Breakinger
A Brilliant Conflict
StyleSk8r
At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Rosie Searle
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
wes-connors
A few years ago, still sexy Jamie Luner (as Marianne "Annie" Grayson) was in love with seductively sleazy James Wilder (as Brent Richter). They conspired to kill her husband and collect $250,000. After Mr. Wilder loses most of the money on "debts," Ms. Luner wises up and decides to start a new life. She marries successful businessman William R. Moses (as Richard Danforth) and settles down in Philadelphia. Of course, her past catches up with Luner. Wilder finds her and proposes they murder Mr. Moses, and his father, to collect $30,000,000. Getting tangled with the potentially lethal twosome is Mr. Moses' faithful full-lipped associate Sophie Gendron (as Tia Montgomery).***** The Perfect Marriage (5/22/06) Douglas Jackson ~ Jamie Luner, James Wilder, William R. Moses, Sophie Gendron
caa821
These Lifetime flicks are a lot like your favorite junk food. Big Macs, Twinkies, Oreos, etc., are satisfying while they're going down, but they don't provide much in the long run.Movies like this one can provide a couple of hours' entertainment on, say, a bleak Sunday afternoon - but there is little with which to empathize or recall or reflect upon after they're over.However, this one did provide an added bonus. William R. Moses is to the male side of this genre what Meredith Baxter is on the feminine counterpoint -- both have played the betrayer and "betrayee," both the villain/villainess and the one being menaced. Seeing either of them on Lifetime (as well as a few others whom we may recognize by sight if not name) is like meeting an old friend.If I were an actor, I'd rather be Mr. Moses than, say, Tom Cruise, or Harrison Ford or Tom Hanks. You wouldn't be on the "A" list, getting $20-mil or more per picture. But you'd still make, probably, something around low-7 figures, get to have a lot of expense-paid trips to Canada, and be able to move around with minimal bother from the paparazzi.As far as the plot of this particular offering - it contains a "plot" which is one of the two main staples of "Lifetime" dramas: the spouse with the hidden past, which comes-up to bite everyone in the ass {the other, of course, is the neighbor (or student or teacher or co-worker) who turns out to be a raving, dangerous, obsessed psychotic sociopath}.Again, two decent hours on a gloomy Sunday afternoon.
krorie
The ironic title "The Perfect Marriage" gets the viewer in the right mood to expect the worst. It seems that successful and rich entrepreneur, Richard Danforth (William Moses), has the perfect wife in Marrianne, aka Annie (Jamie Luner), who is adept at party mixing. She appears to be the ideal spouse for her clean-cut aspiring husband. Adding to Marrianne's blissful state is the fact that her father-in-law is president of the company where Richard works. All is going well for the happy couple when suddenly Marrianne's deadly past catches up with her in the form of a slimy leach called Brent Richter (James Wilder). Some time ago in another state, Brent and Marrianne had engineered the death of her aged husband. The good wife, Marrianne,had jabbed her old man in the neck with a fatal dose of potassium chloride. But poor Marriane finds her partner in crime with another woman. Even worse, she learns that Brent has squandered the old fellow's money on wine, women, and bad debts.Marrianne attempts to buy Brent off. When he refuses, she decides that she loves him once more. Together they concoct a scheme to get her father-in-law's fortune. This time around, however, Richard's secretaries become suspicious, leading to complications involving murder and mayhem. Most of this is routine at best, but there are a few novel twists and turns thrown in from time to time, especially in the way the writers deal with Marrianne at the end of the film. The acting is not bad for a made-for-TV flick. The direction is adequate, though at times the film is a bit talky. So though the viewer has seen most of it before in a different guise, there is enough excitement to please fans of the genre.
whereizdaremote
First and foremost....kudos to Jamie Luner for a great performance as a she-devil Dr. Jekyl and Mrs. Hyde character. ( A HUGE improvement from her two previous Lifetime flicks where she was the resident heroine-in-peril.) This outing made a good bookend to the other end, "Blind Injustice". I posted on these very IMDb message boards that she should cease with the heroine-in-peril scripts, so I now feel vindicated...she is a heroine about as much as Theresa Russell was in " Black Widow". This was a pretty good effort on Ms. Luner's part.The short saga of this flick is a greedy wife Annie (Luner), with the help of a equally conniving back door man Brent( James Wilder in sleepwalking mode) scheme and kill Hub #1 for 250K in insurance money. Predictably, back door man Brent burns through about 90% of her share AND his. Fast forward several years and Annie(now known as Marianne)has new identity, new hub Richard (William R. Moses), high social status, and loads of money. Life is a bowl of cherries until back door man Brent shows up through the front door and Marianne returns to her scheming, murderous ways. Hint: This closet psycho loves potassium chloride and syringes....watch out for those nasty air bubbles! The body count is up to three by the time she sets out to waste her hub's co-worker Tia who is on to her nasty past.(Unbeknownest to Tia, Marianne is out to waste Richard too) Above average chase scene at the end in a parking garage. Jamie Luner does some great, open field running in boots for a gal of her height, 5'9".(I swear she could run the 50 yard dash faster than some guys) Credit the director for NOT having her character fall several times and bust her tush on a slick parking garage floor....which is predictable in some scripts.Catch it on Lifetime when it repeats, it was better than most thriller TV-movies you will see on any of the big three networks.
