film reel image

film reel image

Saturday, April 29, 2023

A View to Kill For 2023 * * Stars

TAKES A DIM VIEW

2023's A View to Kill For might contain the most Gothic-looking set location in the history of Lifetime TV. It's a mansion with stairs to it that seem endless. Said set location is obviously the star and yes, there is a vista out back (hence the title). Heck, you wonder if the Addams Family undoubtedly hung there back in the day.

Starring Tiffany Montgomery, Samuel Whitten, and Brittany Goodwin, "Kill For" is the ultimate WASP endeavor, populated by snooty, upper-class denizens constantly being at each other's throats. In truth, it's like the members of Falcon Crest and The Stepford Wives decided to get together and make colluding magic. "I would be very careful and watch what you say around here". Okay easy sister.

Attached to a production company called Almost Never Films Inc. (what??) and feeling it was inspired by the board game Clue (what the heck happened to the creepy housekeeper?), A View to Kill For is about a woman and her family who are left millions and a big-arse abode after her rich daddy dies.

Murder and B & E chaos ensue because everyone is out to make the family in question miserable. The villain (or villains), well it's a long list of suspects. It could be the snotty next door neighbor. It could be the realtor that sold the mansion. It could be the fiance of the dead father. Finally, it could even be the overly friendly husband (I don't know why I sensed that).

In the end we the viewer (no pun intended) finally know who the antagonist is. It's almost deflating and the result is the filmmakers running out of ideas while showcasing the bad guy (or in this case, bad girl) as a plot device scapegoat being ill-defined as a Hedra Carlson type. What's worse, we see said antagonist doing every evil act through tired flashbacks towards "Kill For's" coda. Talk about patent and amateurish. "View askew".

Written by Jesse Burleson

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