Ring of Deception (TV Movie 2017) Poster

(2017 TV Movie)

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5/10
Ridiculousness
bt698nhj4 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Does anybody associated with a Lifetime Movies for Chicks have a brain?

For the following comedy of errors, here's your cast:

Martin -- Dana's father

Dana -- teenage girl, new to town/school

Julie -- Charlie's mother

Charlie -- teenage boy

Dana and Martin move into town. Dana comes home from her first day at the new school and it's clearly her first time in the new house. Wow. What, did her dad find the house, set it up, then retrieve Dana from wherever she was that morning and take her to school? So she had never seen the house before?

Her dad is cooking dinner and serves it to her. Presumably around 4:00 when she gets home from school. Ok. Sure. We all eat dinner right after school, right? I'm sure she had a lot of extracurricular activities to attend to on her first day at a new school, so maybe it was later. Right.

Let's fast way forward to Day 2. On Day 1, Dana met a teenage boy, Charlie, and he invites her to dinner for the next day. Day 2. By the end of dinner, she tells her dad, "I REALLY like Charlie. You know that." Wow. They just met.

Fast forward another day. Martin leaves home with the top down and the world dry, picks Julie up from the art gallery, and takes her to lunch at his place. They get out of the car and now the driveway and road are soaked from rain. Top still down. Nobody wet. Come. On. They walk to the back yard where there is no sign it has rained. Great!

While Martin was gone, a woman takes all of 2 seconds to break into the front door of Martin's $8000/month home with what looks like a tuning fork. Right. And she leaves the front door open while she's in there. Cause that make sense.

Meanwhile, while Martin and Julie are having lunch on his back porch, and a woman intruder is in Martin's house, Dana has a "free period" at school and WALKS HOME looking for her dad. Cause why? We don't know. No reason given. (LATER Dana says she ran home to warn Martin that "someone may be on to us". Yeah, you had to walk home to tell him that. Texting would not suffice). And of course, Dana leaves the door open even wider. Cause people in Lifetime movies don't close doors like the rest of us. Let all the flies in and air out, who cares?

But when Dana finds her dad, and he's with Julie, she leaves (and CLOSES THE DOOR!) and heads to Charlie's. Inexplicably, Charlie is home apparently skipping school. Though Dana just saw him at school and he was going to class while she left to run an errand during her free period.

That night, Julie comes home to find Charlie and Dana hanging out. "Hi Dana". No questions, no "what have you teenagers been up to while I was at work all day?", no nothing. OK.

Sheesh.

Oh man, I thought I was done, but late in the movie, a customer who (early in the movie) tried to return a painting to the gallery (because, as he told the gallery owners, he bought it for his girlfriend but they split up), and was offered an exchange but irately refused, is seen leaving the gallery with another piece, and the co-owner says "I'm so glad you guys were able to work it out, she's going to love this one." And he says "I'm sure she will." Sheesh. Actors should catch this crap even if the script writers and editors and directors and producers don't. Continuity, people.

SPOILER ALERT: Oh, one of the best parts! Dana and Charlie burst in on the climactic scene and don't think to call 911 until Martin (who is bleeding from a gunshot in the heart area) suggests it. Fantastic! But, best of all, fortunately paramedics were able to just patch up the gunshot wound at his residence! No bullet fragments to worry about, looks like a simple bandage will fix that bleeding heart!!! It was just a flesh wound! Through the heart! Shirt's back on and everything! Awesome!

END SPOILER ALERT

The movie is fairly interesting for a Lifetime movie. But the ridiculous timeline gaffes and plot holes are distracting at best.

(This show was called "Seduced by a Stranger" when I saw it on Lifetime Movie Network in April 2018. Not sure what's up with the different title than "Ring of Deception".)
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5/10
Almost worth watching
tomfsloan29 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Worth watching if there's nothing else on. Slightly different plot than normal in that there are two bad guys, but not on the same page. The boyfriend is just a crooked jerk who apparently reforms. His former girlfriend is truely a nasty bad guy. Although they could have improved that character. The daughter and her boyfriend are fine. But unfortunately this is a "can miss" movie. This movie made me notice something that pretty much all movies have in common. That is practically every house in the movies, they do not have screen or storm doors.
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1/10
Not Good
carolynocean14 October 2021
Warning: Spoilers
What I thought was just too silly here was how easily and quickly they all fell for each other ! Like, a couple of days ! , Mom and son falling for a Dad and daughter , oh ya , that happens all the time right ?

Also , Mom asking sons opinion on what she wears , I found that relationship a little unbalanced , she is supposed to be the mother , not him advising her all the time .

Maybe it would have worked a little better if Mom had the daughter and conman Dad had the son .

Anyway , the whole movie just did'nt work , too far fetched with too many unbelievable scenarios.

And of course , a completely ridiculous end , Mom is'nt really that fussy at all is she ? Any old con will do !
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Seriously?
haroot_azarian5 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
OK only a total idiot could come up with a ridiculous plot like this! So one of the con's old marks tracks him down and wants to dish out revenge. Meanwhile the con is working on his new mark (dumb Julie) whose son is dating the con's daughter. Cutting to the chase, even after finding out everything about Mr. con, Julie seems to be ok with it and they all live happily ever after! What a role model cougar Julie is to her son, who is as dumb and clueless as his ma!
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1/10
utter garbage
flejklw23 February 2023
Ok, so Martin who is a con man moves in with his daughter to the neighbourhood of Julie and her son.

In the near distance is Sloane the women that Martin had ripped off and made off all that's valuable.

Now Julie for unforeseen reason and a bit dense herself falls for Martin, who all in all is has dry has the sahara desert .

You hope has the film goes on that some sense comes out of it, Martin's history of conning women seems to be apparent, yet the director/scriptwriters has put more emphasis on Sloane being a bit of a twisted nutcase, for me strapping up Martin by his essentials would be justified.

I would not waste your 1hr 30mins on this rubbish.
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7/10
A Gigolo Turning Over a New Leaf?
lavatch18 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
"Seduced by a Stranger" (a.k.a., "Ring of Deception") raises one essential question: Will the reformed Martin Hale be any different from the old version of Evan Grable?

This mystery man shows up in the life of art dealer Julie Stevens and sweeps the lonely widow off her feet. In one early scene set in Julie's home, Martin excuses himself to go to the lavatory, but makes a beeline for Julie's study to photograph her financial records. When Julie walks in and nearly catches him in the act, he smothers her in kisses and the couple goes at it with their two high school children downstairs.

The plot thickens when Sloane, the girlfriend whom "Evan Grable" robbed and jilted, shows up for revenge and seeks to recover her precious bracelet. In the meantime, the progeny of Julie and Martin, young Charlie and Dana are falling in love!

A weakness of the screenplay was in the relationship of the two kids with their single parents. In the way that young Dana speaks to her father, it is clear that this high school student is fully aware of his past indiscretions and the details about how he seduced and jilted "dozens" of women. Dana berates her father for bad conduct to such a degree that it is difficult to believe that she is not his nagging wife! Young Charlie Stevens similarly micromanages his mother's life by giving her encouragement in getting back to the dating scene. These were two kids who required the nurturing support of their parents, not vice versa!

The strength of the film was in the excellent performance of the actress playing Julie. She was clearly lonely and perceived something that she believed was decent in Martin. For his part, he vows that he is going to be "turning over a new leaf." By the end, the filmmakers work overtime in suggesting that Martin Hale is a reformed man. Individual viewers will have to make up their own minds.
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7/10
Different dynamic from the usual Lifetime thriller
phd_travel11 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
At first this Lifetime thriller seems quite interesting a unique dynamic with 2 baddies after the innocent victim a widowed mother. A con man starts a romance with a widow the same time her son falls for the con man's daughter. A crazed victim of the con man is after him though. It's quite watchable - you want to see what happened.

Chandra West is the widow. The ending is predictable in a Lifetime way but the happy end seems a little unconvincing.
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