This really wasn't bad for a TV psychological thriller type movie. Cherilyn Fenn did a nice job as Shelby and the premise was somewhat intriguing. The whole plot line of Shelby listening on and becoming obsessed with, the radio scanner, was done well and much of the Movie took place at night so there was always an appropriate moodiness to the movie. It's not a must see but it does make one want to know what is going to happen next.I wouldn't call this the best TV movie out there by any means but it holds one's attention nicely and the worst things I can say about it is it's rather long and there are times where it moves rather slowly. But the movie does very well in the atmosphere department and having Fenn as the star was a good choice, as she's pretty good here. I suppose, in a way the movie could have held more intrigue as this was an interesting premise to build a movie on and though this is far from excellent if one is just looking for a good old fashioned TV mystery to invest some time in, one could do worse.

This movie is just a "high-tech" version of Alfred Hitchcock's classic movie, Rear Window. But instead of a man seeing a murder being committed while looking through a telescope, Shelby Naylor (played by Sherilyn Fenn) while using her dead husband's radio scanner hears a husband and wife fighting with each other over a cell phone, and of course, shortly thereafter the woman is found dead. And like Jimmy Stewart in the classic film, Naylor's life is in danger after she reports what she hears to the police.If this wasn't such a recycled plot, the movie might have been much better as Sherilyn Fenn is a talented actress. But I couldn't give this movie more than a 5 out ten stars for only being so-so. With such a basic plot you pretty much know what's going to happen, so it becomes how well the actors do their jobs along the way, which is nothing spectacular.

(There are Spoilers) The movie "Nightwaves" story-line is just too unlikely and convoluted to be taken seriously. We have this couple who are engaged in a violent domestic dispute thats picked up and recored corded by magazine writer Shelby Naylor, Sherilyn Fenn, on her, or her late husbands Peter (Kevin Jubinville), state-of-the-are scanner system. Shelby who's laid up at home from a traffic accident that killed her husband Peter at the beginning of the movie becomes fascinated with what she picks up on her scanner and becomes a news and voyeur freak. Listening in on police radio reports and even cell and home phone conversations of her neighbors. One of them is Shelby's next-door neighbors the Birkwell's David & Brenda, David Nerman & Emma Campball, who seem to be at it every day and night.It later turns out that Brenda is missing and Shelby feeling that it's her duty, as a law abiding citizen, to get in touch with the Boston D.A office and turn over the tapes she made of the Birkwell spats which leads to David's arrest in his wife's disappearance. Later finding the headless body of a woman in a nearby dumpster the police pathologist positively identifies her as the missing Brenda Birkwell which has David now facing a first degree murder charger in his wife's death.Up to this point the made-for-TV movie "Nightwaves" holds your interest but as it reveals the truth about Brenda's death and what, if anything, her husband David had to do with it it really goes too far in trying to be either too cute or brainy and falls completely apart. There's this mysterious and creepy looking guy, who for some strange reason reminds me of Senator John Kerry, Tom Williams ,Bruce Dinsmore, popping up all over the place. Tom somehow knows a lot more then he's leading Shelby on to makes you wonder if he has any idea of what he's supposed to be doing in the movie.It turns out that Tom, who's a good friend of both Shelby and her late husband Peter, was somehow involved with the Birkwell's in a 5 million dollar insurance policy with David as the beneficiary if his wife Brenda dies or is killed or murdered. The movie goes to pot with it going in so many different directions that by the time it's over you have no idea to just what happened in regards to Brenda's deaths, incredibly she died twice in the movie. Even poor and dead Peter is dug out of his gave, via an audio tape, to give testimony in the David Birkwell murder case. Trying not to give too much away in the movie's plot it seems that David was a lot more active in his love life then Brenda thought he was and it wasn't with her. Shelby starts to realize that David was not responsible in Brenda's death but it seems too late to save him from being convicted for first degree murder. Even more puzzling is why David doesn't want the one person, which happens not to be Shelby, who can prove him to be innocent in his wife's death to be call as a witness in his defense?The final ten or so minutes in "Nightwaves" is just too much to take with so many loose ends being uncovered and presented instead as solid evidence. You begin to wonder if your not somehow hallucinating from unknowingly breathing in some bad grass at the office birthday party or just too mind numb and tired, from a hard days work, to be able see and think normally.

Nightwaves stars Sherilyn Fenn as Shelby, a newly-widowed woman who lives alone in a mansion. She misses her late-husband terribly, and she is having trouble focusing on her career and recovering from an accident. As a way to distract herself, she begins listening to a police scanner at night. One night, Shelby overhears a disturbing conversation on the police scanner which prompts her to get involved in a dangerous situation.Sherilyn Fenn did a real nice job as the lead, and Bruce Dinsmore and David Nerman played their parts well. Nanette Workman gave a nice performance in the role of the cutthroat publisher. Nightwaves has everything needed for a fun mystery--great casting choices, good locations, effective score, and the right pacing. Recommended. 8/10