Richard (Andrew McCarthy), a shady insurance claims adjuster, finds his wife and her hired killer both dead and must figure out who did it as the police suspect himself in this boring, uninvolved, vapid little tale.As predictable as it is asinine, badly acted by all involved and simply hard getting through all 99 minutes or so. But always one to look on the bright side (as small as that might be), The Santa Clause 3 is now not the worst film to be saddled with The Escape Claus moniker. So kudos for that rather dubious honor I guess.Eye Candy: Kate McNeil and Laura Catalano get topless

This is really a pretty good story. It's a good mystery that has you wondering who dunnit, at least for he first hour and a half. The letdown comes at the end, with a totally implausible ending that's pretty-much an anti-climax.Note: Possible spoilers ahead...There's one really lame part where one cop holds up a semi-automatic pistol and declares, "It's a ballistics match, with three shells expended..." There is no way to know on an auto-loading pistol how many 'shells have been expended', unless you have found the 'shells' at the scene. Simply deducting the remaining cartridges from the capacity is not enough to determine this, as it is unknown how many cartridges were loaded in the first place.The whole premise of the movie with respect to the 'curve' is not plausible...I don't buy the motivation of the killer.It's a good time waster, but the ending will be a letdown.

I was cajoled into watching this TV movie by the wife, who has very positive nostalgic memories of Andrew McCarthy (Mannequin, Pretty in Pink, St Elmo's Fire) and found it to be actually rather good.It may not have the budget of The Usual Suspects, but it's intriguing none the less as the nice plot gradually plays out. Some of the whodunnits are very obvious, as McCarthy tries to piece together who killed his wife and why, like the supposed friend and work colleague or the father in law, but overall this is one worth sticking with to the end.Good performance by the guy of The Sopranos and also look out for the laughingly titled magazine 'Dungeon Bitch' - used to put the colleague in the frame.As long as you don't expect too much, you'll enjoy.R

Grabbed this one purely because I needed a Kate McNeil fix. Getting harder and harder to find her these days.The poor early dialogue and overdone exposition made me think this is another cheesy cable drama, but once the story begins to unfold (and the dialogue lessens) it really rolls out into a darn good thriller. Many different suspects (the parents, the friend, the lover, the co-worker), lots of motives keep you guessing.Its no frills, you won't have anywhere near the production value of Seven, Silence of the Lambs, or even Kiss the Girls. And try not to pay too much attention to Andrew McCarthy, or Paul Sorvino for that matter, as their minimalist approach to character will only distract you from the story.Too bad this little script ultimately found itself in the low-budget land of straight-to-video. A little TLC and a few bucks could have paid big dividends here.All in all a very pleasant surprise.