I try to judge these TV movies, especially the ones shown on Hallmark and Lifetime, on a curve. After all, they aren't even in the same universe as the movies from Scorsese, Spielberg, Tarantino, Kubrick, and a dozen other current and past filmmakers I could name. They are formulaic, aimed to meet specific audience expectations, and almost always follow a similar pattern.
Even grading on a scale, this one is especially bad. It started out with an interesting premise, but went downhill faster than a bobsled. No one noticed the bills all had the same serial numbers? Inept Secret Service agents that can't catch a high school girl - twice? No backup? I don't like reviews with spoilers, so I'll stop there with mentioning the things that were just wrong with the plot. Most especially, the last half hour or so, and the totally unrealistic ending, really had me shaking my head. I can suspend disbelief happily with some movies, but this one stretched by ability to do so beyond the breaking point.
I've long ago learned that when you see a move that claims to be "based on true events" or "inspired by true events", what you are really going to see is complete fiction. That had to be the case here. I would guess that somewhere some high school students tried to make counterfeit money. That would be where any similarity between reality and this movie ended.
I am curious about one thing, though. Why does Lifetime keep changing the titles of movies? This was "Counterfeiting in Suburbia" when it was originally released. Lifetime recently replayed it under the title "Deadly Transaction". That title change thing has happened with quite a few of the movies they have shown recently, with movies that are a couple of years or more older. Why do they do that?
Even grading on a scale, this one is especially bad. It started out with an interesting premise, but went downhill faster than a bobsled. No one noticed the bills all had the same serial numbers? Inept Secret Service agents that can't catch a high school girl - twice? No backup? I don't like reviews with spoilers, so I'll stop there with mentioning the things that were just wrong with the plot. Most especially, the last half hour or so, and the totally unrealistic ending, really had me shaking my head. I can suspend disbelief happily with some movies, but this one stretched by ability to do so beyond the breaking point.
I've long ago learned that when you see a move that claims to be "based on true events" or "inspired by true events", what you are really going to see is complete fiction. That had to be the case here. I would guess that somewhere some high school students tried to make counterfeit money. That would be where any similarity between reality and this movie ended.
I am curious about one thing, though. Why does Lifetime keep changing the titles of movies? This was "Counterfeiting in Suburbia" when it was originally released. Lifetime recently replayed it under the title "Deadly Transaction". That title change thing has happened with quite a few of the movies they have shown recently, with movies that are a couple of years or more older. Why do they do that?