A Wife's Nightmare

Following a nervous breakdown, attractive businesswoman Jennifer Beals (as Elizabeth "Liz" Michaels) is sent home from the psychiatric hospital. With help from some balancing medication, Ms. Beals believes she can also return to work. This is great news, because handsome musician husband Dylan Neal (as Gabe) is still looking for a best-seller, after completing two albums. The couple have one son, cute high school-aged Spencer List (as AJ). For some unexplained reason, Mr. List can't attract a pretty girl at school. After grocery shopping one day, mom and dad are accosted by beautiful blonde 19-year-old Lola Tash (as Caitlin Patterson). She claims her recently deceased mother named Mr. Neal as her father...

This makes the sexy young woman Neal's daughter from a brief relationship, occurring way back. Presently living in her car, Ms. Tash is invited into the family. Now, remember Ms. Beals had a psychiatric problem. At first, she accepts Tash as a step-daughter. But Beals starts to see Tash getting very chummy with the family. One scene has Tash spilling a drink on her ample chest, with the camera moving in to show Neal patting out the wetness as it drips down her cleavage. Tash also makes slightly younger List giggle when tickling his upper thighs as they play video games. Beals witnesses these incidents and thinks they may not be so innocent. They are not explicit enough for us to know what's going on, supposedly...

In reality, it's fairly obvious...

This "Lifetime" TV movie never gets away from its formula, but director Vic Sarin and the cast do make it slightly better than ordinary. This is most evident in the four leading players. They remain convincing, as Mr. Sarin keeps their characterizations on track through some idiocy. Beals does not seem like she could have been crazy, but we're not shown that part of the story. List says he loves the "Underground Records" shop where Tash works, but does not recognize the gorgeous blonde who worked there is his new sister. Yet, List portrays his young teenage character very well. The opening minutes go overboard in showing Tash's emotions, but she's quite impressive. Finally, Neal definitively nails his daddy role home.

***** A Wife's Nightmare (12/27/14) Vic Sarin ~ Jennifer Beals, Lola Tash, Dylan Neal, Spencer List

Even compared to other Lifetime original movies, this one has a very weird energy, whereby it seems like the character writing is just completely scattered; all four principles carry wildly inconsistent vibes throughout most of the length. Even heading into the third act the movie still has yet to give a firm beat on exactly who wife, husband, son, or long-lost daughter are, or what they're doing, and the narrative therefore also comes across as being all over the place. I suppose it's to the credit of the screenwriters that this is perfectly intentional, veiling the true nature of the course of events with a successful cloak of mystery until everything is lined up Just So. It's by design that we viewers are kept guessing. A single line of dialogue is all that it takes for the pieces to start to fall into place - though I think it's also true that there's an issue here insofar as the last twenty minutes throw so much plot at us in such rapid succession that it feels rushed and overfull. When all is said and done I think 'A wife's nightmare' is fairly well done and enjoyable, but I'm not entirely sure how to feel about it.

Broadly speaking, I'd be lying if I said I weren't at least a little bit impressed: it's the writing that comes off weakest at first, but as every seeming wrinkle is ultimately smoothed out and revealed to be part of the Big Picture, it turns out that Dan Trotta and Blake Corbet's screenplay might actually be the most readily commendable and stand-out aspect after all. This is hardly to count out the efforts of everyone else involved; while this is hardly a must-see presentation, all those working behind the scenes did fine work. The acting is nothing revelatory, yet Lola Tash, Dylan Neal, Spencer List, and above all Jennifer Beals do give swell performances in which I find no fault. Vic Sarin's direction is solid, and I'm happy to say that 'A wife's nightmare' is one of those few Lifetime productions (or TV movies, generally) that maintain a normal pace, never sprinting ahead. Why, for that matter: perhaps one shouldn't congratulate filmmakers for coloring within the lines, but it's safe to say that most of this picture's kin are astoundingly direct and brusque in their storytelling, leaving little to the imagination. If there were only one thing that could be said in favor of 'A wife's nightmare,' it's that it avoids that low-hanging fruit. On the contrary, once again, the narrative is certainly less than lucid at first blush, to the point that it initially seems like a flaw.

It must be said that there's no small amount of ham-handedness present, above all at the cringe-worthy ending but also possibly any time the feature tries to paint a portrait of glad tidings. This is, still, cut from the same cloth as its television brethren, even if it doesn't bear all the exact same troubles. It's a flavor of Lifetime that's mostly very sincere - and, sincerely, more worthwhile than not - though for anyone who has a hard time abiding such fare in the first place, this may not be the title to change one's mind. For as many reservations as I had at the outset, however, ultimately I'm a bit pleasantly surprised that this is at least in some ways a cut above its fellows. It may not have any especial spark to endear it to us, or help it secure a place in our heart over similar films, but it's pretty well made and entertaining, I think, which would seem to mean it achieved its goal. Don't go out of your way for 'A wife's nightmare' but if you do come across it, this is a fairly decent way to spend ninety minutes.

A Wife's Nightmare is very interesting considering that it's based off real events. It's one of those made for TV drama's; It's watchable and entertaining. The acting was so so. The plot was a little all over the place which made the movie a little confusing at certain points. But understanding the made for TV restrictions It gets a passing grade from me. I truly feel that this would've been a much better film if it wasn't made for TV.

The poorly-written premise here, supposedly based on 'true events', is about a 19 yr old girl who finds her father after her mom died. The first 70-odd minutes of this movie has a vanilla, almost Disney-like feel to it. The final 15 or 20 will actually be worth it for some, and another predictable and thus disappointing end to others.

While I must admit that I did not fully have the end-game all figured out early-on like some, the 'twist' still came with little shock simply because these types of movies almost always read the same.

Don't get me wrong, there are some few shreds of entertainment value to be had here. For me it was the presence of Jennifer Beals as the troubled and tormented mom. For others it might for all I know be the very slight hints of incest. Still others might enjoy its slow pot-boiler suspense (if you can call it that) with G-rated language.

But the sad fact is that those who are looking for a well-written well-directed and well-acted dramatic masterpiece are in for a letdown. I gave it 4/10 stars, 3 for Beals' presence, and one more for Lola Tash (spelled as "Trash" btw in the Shaw Cable listings writeup for this movie, lol) who was a pleasant surprise. Jenn Beals deserves better than this, and I hope to see Lola in some bigger budget productions in future where she can really show her talent.

This movie was solely entertaining because the acting was so bad. If you want to feel good about your acting skills, watch this movie. I watch a lot of movies, and this movie is my worst nightmare. The whole movie is rising action, with suspenseful music for no reason. The music is even louder than the dialogue at some points and it is just a mess. Not 100% sure who directed it but it's horrible.