User Reviews

Spoilers here. After an interesting start, the movie plodded along for quite a while. When the plot finally began to thicken, there was so much potential to anticipate. Unfortunately, it took some unpredictable yet stupid turns at the end. I had many questions. Such as...Were there no police? Just the insurance guy? What real purpose did the mother serve? What was Martha going to do about her car? What happened to the body? All that blood, but after the husband was moved to another room, there was no blood on that floor. The custody thing was pointless. The whole idea of Daphne faking it was not a total shock, but the tangent it took was. But the most bizarre thing of all was the relationship between Martha and Daphne. They practically killed each other but ended up friends. Or rather, did they end up being lesbian lovers? Unlike most Lifetime movies, when the guy got hit with the statue, he died. Normally they can get clobbered with a sledge hammer only to shake it off 30 seconds later. Notice when Daphne fell and was laying on the floor...she was in a classic Family Guy pose.

Overall, a good plot that wasn't exploited to its fullest potential.

As far as the acting, Jessica Morris did a good job.

Marking spoilers, although I don't plan to give any. One of the rare Lifetime movies where the trailer/commercial looked promising and not campy. Both actresses here are reliable in these movies, so I had higher expectations than I normally would. Whatever filter the movie used worked for the general mood of the movie and I'd say all of the roles were played well and believably.

The synopsis lets the viewer know where the story is going, so you'll likely figure out what's going on after not much time at all. The climax did not surprise me at all, and for me, it was just a matter of how the movie arrived at that point....

Which brings me to the ending....um, what? I feel the movie went from A all the way to X, skipped Y, and landed on Z. You'll see what I mean. It was either that, or they didn't want to commit to a particular ending. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen a movie where either of them have been the villain. I guess if you can't trust the person who tried to kill you, then who can you trust? I could almost be satisfied if the ending was such that they had an understanding and are keeping each other's secrets, but never trusting one another. I would believe a fade to black where they're staring each other down daring the other to blink in order to see who has the upper hand. That MIGHT have worked for me. But this movie goes with forever bosom buddies. But not in that fun way as in Death Becomes Her. There's no explanation and just lends to a bizarre finish to this movie. It feels as if a couple of scenes got cut in favor of a commercial break.

I want to also mention that that this is yet another story from Lifetime where no matter what, the men in the movie are terrible. It's not subtle and it's played out.

It's watchable, although based on my initial curiosity, it was a bit of a letdown ultimately. Would I watch again? Not sure bc that Y would be frustrating with every repeated watch.

But judge for yourself.

"Everything's gonna be fine". The Lifetime network never goes that route. That's like saying that the Leaning Tower of Pisa doesn't lean. Natch.

Anyway, Danger in the Spotlight is my latest write-up. It's gonzo film-making with an even more gonzo ending (and that's saying a lot for a certain long-running cable endeavor). What's on screen has so much promise till "Danger" pulls a 180 "WTF" just for the heck of it. I mean seriously.

So OK, Danger in the Spotlight for the most part is a Lifetime drama thriller that is generally well-crafted. It has an original premise about a recovering alcoholic who commits a hit-and-run leaving a famous ballet dancer paralyzed (so you think).

Jessica Morris (as Martha) plays said alcoholic and her screen presence is palatable. I mean Morris is a babe, she's a Lifetime lifetime-r, and well, she's pretty darn sexy. But to paint her as a kind of pseudo villain in the end is just bunk. It renders "Danger" sort of icky and a little misguided.

Danger in the Spotlight leads you down a path where you almost know where things are headed. Thanks to its eerie vibe, its multiple flashbacks, its red herrings, and its solid musical score by Tomas Peire, the film is still generally watchable. But jeez, that conclusion lacks credibility and overall plausibility. I guess pigs really do fly (ugh).

I mean you'd have to believe that someone would forgive someone else for trying to kill them so they could get their daughter back in a custody battle. You'd also have to believe that that same someone would commit a murder and help dispose of a dead body for the same darn reason. Lifetime network, I give you credit for going for shock value and thinking outside of the box on this one. But even M. Night Shyamalan has his limitations. Unclear and present "danger".

When I saw Anna Marie Dobbins in the cast list I couldn't not watch, since she's my latest crush. The movie however was pretty terrible, with Martha, the other main actress constantly looking perplexed, as if try as she might, she just couldn't learn her lines. The twist at the end made me jump out of my skin, because I wasn't expecting it. But from that moment I realised I hadn't really understood what was going on. The husband, though, always looked suspicious, and he had only left the house for 5 minutes before returning and catching Martha out, who was going through his stuff in his office, which he had expressly told her not to do. Later on, Martha and Daphne seemed to be getting along together just fine, with Martha gently soaping Daphne down in the bath a bit too intensely, I thought. After the denouement with creepy husband dead, Martha and Daphne cemented their friendship, which was a bit more than just friends, if you get my meaning.

I am a big fan of Jessica Morris and Anna Marie Dobbins, and this Lifetime movie was an absolute delight! Superb performances by the two. Great plot with lots of twists and turns. I gave it a full ten rating. Someone said the ending was pointless. Well obviously they hadn't paid attention. Martha killed Daphne's husband and between her and Daphne (after Daphne's failed attempt to kill Martha) they agreed to get rid of the body and obviously after her fall Daphne really became paralyzed and received her insurance money, and Martha continued to care for Daphne in return Daphne would testify in favour of Martha for custody of her daughter. And in the end they became real friends! Duh?