Ellie (Julia Stiles of Orphan: First Kill) is a 14-year-old high schooler who has a sick crush on her own father, Ben (William R. Moses of Perry Mason: The Case of the Poison Pen), a crush that he does little to discourage -- and worse. Ben is having an affair with the housekeeper, Lena (Louise Myrback), even as Ben's wife, Karen (Chelsea Field), is having an affair with neighbor Lawson Smith (Patrick Muldoon). So when Karen is bludgeoned to death, Detective Boland (Michael Parks) has no dearth of suspects. Once Karen is out of the picture, Ellie starts acting just like Ben's wife, until Lena comes back onto the scene. Something will have to be done about that.
Wicked is not a very good movie, but it holds the attention and is well-acted. Stiles was 16 at the time and comes off a little older. Moses, always an appealing actor, is good in a very unsympathetic role, but Muldoon doesn't quite make the most of his part as the sleazy, sexy neighbor. Michael Parks of The Idol and Bus Riley's Back in Town offers a quirky performance that never actually seems real. There are some credible supporting players, such as Linda Hart as another neighbor who winds up falling for Parks.
Verdict: Not good enough to be a trash wallow but the players are interesting. **.
Thanks for covering this one, I have always been iffy about whether worth a look. Looks just trashy enough to satisfy me!
ReplyDelete-Chris
It's perfect for a lazy afternoon when you're not on the hunt for quality but a few titters and an interesting cast.
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