Lifetime movie. All the basic plot stuff was there -- (and thanks to the terrific performance by Elizabeth Rohm -- it had some punch!) but the great thing was the overall look and feel. Cool shots and effects -- sharp editing -- the pacing was just right. Terrific sense of place. And, to an impressive degree, the sense that this story was taking place in a real world. A couple of the smaller roles were really well-performed, adding to that feeling of authenticity; Tanner Stine (the daughter's bf) and SerDarius Blain (her work friend, Sean) -- really nice performances. It's a fun ride. And often interesting and cool to look at.
Great Lifetime Movie - Stylistically edgy and fun
cjaye2 May 2016
If you like Lifetime Movies you'll love this. Stylistically I felt it was way ahead of any I've seen on Lifetime. I found it way more artistic, edgy, and real. I actually believed the characters had relationships with one another and cared about one another. At one point I even had tears in my eyes, there were some real moments in this piece.
It's also very well shot and acted. Elizabeth Rohm in particular is great. Enjoyed the use of music in the piece too which gave it a hip vibe. The movie is also sexy without being cheap.
One of the best of this genre that I've seen. Super entertaining. Super fun and has a surprising twist at the end that you don't see coming.
It's also very well shot and acted. Elizabeth Rohm in particular is great. Enjoyed the use of music in the piece too which gave it a hip vibe. The movie is also sexy without being cheap.
One of the best of this genre that I've seen. Super entertaining. Super fun and has a surprising twist at the end that you don't see coming.
"No More Sad Eyes"
lavatch7 October 2019
Warning: Spoilers
"Seduced" (a.k.a., "Missed Connections") is a Harlequin romance-style film about the whirlwind affair of Caroline Prati and Gavin Donato. Caroline learns that a mysterious admirer has observed her reading romances on the picturesque water front of Venice, California. Caroline's daughter Issie discovers the "sad eyes" post on the popular Missed Connections website. Young Issie posts a response in her mother's name, and Gavin then moves into action with his gigolo routine. One one thing leads to another, and her mom begins a torrid romance with Gavin.
Mr. Donato oozes charm and sweeps Caroline off her feet. A widow whose husband died of cancer, Caroline now lets loose after two long years of loneliness and frustration by becoming instantly besotted by Gavin. As the CFO of the Funder Storm organization, Caroline is even tempted to embezzle funds and to potentially transfer over $5 million into Gavin's offshore account. While it is clear that Caroline's boss at work engages in unsavory business practices, Caroline seems honest. It will be the love for her daughter Issie that will help to rein in her mother from her newfound urges.
To the delight of her mom, young Issie has recently been accepted at Berkeley. But, intellectually, Issie doesn't seem like the caliber of student Berkeley would admit. After her mom begins to date Gavin, Issie asks her, "How was your date? Did it go good?" Later, when her boyfriend sleeps over at the house, Issie says that she and Noah "had a nice time laying together." To succeed at Berkeley, Issie will undoubtedly need to take bonehead English!
For the romantic relationship of Caroline and Gavin, it is a bad sign when Caroline picks Dickens' "Great Expectations" for her favorite book and Gavin selects Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment." They do not seem like a good match! When Caroline senses that Gavin is running a scam, seeking to entrap vulnerable women who read romantic novels, she partners with another apparent victim of Gavin's, Margot Fouratt. It appears as though Gavin may have murdered women whom he had preyed upon, including Halle Philton and Alexia Montrose.
The quick-thinking Detective Mickle, who is of Italian descent, recognized Gavin as a scam artist. It is obvious that his Italian accent is phony. Working closely with the detective, Caroline is fearful for her daughter when she catches Gavin coaching Issie on matters of love and how to win back Noah. It will take every ounce of determination and courage from Caroline to turn the tables on Gavin, so that her life may return to normal and young Issie may get the remedial attention she deserves in English grammar by studying at the University of California, Berkeley
Mr. Donato oozes charm and sweeps Caroline off her feet. A widow whose husband died of cancer, Caroline now lets loose after two long years of loneliness and frustration by becoming instantly besotted by Gavin. As the CFO of the Funder Storm organization, Caroline is even tempted to embezzle funds and to potentially transfer over $5 million into Gavin's offshore account. While it is clear that Caroline's boss at work engages in unsavory business practices, Caroline seems honest. It will be the love for her daughter Issie that will help to rein in her mother from her newfound urges.
To the delight of her mom, young Issie has recently been accepted at Berkeley. But, intellectually, Issie doesn't seem like the caliber of student Berkeley would admit. After her mom begins to date Gavin, Issie asks her, "How was your date? Did it go good?" Later, when her boyfriend sleeps over at the house, Issie says that she and Noah "had a nice time laying together." To succeed at Berkeley, Issie will undoubtedly need to take bonehead English!
For the romantic relationship of Caroline and Gavin, it is a bad sign when Caroline picks Dickens' "Great Expectations" for her favorite book and Gavin selects Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment." They do not seem like a good match! When Caroline senses that Gavin is running a scam, seeking to entrap vulnerable women who read romantic novels, she partners with another apparent victim of Gavin's, Margot Fouratt. It appears as though Gavin may have murdered women whom he had preyed upon, including Halle Philton and Alexia Montrose.
The quick-thinking Detective Mickle, who is of Italian descent, recognized Gavin as a scam artist. It is obvious that his Italian accent is phony. Working closely with the detective, Caroline is fearful for her daughter when she catches Gavin coaching Issie on matters of love and how to win back Noah. It will take every ounce of determination and courage from Caroline to turn the tables on Gavin, so that her life may return to normal and young Issie may get the remedial attention she deserves in English grammar by studying at the University of California, Berkeley
**1/2
edwagreen10 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Our heroine starts out as a young widow with a teenage daughter. When I first saw her, I couldn't imagine that such a young looking woman had a teenage daughter. Notice during the course of the film how much older she appeared, especially as she gets further involved with a man who has been robbing women after meeting them via the computer's dating service.
We see the transition of a caring mother to a woman finding lust and as the old story goes: Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. Turns out that the previous victim befriends our heroine until we discover that she has been in cahoots with him all along, and has gone even further in killing previous victims of his scams.
After getting rid of the killer, our heroine has really become a hard-boiled woman when she takes over the company and tells her boss, who is an IRS cheat, to go take a vacation. The real scene is when she visits the scammer in prison and allows for him to be charged with the murders that he did not commit.
A story of deceit and taking bitter revenge.
We see the transition of a caring mother to a woman finding lust and as the old story goes: Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. Turns out that the previous victim befriends our heroine until we discover that she has been in cahoots with him all along, and has gone even further in killing previous victims of his scams.
After getting rid of the killer, our heroine has really become a hard-boiled woman when she takes over the company and tells her boss, who is an IRS cheat, to go take a vacation. The real scene is when she visits the scammer in prison and allows for him to be charged with the murders that he did not commit.
A story of deceit and taking bitter revenge.
See also
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