Mommy's Secret (2016 TV Movie) User Reviews

An okay time waster but please refrain from that awful dramatic music score continually playing in the background

[Ed-Shullivan · 5/10 · 19 February 2019]

Of course there were huge holes in this plot and the inept police and FBI who were responsible for arresting the real mobster were laughable. I found the soccer star daughter Denise (Sarah Grey) most irritating from the opening scene when she starts asking her mother Anne (Cahrisma Carpenter) a continuous stream of endless and curious questions about her mother's activities and receives double talk from Anne.

Mom and two (2) teenagers lost their father a year ago but they somehow are able to maintain a lifestyle in their multi million dollar estate home on mom's part time jobs of being a hair dresser and casserole maker.

Most irritating about this made for TV movie was the background dramataic soap operatic music score which had the reverse effect on me to maintain a level of suspense. Really? As bad as I am making this movie out to be, and the dialogue is near bearable it does have a few twists and turns and a happy ending so it is an okay time waster.

Based on a True Story? Really? I doubt it.

[FloridaFred · 3/10 · 18 June 2018]

The premise of this movie is absurd. Mom decides to rob banks to cover her son's gambling debts? Sure, it happens every day. Plot holes include the FBI enlisting "Mom" to rob banks as part of a sting operation. Not likely. An open gambling establishment that is not shuttered by the local Vice Squad? And what kind of bar that plays poker for $5000 a hand would operate out of a single-wide mobile home? The acting is very poor. The scenario is highly improbable. The daughter acts suspicious in the first scene. The broke single mother, with no income other than chump change from an occasional customer at the beauty parlor, lives in a million dollar home. When the banks are robbed, the police just let her stroll out the door, even though she is carrying no heavy armament, and has no back up (and try walking into a bank wearing a sweatshirt with a hood, dark sunglasses, and a backpack, see if that doesn't draw attention to you). Did you notice that the soccer star never eats any protein, just the Lifetime Movie Network veggie menu of lettuce and pasta? It's going to be hard to get the necessary strength and muscle mass to play soccer, living on a diet like that. Also absurd is Junior, who is being played at the Poker table, he just keeps going back for more, and the house "loans him" $20K plus? No, the movie is just not realistic. The poor acting (is that a real soccer coach?) is the death knell.

I was able to watch it to the end

[denlyski-44680 · 5/10 · 21 February 2023]

As I write this I am laid up with a broken ankle. Otherwise I would have found something better to do. LOL The premise although a bit odd and unbelievable had potential. The dialogue was poorly written which probably hampered the mediocre actors.

The real reason I bothered with a review was the moms disguise, dressed up like a man while wearing full make up!?! Another reviewer pointed this out but I had to chime in.

I am tired of seeing women with eye shadow, false eyelashes, lipstick etc in situations that make absolutely no sense. I have even heard characters say I look terrible without make-up while the actor is clearly wearing make-up. Can we stop setting a 'standard' of beauty for women that makes no sense. A 'standard' of beauty that must be kept even when dressing up as a man! 😂

Terrible Movie

[nyotatimothy · 2/10 · 24 June 2018]

Mind boggling that we have such movies being produced in 2016

Awful

[marsmii · 1/10 · 19 July 2017]

This was a terrible movie: the story line was unbelievable, the acting was stiff & unbelievable! The mother's and daughter's acting was really bad! There was no real emotion! If a mother found out her son was gambling and in deep debt, there's no way she would smile and softly say it's going to be okay! There would be screaming and threat of consequences and getting professional help for him. It was like the daughter was sleep walking throughout and when she was bound & gagged----it was actually laughable! It might have been better with better casting and actors that could actually act!

Not well kept

[kosmasp · 2/10 · 27 December 2018]

The secret that is. So you may know Charisma Carpenter from her role in the Buffy TV show. She grew up - well she matured. She can't play a teenager anymore obviously and unfortunately probably only gets weird roles likes this one more often than not. She was a side character in one of the Expandables movies. But other than that, you probably didn't see her in much.

And I would suggest that you shouldn't watch her in this either. Not really worth your time (even if you consider one "twist" towards the end). Weak script, drama of the week, overall rather generic and weak in the dialog department. I won't judge the actors by one performance, but one thing is for sure, this isn't their best work (I know for sure when it comes to Charisma and I hope the same to be true for the others)

You've got something better to do. Trust me.

[willyxbrace · 1/10 · 24 November 2023]

Horrible movie. I would have enjoyed it more if the plot had them all die in the end. At least it would have been an unpredictable plot twist. Don't waste your time. Also like everyone says, the dramatic score throughout the film was unbearable. Not the best acting, but hey everyone is so pretty and handsome. And wholesome. Sometimes I wish in a campy movie like this I wish that when you have too much time invested in the movie to quit I wish the actors would break character and look into the camera and make fun of the movie itself, the acting job they got, and maybe you for watching it. At least the bit of unexpected comedy would break the cringe.

Worse than 0

[ttesq · 1/10 · 20 June 2019]

Lifetime makes some very low budget movies...but really?.....it took 4 "writers" to bring this monstrosity to the screen......did Lifetime hire some grade school kids to write this thing? Actually attaching their names to this title speaks volumes of their obviously lack of talent, and probably means you will run into them in the soup line on any given day....talentless bums.....all or some probably have some production company or fancy themselves as teachers/instructors.....if you see their name as a teacher or production company.....RUN!!!!

Surprisingly watchable and quite funny in parts

[phd_travel · 6/10 · 11 August 2017]

There is something watchable about this sometimes ridiculous and sometimes unintentionally funny Lifetime thriller. Charisma Carpenter stars as a beautiful widow who disguises herself as a man to rob banks to pay off her son's gambling debts. Her disguise is quite laugh out loud but if you think about it a change of sex disguise could be quite effective. The police would be looking for a man. Anyway the way the mother does this crazy thing for the gambler son is actually possible in real life even if robbing banks is a stretch. The daughter surprises by not being a brat.

The finale is quite something soccer mom and soccer daughter vs money launderer.

The Disguise of the Century

[lavatch · 8/10 · 14 December 2020]

It is worth watching "Mommy's Secret" (a.k.a., "My Mom Robs Banks") for the disguise used by soccer mom Anne Harding when she is robbing banks. If ever one wanted to call attention to oneself, it would be in her fake goatee, trench coat, and ski cap. And her getaway vehicle of choice for the robberies: her son's bicycle! To put it mildly, Anne must have had a lot of luck in her heists, based upon her attire and planning.

The filmmakers devised a clever scenario about the desperate widow Anne robbing banks in order to pay off her wayward son Kyle's gambling debts. Anne works closely with the sleazy underworld figure Quinlan, who would appear to have a romantic interest in Anne. Clearly, Quinlan is leveraging Kyle's bad luck at gambling to his own advantage in co-opting Anne into robbing the banks.

The most interesting character in the film is Anne's daughter Denise. A star soccer player of the Brookwood High School Bobcats, Denise is in position to win a college scholarship. She is also savvy enough to recognize that her mom is up to some shady activity. Some of the best scenes are when the wily Denise is relentlessly questioning her mother, and Anne has to tell a truckload of lies to placate the curious daughter.

The filmmakers inserted a deeper layer to heists that is revealed towards the end. The rug is pulled out from the audience, and new light is shed on the adventuresome life of a thief. Soccer mom by night and bank robber by day, Anne demonstrates that love of a mother for her children would appear to be boundless based on the nonchalant manner and the disguise of the century of Anne Harding.

REALLY

[valica-33849 · 6/10 · 12 November 2023]

These have to be STUPIDEST cops around. Rob a bank & noone notices? The cops can't catch a person on a bike or do fingerprints once found it? There is no weapon, so how getting away with robbery, the teller goes to the vault, pretty sure could of pulled an alarm or something.

Later in movie the sister goes where the brother is gambling, why have a bouncer near the door if he just let's EVERYONE in. He let the High School sister just walk in the place.

I forgot how long since husband passed, but no way in hell is she able to afford living in the house as a hair dresser.

These banks, how much son owe if have to keep robbing banks, they don't have money?

Great for eye candy

[ThunderKing6 · 6/10 · 4 November 2023]

And that's about it... Sort of.

November 4th 2023rd

Genre: general drama, sports, family drama

Duration: 1h 25m

What is this television movie about?:

It's about a good in the face mom who easily robs banks to pay off her son's debt.

Yeah Michael, Franklin, and Trevor could have used her.

The story and the production overview:

If you ignore the awful lying acting from the hot mom and enjoy her and the daughters face for some eye sweets then this movie isn't so bad.

The story is there. But the acting sort of hurts the film.

Overall I'd say it's an Okay film for what it is.

Highlight:

Eye candy.

Moral:

Gambling is a trap.

Rating:

It's ok.

Final words:

If GTA 5 homies had this mom on their team that would be so awesome...

Promise I'm not a fake review with 10 stars

[missraze · 10/10 · 25 June 2021]

I did truly enjoy this but two things bugged me and it was the actress who played the mom constantly reminding me of the mom from Full House who is in serious legal trouble for racketeering her son into college, and the mom's "disguise" (she kept her eyelashes on! And had fierce arched eyebrows with a beard. Girl bye! Lol)