I don't think this counts as a spoiler alert, but the acting was so atrocious that it spoiled the entire movie! Like bad meat, it stinks and is impossible to swallow. I was so surprised by Vivica's performance that I wondered if LabCorp finally took it there and released a few human clones after all. Her other movies in the past were really good, so I really want to blame this performance on bad script writing. Some parts are just too ridiculous to properly act out, ya know. I mean, even Shirley MacLaine and Halle Berry couldn't have pulled off playing this role. It was just too bad and like some uncontrolled virus, spread from credits to credits- so bad that it somehow managed to infect even how the credits rolled. Even that was bad. Lol The other actors didn't fare so well, either. Especially the boy in question. As a potential bad guy, he failed. I can't truly say he was a bad guy, though. I felt sorry for him. Maybe it was the character itself or his acting abilities, but he came off more pathetic than evil. Still, I enjoyed it for some strange reason. I laughed. A lot. I normally laugh at movies on LMN and that's why I watch them. It was the best horrible movie I've seen in a while. Keep 'em coming!!!! LOL!!!!
11 Reviews
Just making an observation
saintclaire-2212529 July 2016
I don't think this is a spoiler. I have wanted to comment on many of the LMN movies for a while now. My problem with the majority of these movies is that they are made so quickly, and possibly cheaply. I believe, that there isn't a good amount of a beginning, a middle, and an end. I don't think it would be too hard to make an interesting movie. The background noise is so loud, you can't hear or understand what is being said. This movie wasn't too bad. However, so many are. I have actually turned the station, because of this annoyance. I remember talking to my 22 year old niece who also has noticed how loudly the background noise is in movies, and commercials. This seems deliberately done. I can think back to when this station started. The movies were good. I could watch them over and over again. Then, it might have been around 2009 to 2010, not quite sure, when they started changing. I am not saying some are not good, but not as many as there use to be.
Saved by a twist
phd_travel28 November 2016
Warning: Spoilers
A rather camp teenage boy turns up on the doorstep of a wealthy businessman and his family. He claims to be the unknown illegitimate son from a fling from way way back. The wife is overly accepting of the boy, the father is skeptical. Friends who are skeptical too are of course toast.
Sounds familiar? Yes it all seems a little deja vu as he sets about his sabotages and worse until a pretty good twist happens that kind of explains things quite well. But then the ending is formula.
This is an okay if mindless watch. There has been worse but also a lot better on Lifetime.
Sounds familiar? Yes it all seems a little deja vu as he sets about his sabotages and worse until a pretty good twist happens that kind of explains things quite well. But then the ending is formula.
This is an okay if mindless watch. There has been worse but also a lot better on Lifetime.
I wanted to look away but... just couldn't!
lezeph29 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
OMG!!!! I really wanted this movie to work, as one of my favorite actresses had the lead and so many African Americans were finally being represented on Lifetime.. plus a mixed raced couple. I was all in. However, from get go, there was no chemistry between Vivica and the husband. This definitely was NOT Lifetime 2016 or Vivica standard, my husband is in media production so I've learned a thing or two. The unrealistic actions of a Black woman was a joke... she should have been way more suspicious of a total stranger ringing the doorbell and saying, "your husband is my father after 19 yrs", totally out of character and culture. I completely did NOT understand her emotions to the husband throughout... "wait what" why was she angry? why did she treat him so bad? Made no sense. The inconsistencies were annoying, had me going... Then timing, within only half day the kids did so many activities and changed clothes so many times... It felt low budget, with all the unnecessary close ups. I can hear echoing in certain rooms/scenes. With some camera angles, I felt as if they were trying not to show the entire room. For the characters to be soooo rich and not have the furniture or decor to support it ..RIDICULOUS!! Why do they (the ones he killed) converse with a stranger and turn their backs on him? Like who blindly trusts a teenage boy out of the blue... It was like a bad accident... I didn't want to look, but couldn't peel my eye off this disaster. Really!!! the ending scenes... NO comment. Seriously... she didn't call the police? Was she not away from them, he couldn't have seen her... This has just turned into a comedy. This kid is more pathetic than villain, I do NOT understand what he was really after? WOW, what an ending... Sorry to be so harsh but my expectations were high. If it was any other network or an INDY film I could have accepted this. Kudos to the daughter, who was on point with her role.
Precious minutes...
prickly10126 November 2019
... of my declining years gone - for good - all because I couldn't believe the reviewers who wrote about how awful it was. I have no real criticism about the actors (though the husband sounded more Antipodean than British to me), but - what was it about? The plot made absolutely no sense! It hurts that I sat through it to find out that the plot couldn't be and wouldn't be decipherable to a semi-sane adult. Avoid. Like. The. Plague. Except that that is what I should have done, and didn't. Please be warned.
Wrong Is Right
wes-connors5 July 2016
Eleven years ago, an ugly family argument left a cute little blond boy traumatized. In the present day, fabulously wealthy 42-year-old Malibu mother Vivica A. Fox (as Renee) notices strange lights coming from the mansion next door. This turns out to be Robbie Davidson (as Andrew Haight), an attractive 19-year-old matching the young boy in the opening minutes. As we know from the ugly old incident, he was the son of the man who met an unfortunate end. His mother has died recently, of stomach cancer. But, we are left wondering where his real father is and what happened to the kid. Presently, creep-acting young Davidson turns up at Ms. Fox' luxurious estate claiming to be the long-lost son of her architect husband Gary Daniels (as Charles Callahan)...
In typical "Lifetime" TV movie fashion, Fox invites Davidson to move in with her family. Fox acts motherly, but Mr. Daniels is reluctant to play Davidson's daddy. His reluctance causes friction in the parental relationship. The family includes pretty 18-year-old Jackson family member Stevena (as Amy). Her character's father died in a car accident when she was eleven. That intriguing information is cast to the wind...
When she receives her birthday gift, Fox' earrings look like they're going rip her ear lobes off, but she recovers with some less weighty jewels. Former 1960s "Family Affair" TV series child actor Johnny Whitaker is good to see in a small part. Ricky Nelson's daughter Tracy runs one of Fox' shops. Director David DeCoteau does his best work with young Davidson. The Matthew Jason Walsh story is recycled from previous ones telecast on the Lifetime channel. "The Wrong Child" resembles "Are You My Daughter?" (2015) with a gender difference, among others. However, a later revelation conspicuously omits a typical relationship, which would have been (here) between characters of the same sex. Even worse, later revelations don't match up with story and performances.
** The Wrong Child (6/26/2016) David DeCoteau ~ Vivica A. Fox, Robbie Davidson, Gary Daniels, Stevana Jackson
In typical "Lifetime" TV movie fashion, Fox invites Davidson to move in with her family. Fox acts motherly, but Mr. Daniels is reluctant to play Davidson's daddy. His reluctance causes friction in the parental relationship. The family includes pretty 18-year-old Jackson family member Stevena (as Amy). Her character's father died in a car accident when she was eleven. That intriguing information is cast to the wind...
When she receives her birthday gift, Fox' earrings look like they're going rip her ear lobes off, but she recovers with some less weighty jewels. Former 1960s "Family Affair" TV series child actor Johnny Whitaker is good to see in a small part. Ricky Nelson's daughter Tracy runs one of Fox' shops. Director David DeCoteau does his best work with young Davidson. The Matthew Jason Walsh story is recycled from previous ones telecast on the Lifetime channel. "The Wrong Child" resembles "Are You My Daughter?" (2015) with a gender difference, among others. However, a later revelation conspicuously omits a typical relationship, which would have been (here) between characters of the same sex. Even worse, later revelations don't match up with story and performances.
** The Wrong Child (6/26/2016) David DeCoteau ~ Vivica A. Fox, Robbie Davidson, Gary Daniels, Stevana Jackson
A pure waste of time.
tiffanyschaefer-6037619 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The acting was horrific, the plot was messy and there were so many things that didn't line up or make sense (for example Charles says they were married 17 years and in the very next scene, Amy says they've been married 5 years)All around an atrocious movie, I want that hour and a half of my life back.
Easy Watching & Implausible
svader3 June 2020
It is what's expected of a mid afternoon movie. Not complex, hardly a storyline and awful acting.
The best bit for me was Andrew hiding cameras around the house to spy on the family. They were the size of house bricks !!
The best bit for me was Andrew hiding cameras around the house to spy on the family. They were the size of house bricks !!
The Un-Talented Mr. Ripley
lavatch15 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I have now watched three Lifetime films with the meme of a young person showing up on the doorstep of a family and claiming to be a long-lost child. Inevitably, a DNA test is conducted, and the results reveal the paternity of the mom or dad. The family is then on the receiving end of extortion, sadism, and potential murder, due to the charlatan. In every case, there has been tampering in the DNA testing for reasons that stretch credibility beyond the pale. In the case of this film, the lab technician was "bought off" to falsify the results. Right!!!
"The Wrong Child" focuses on a young man named Andrew, who disrupts the routine of the nice family of Charles and Renée Callahan and Renée's young daughter Amy. Andrew claims that Charles is his father and that the mother never let Charles know that he had impregnated her. Charles has only vague recollections of a one-timer with the mom.
Of course, Andrew, who is actually a conniving adult, is an imposter, who has somehow managed to be accepted into the University of California, Berkeley, and wants to extort a half million dollars to pay for his tuition and have some spare change left over At one point, he brags of being the "talented Mr. Ripley." At first, he uses some charm to ingratiate himself with Renée. But the audience knows from the outset that he is a phony, as he has set up residence in an empty house next door. He especially has his lascivious sights set on Amy, whom he is constantly photographing.
The film was unpleasant with three senseless murders, especially the brutal slaying of Renée's assistant Joyce and Amy's close friend Darci. While there was an intriguing plot twist involving the luckless loser Charles, who is actually in cahoots with Andrew, the film collapsed in the final minutes with a routine and violent ending. There was not even a denouement to wrap up the loose ends and allow Renée and Amy to move on with their lives. Of all the characters, the one who was most interesting was Charles, who, unfortunately, made an untimely exit from the screenplay, courtesy of the un-talented Mr. Ripley.
"The Wrong Child" focuses on a young man named Andrew, who disrupts the routine of the nice family of Charles and Renée Callahan and Renée's young daughter Amy. Andrew claims that Charles is his father and that the mother never let Charles know that he had impregnated her. Charles has only vague recollections of a one-timer with the mom.
Of course, Andrew, who is actually a conniving adult, is an imposter, who has somehow managed to be accepted into the University of California, Berkeley, and wants to extort a half million dollars to pay for his tuition and have some spare change left over At one point, he brags of being the "talented Mr. Ripley." At first, he uses some charm to ingratiate himself with Renée. But the audience knows from the outset that he is a phony, as he has set up residence in an empty house next door. He especially has his lascivious sights set on Amy, whom he is constantly photographing.
The film was unpleasant with three senseless murders, especially the brutal slaying of Renée's assistant Joyce and Amy's close friend Darci. While there was an intriguing plot twist involving the luckless loser Charles, who is actually in cahoots with Andrew, the film collapsed in the final minutes with a routine and violent ending. There was not even a denouement to wrap up the loose ends and allow Renée and Amy to move on with their lives. Of all the characters, the one who was most interesting was Charles, who, unfortunately, made an untimely exit from the screenplay, courtesy of the un-talented Mr. Ripley.
Good
carolkitching13 June 2019
I can imagine people not being keen on this but it has a certain unusual quality reminiscent of a Hitchcock in some ways.
I really enjoyed it.
I imagine it may become more popular in future years when someone is trawling through retro TV stuff.
Surprise Ending But Worth Watching
robert23-112 August 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Although this movie was, for the most part predictable about half way in, but had an ending that went in a direction that made it worth watching, I want to congratulate the casting department for casting Robbie Davidson("introducing") in the role of Andrew/Owen. His performance, the best among the leads, was absolutely outstanding and worth watching. He made the role though evil & vindictive & revengeful, an acting pleasure. Though not his first acting performance, Robbie is definitely headed for a wonderful career and no doubt will have producers, directors and casting directors calling in the future. He is, without a doubt, one of the best "newcomers" in Hollywood. He is definitely on "my radar" as I look forward to watching him in more movies. Vivica A. Fox, herself a wonderful actress in her own right, was definitely miscast and I agree with previous reviewers, not the rating given, that the actor playing the father was terrible but the performance of the actress playing his stepdaughter was o.k.
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