Secrets of a Marine's Wife (TV Movie 2021) Poster

(2021 TV Movie)

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6/10
Lethal consequences of trust
evening110 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Seeing beautiful Erin in the desert in this movie's first frame, I had a flashback to the terrible facts of her true-crime tale of lust and treachery.

Yes, it's June 2014 in the desolate Mojave Desert, and deliriously bubbly Erin awaits her married lover -- too young, naïve, or maybe manic to consider he may not be thrilled with her pregnancy.

There's a chilling bit of foreshadowing early on, when Chris joins Erin for some videogame play. "Prepare to die!" he tells her, to which she coquettishly replies: "I think I can handle you." Ya really think?

Director Manu Boyer creates such suspense by the end that I fast-forwarded through the movie's final frames to help me handle the crime itself. Only then could I rewind and behold the truth.

There are good performances here from Sadie Calvano as Erin, an 18-year-old with seemingly zero insight into her impulse of the moment -- be it a Vegas wedding to Marine Corpsman Jon (Evan Roderick) or a sip from the beer bottle of seductive next-door-neighbor Chris (Tom Stevens).

There are hints early on that Erin may not be what she appears. We catch a glimpse of trepidation in her mom, Lore (Teresa Laverty), when Jon chivalrously seeks her hand in marriage.

And the movie captures other truths. As the mother of young-adult children, I can identify with Lore's insecurity. And, thinking back on the men who I took seriously, I also commiserate with Erin, who wants to believe that if she likes a guy, he'll treat her right. Ain't that a dangerous assumption!

This terrible thing need never have happened. But then, we'd be living in a rational world. How very sad...
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7/10
To think about.
patrick_mohr21 June 2021
Unfortunately, a disturbing subject that few will describe as Dull... But, in fact a reality that needs to be on screen.
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7/10
One of the better "Lifetime" movies
Top_Dawg_Critic24 June 2021
I actually had no idea this was based on true events until the ending credits. Had it not been, then it wouldn't be anything close to creative writing for this genre, as it was very predictable. But the fact it is based on real events, you'll tend to cut the story some slack, and have sympathy for those who needed it.

The directing and cinematography was decent, and the acting for the most part convincing. The 84 min runtime was decent with the adequate pacing. I just wish Lifetime would tone down the constant and overbearing typical "Lifetime-style" background music. Nevertheless, an enjoyable one-time watch.
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Very sad!
haroot_azarian22 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
While I give my heartfelt condolences and sympathies to Erin's widower (Jon) and her family and may she rest in peace I have some questions: 1 - Why did she insisted on marrying so young?

2 - Was her marriage that bad that she had to have an affair with another married man with a kid?

3 - And finally I hope Chris Lee lives a very long life in prison, he needs to spend living behind bars for a long long time knowing that he'll never see his ex-wife and daughter ever again and never see a park, the ocean mountains, valleys, rivers, lakes and the desert where he did hunting and his final hunt was poor naiive immature Erin whom he took advantage of and who was his final hunt!
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6/10
Sad tale of consequences and murder
kysta26 September 2021
It's hard to review based on real life films as you can only go by what is being presented. But this was easy to watch, told a story of love and lust gone wrong and those sad consequences for a young woman and her family.
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6/10
True Story, okay movie, but a little off.
jaimedannie22 June 2021
This is based on a true story. I live in the town where it happened. They did not depict marines accurately. She was not killed in Joshua Tree National Park, but in the desert east of 29 Palms. They did not film in the desert and it was obvious it was not our area. The acting was ok.
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5/10
Yet Another Swing and MISS
jb05791 July 2021
Dear Hollywood;

How are you, I am fine. Well, I am kinda fine. My name is Jim and I am a writer, and some think I'm a pretty good one. Oh, and I'm a Veteran. A Disabled Veteran, but You know - I don't bring that stuff up a lot. But... and I don't wanna keep harping on it, but you have screwed the pooch yet again on the most recent military-type movie, "Secrets of a Marine wife." This is a movie that COULD have been at LEAST good, but yet again, ten bucks would have been all that was needed for this steaming turd to be decent. If I said it once I've said it a gazillion times: THE MILITARY DOES NOT ALLOW MEN TO HAVE BANGS DOWN TO THE UPPER LIP. They didn't during WWI, they didn't in the 1940's during WWII, they didn't when I was in during the Gulf wars....hell, they didn't allow it in the 1960's - 70's during the hippie years. You cast this dude who looked like a character in "American Pie," with an earlobe-length bowl cut. Ugh. And what's with everybody wearing their dog tags out of their T shirts? Or outside of our shirt at an off-duty weekend BBQ by the pool? Just so the world knows - we have dog tags, yes, but we don't wear them outside of our shirts playing volleyball like in "Top Gun." Most of us, if it isn't wartime, take them off and stick them in our sock drawer. Our hair, for men, cannot touch our rear collar. And, it cannot touch our ears (either in length OR poofyness). I am screaming it out to the WORLD.....IF YOU ARE MAKING A MOVIE about the military, or even one that just mentions the military, if there are any military people in it, hire a guy or gal to consult! Active duty or retired...my God.... I beg you!! Signed, you Orly weary pal, Jim

As for this movie in all other ways it was decent. The actors were decent the story was true so you know THAT was decent, and the actors actually performed well, even the ones that aren't actors by profession! It's just hard for a guy like me who was in the military to watch these types of things - it hurts! Nobody cares enough to so much as ASK a veteran or active duty milirary member to consult with one to get even the most basic customs right. It makes Vets and/or AD Military look lazy.
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8/10
Excellent Lifetime movie!!
russellp2001200120 June 2021
From time to time I watch Lifetime movies with my wife. I always ask her the same question. How do these people afford these 5 million dollar mansions.

The Movie " Secrets of a Marine's Wife " was different.

I normally don't write reviews but these is an excellent film for a young couple to watch. It will teach you that jumping into marriage could be a big mistake. The young girl Erin gets married in Vegas at 18 years old. Her and her husband move to a little community and she soon realizes that being married is not all she thought it would be. As an 18 year old would do she has feelings for another guy and she acts on them.

What I thought was great about this movie was the way Erin couldn't quite comprehend that was was doing anything wrong. She was a teenager that was crushing on another man. This is all fine if you are not married. As this mini affair progresses you can see that nothing good will come of it. A lot of people will be hurt.

I won't say anymore but I will highly recommend this movie. As I mentioned earlier, anyone young looking to rush into marriage, give this a watch. You may want to re-think it!!!
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1/10
total waste of time
boydappraisal21 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This story really happend - however the movie is pure trash and fiction. It iwas filmed in Canada. The story happened in the mojave desert in 29 Palms, CA. I'm sure they could have found a small piece of the Dale mining district to film in even during the panemic - folks were filming in the area. Marines with long hair - please. These were pfc's 1 and 2 strips - they looked like slobs and there DI would have had them doing so many push ups and cutting the hair. Not base housing. I could go on. Don't waste your time. But also don't forget Erin and what happened to her.
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8/10
Entertaining
anthony-5534521 June 2021
If you're a true crime fan like me you'll find this a quite enjoyable telling of the horrific murder of Eryn Corwin . Sadie Calvano's work is a highlight of this true crime story .
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5/10
Slightly dull and typical of the genre
markferriby-2064120 June 2021
So the story is the usual rubbish that's churned out on TV for people that enjoy staying at home all day and eating chips. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table, we've seen this so many times before.
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8/10
Very well done - riveting
deedrala23 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'm only doing this review to offset the very incorrect ones here who say this movie was bad and we've seen it before, etc.

Lifetime does true crime so well - (so far) - but their over-the-top fictional flicks that they churn out like donuts in a bakery are rarely the same quality with the attention to detail and excellent acting.

This was based on real events, which I finally realized about halfway into it after recognizing the horse ranch, the 29 Palms marine base, and most of all: the very young newlywed who had an affair that ended up costing her her life. I had seen the true story on Dateline a few years ago so I also recognized the names since they weren't changed for the movie.

If nothing else, the way he killed her was jarring in its sheer heartless brutality - even watching it acted out with a lifeless dummy in the courtroom, either in the actual courtroom tape on Dateline or this LMN movie. So please don't believe the insensitive way-off-the-mark reviewers here giving it low scores with the idiotic WRONG statement that it's the same stuff we've all seen before. It definitely is not. Also, the acting was spot-ON, especially the two guys who played Jon Corwin and Chris Lee. Your heart will break over and over again for Corwin - both before and after his wife is murdered.

So aside from the military mistakes pointed out by a few of the reviewers, it's a very well-done, well-acted, well-directed enactment of a very tragic and memorable true crime.

Grade B / 8 out of 10.
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9/10
Quite good, really!
Chartreuse127 June 2021
Based on a true story. Small-town girl Erin gets a marriage proposal from Marine Corporal Jon Corwyn and she gets hitched in Las Vegas and moves on to the base with the other marines and their families. Things start out fine until she meets Chris Lee who is already married with a kid. Erin has an affair and ends up pregnant with his child. 3 weeks later she turns up missing. You'll have to tune in to see what happened and I highly recommend it! Sadie Calvano does a great job as Erin supported by a Canadian cast in this exceptional Lifetime movie!
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10/10
All I can say it's wow
smokey-0268222 June 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This movie kept me in interested , her husband really loved her I cried at the end he said he still loved her knowing she kept the affair going , the guy just gave her all the attention she wanted , I can't believe he killed her after telling her how much he loved her I'll never forget the look on his face in court he kept saying I had to kill her it's soooo.sad .
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9/10
One of the best LMN movies
vbacon-111-57832931 December 2021
I'm a big fan of LMN movies and usually grade them on a curve. This is actually just a good movie period. No curve needed. 9 stars.

I am a huge fan of Mom. I always thought of Sadie Calvano's performance there a little sub-par. She's definitely improved greatly since then. She shines here and steals the show with some very fine acting. (Well, she has to. She's the star.) Will be interesting to see if she can move out of the LMN genre onto the big screen.

The style of showing the after event interviews mixed in with the storyline can be tricky to pull off. I've seen it overdone on LMN and elsewhere. They didn't do a lot of it here until close to the end and it worked well.

As noted by others, a big goof is the cool-looking 70's haircut on Chris is nothing you would see an active marine wearing. But this hardly ruins the movie.
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