I'm not going to bother putting together a professional sounding review because this film doesn't deserve that. If you want a summary or cast listing, go to the overview page; that's what imdb is for. Or go get the lifetime movie app like I did.
Anyway everything about this movie was a typical great lifetime movie, the typical guilty pleasure of perfect suburbanites in an uh-oh shaking up their perfect, pretty little world with beautiful homes and inspirational aesthetics and wardrobes. Most recent lifetime movies are so bad they're good, especially the Vivica A Fox and Eric Roberts ones. But this film was not endearingly cheesy.
First of all, I can't even pay attention and I'm annoyed. The lead damsel looks about THIRTY and has a full chest considering her size, but she's playing a 15 YEAR OLD. TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE TO OVERAGE AND OVERSEXUALIZE A TEEN CHILD ROLE BY CASTING A FULL BODIED GROWN WOMAN!!!! THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!! It's like those Chris Hansen To Catch A Predator things where the decoy is like a grown up with a bad wig playing a 13 year old victim.
Now...if I were a struggling 30 yr old actress, if my only opening was a teenage girl, I'D TAKE IT LOL. But still.
Also, the husband of the psycho planner looks like her SON. And the "teen's" dad looks annoyingly like a big brother instead.
Also, the mom and dad are kind of tan and healthy toned with tiny brown eyes and they're brunet but the daughter is rosy, washed out, big eyed, and blonde. The blonde, big eyed psycho planner should've played the mom, and vice versa. I can't even concentrate but I will try to. ***INCOMING SPOILER: THE "TEEN" WAS ADOPTED**** My other preceding and following points still stand outside of this paragraph. But FORESHADOWING is a good idea next time!!!
Also, the overly giddy, happy voices and cringe coy grins to make the lead actress look younger and innocent all have to go. I know the characters lives are perfect but my god, this isn't Disneyland. Chill out.
Looking through reviews, I can see other people point all this bad casting out as well. There's a movie called Rogers and Hammerstein Cinderella but a remake from the 90s with Whitney Houston and whoopi Goldberg and Victor Garber. Whoopi (black with dreadlocks) played the queen, Victor (white and LGBT in real life) played the king, and a clear east Asian played Prince Charming. Cinderella was played by a black woman, her evil stepmother and a stepsister were white and that stepsister looked clearly older than the mom, and Cinderella's other stepsister was black and looked like Cinderella's mom. No one looked alike in what became a world of unity to cancel out any racial biases in an innocent movie and also to promote diversity and representation. So no one looked like their role or trope and because it made no sense, viewers just ignored it and I know they did because no one mentioned it. But THIS movie is just purposelessly bad casting that makes no sense because they didn't bother and probably casted for personal reasons.
Also the rival candidate for the party planning "position" (it's a one time temporary brief assignment, not a position...) doesn't understand locked doors...does she? And she's MUCH bigger than the psycho planner, who's wearing stilettos not a Nike jumpsuit ready to fight. The planner's a-- could have been kicked easily.
Also, their life is so perfect but they don't have a maid or private chef. There's a gap. Too busy to plan a birthday party. Not to busy to make a full meal for the whole family every day and night. I'm not a perfect suburbanite so I don't know how the whole schedule and household dynamics thing works but...the way these characters are portrayed makes me think they'd have a maid and they don't. So either they need to, again, chill out with the overly happy thing, or the casting sucks and they're missing a maid. Or both. Hiring a planner for a kid's birthday party is child pop star stuff. This kid is just a suburban kid of a gallery owner. You don't need a party planner, little girl.
And why is the party planner killing over this literal gig...? A gig with a $2000 budget. And she doesn't get paid until it's over I would assume. It's not like this woman has an HR payroll office shelling out weekly payments lol and the budget means she's getting paid LESS than $2000 realistically. It's worth $2000, she should get paid a commission percentage that equals like a couple hundred probably, in the real world. Why stalk and kill over that. She owns her home, and she has to have savings. Come on. Also a $2000 budget...you need to hire someone for a party with a $2000 budget? The local monthly rent is probably more than that. $20,000, sure. I wouldn't be confused at all then! Plus the commission off that has to be like a few thousand. Seems more reasonable. Since this isn't a gig employed through an agency, she is only getting paid independently and who would pay anyone MORE than what the budget is when they're being cheap already.... But again I'm not a perfect suburbanite, so I don't know how they spend money.
Also...no sweet sixteen has just a $2000 budget. Your monthly groceries, your monthly commuting costs, and your monthly bills are probably more than $2000 total and those are just basic expenses. A grand "once in a lifetime" party with a DJ (as requested) and loads of friends, and I presume catering and printouts for invites or party decor, and a venue, and the dress and hair, trust me, is not $2000. What? I'm now looking at her pass out flyers. See? Just as I knew. You gotta pay for those to be made. I'm sure it's three figures alone considering the look and amount of flyers she had. Ugh.
And we're halfway through and I still have not seen a cop investigating her husband's death.
And why is the universe revolving around this girl's birthday party? She's not even popular?! She's an average kid at school! She's not even captain of the dance team?! And still why is this woman killing over it? Oh please spare me. As the movie progresses, it never makes sense. It's not even her 18th. That's certainly more important. Off to college (hopefully lol), a grown woman, moving out (shouldn't just yet but whatever)... Now THAT needs a party. But...again...I'm not a perfect suburbanite. So I don't know what's important to them.
The cheer coach calmly spills to the mom that she's having an affair with another coach at the school, but says in the next breath that she shouldn't trust her daughter around the party planner for threatening to expose said tryst and affair. Oooookay then. But again...I'm not a perfect suburbanite and unaware of what's important to them lol!
Ignoring all of the horrible...horrible details.. This is a good little film. I guess.
Anyway everything about this movie was a typical great lifetime movie, the typical guilty pleasure of perfect suburbanites in an uh-oh shaking up their perfect, pretty little world with beautiful homes and inspirational aesthetics and wardrobes. Most recent lifetime movies are so bad they're good, especially the Vivica A Fox and Eric Roberts ones. But this film was not endearingly cheesy.
First of all, I can't even pay attention and I'm annoyed. The lead damsel looks about THIRTY and has a full chest considering her size, but she's playing a 15 YEAR OLD. TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE TO OVERAGE AND OVERSEXUALIZE A TEEN CHILD ROLE BY CASTING A FULL BODIED GROWN WOMAN!!!! THAT IS RIDICULOUS!!! It's like those Chris Hansen To Catch A Predator things where the decoy is like a grown up with a bad wig playing a 13 year old victim.
Now...if I were a struggling 30 yr old actress, if my only opening was a teenage girl, I'D TAKE IT LOL. But still.
Also, the husband of the psycho planner looks like her SON. And the "teen's" dad looks annoyingly like a big brother instead.
Also, the mom and dad are kind of tan and healthy toned with tiny brown eyes and they're brunet but the daughter is rosy, washed out, big eyed, and blonde. The blonde, big eyed psycho planner should've played the mom, and vice versa. I can't even concentrate but I will try to. ***INCOMING SPOILER: THE "TEEN" WAS ADOPTED**** My other preceding and following points still stand outside of this paragraph. But FORESHADOWING is a good idea next time!!!
Also, the overly giddy, happy voices and cringe coy grins to make the lead actress look younger and innocent all have to go. I know the characters lives are perfect but my god, this isn't Disneyland. Chill out.
Looking through reviews, I can see other people point all this bad casting out as well. There's a movie called Rogers and Hammerstein Cinderella but a remake from the 90s with Whitney Houston and whoopi Goldberg and Victor Garber. Whoopi (black with dreadlocks) played the queen, Victor (white and LGBT in real life) played the king, and a clear east Asian played Prince Charming. Cinderella was played by a black woman, her evil stepmother and a stepsister were white and that stepsister looked clearly older than the mom, and Cinderella's other stepsister was black and looked like Cinderella's mom. No one looked alike in what became a world of unity to cancel out any racial biases in an innocent movie and also to promote diversity and representation. So no one looked like their role or trope and because it made no sense, viewers just ignored it and I know they did because no one mentioned it. But THIS movie is just purposelessly bad casting that makes no sense because they didn't bother and probably casted for personal reasons.
Also the rival candidate for the party planning "position" (it's a one time temporary brief assignment, not a position...) doesn't understand locked doors...does she? And she's MUCH bigger than the psycho planner, who's wearing stilettos not a Nike jumpsuit ready to fight. The planner's a-- could have been kicked easily.
Also, their life is so perfect but they don't have a maid or private chef. There's a gap. Too busy to plan a birthday party. Not to busy to make a full meal for the whole family every day and night. I'm not a perfect suburbanite so I don't know how the whole schedule and household dynamics thing works but...the way these characters are portrayed makes me think they'd have a maid and they don't. So either they need to, again, chill out with the overly happy thing, or the casting sucks and they're missing a maid. Or both. Hiring a planner for a kid's birthday party is child pop star stuff. This kid is just a suburban kid of a gallery owner. You don't need a party planner, little girl.
And why is the party planner killing over this literal gig...? A gig with a $2000 budget. And she doesn't get paid until it's over I would assume. It's not like this woman has an HR payroll office shelling out weekly payments lol and the budget means she's getting paid LESS than $2000 realistically. It's worth $2000, she should get paid a commission percentage that equals like a couple hundred probably, in the real world. Why stalk and kill over that. She owns her home, and she has to have savings. Come on. Also a $2000 budget...you need to hire someone for a party with a $2000 budget? The local monthly rent is probably more than that. $20,000, sure. I wouldn't be confused at all then! Plus the commission off that has to be like a few thousand. Seems more reasonable. Since this isn't a gig employed through an agency, she is only getting paid independently and who would pay anyone MORE than what the budget is when they're being cheap already.... But again I'm not a perfect suburbanite, so I don't know how they spend money.
Also...no sweet sixteen has just a $2000 budget. Your monthly groceries, your monthly commuting costs, and your monthly bills are probably more than $2000 total and those are just basic expenses. A grand "once in a lifetime" party with a DJ (as requested) and loads of friends, and I presume catering and printouts for invites or party decor, and a venue, and the dress and hair, trust me, is not $2000. What? I'm now looking at her pass out flyers. See? Just as I knew. You gotta pay for those to be made. I'm sure it's three figures alone considering the look and amount of flyers she had. Ugh.
And we're halfway through and I still have not seen a cop investigating her husband's death.
And why is the universe revolving around this girl's birthday party? She's not even popular?! She's an average kid at school! She's not even captain of the dance team?! And still why is this woman killing over it? Oh please spare me. As the movie progresses, it never makes sense. It's not even her 18th. That's certainly more important. Off to college (hopefully lol), a grown woman, moving out (shouldn't just yet but whatever)... Now THAT needs a party. But...again...I'm not a perfect suburbanite. So I don't know what's important to them.
The cheer coach calmly spills to the mom that she's having an affair with another coach at the school, but says in the next breath that she shouldn't trust her daughter around the party planner for threatening to expose said tryst and affair. Oooookay then. But again...I'm not a perfect suburbanite and unaware of what's important to them lol!
Ignoring all of the horrible...horrible details.. This is a good little film. I guess.