Fatal Reunion (2005 TV Movie) User Reviews

Fatally Flawed

[sol1218 · 4/10 · 28 December 2007]

**SPOILERS** Working like a dog at his job as an advertising executive to make life better for his screwy wife Jessica, Erika Eleniak, and his two young children Katie & Joshua,Ashly Hale & Nathan Tipple, Russell Landers, David Millbern, never saw what was coming until it was almost too late. This in regards to a hair-brained attempted by Jessica to get even with him in her misguided thoughts of Russell cheating on her.

Just because Russell was coming home late from work and almost passing out from exhaustion in bed Jessica thought that he was playing the field back in the office, with the many sexy women co-employees there ,and decided to get even with Russell by having an affair of her own. Getting in touch, through the internet, with an old flame back in high school Marcus Declan, Michael Bergin, Jessica planned to meet him in a swanky restaurant in downtown Seattle and take up where she left off back some 15 years ago.

As you would have expected the two hit it off right away with Marcus realizing that Jessica was bored with her marriage and wanted some real hot and heavy action which he was more the willing to provide for her. It was only after Jessica found out that Russell was breaking his back to get a major contract, worth over 20 million dollars, that would put both her and the kids on easy street that she changed her mind about him. But by then it was too late Marcus was stuck on her like a stamp to a letter and it would take a lot of hot steam in order to get him detached.

After the breakup with Marcus things started to get a bit strained for Jessica with her and Russell getting phone calls at night with the other party hanging up and not giving his or her name and even later Jessica's car was vandalized and family dog Lucy, played by Buddy the pooch, poisoned. It also came out that Marcus was indited in a murder back in Dallas Texas of Nicole Kingsley, Anne Opensha, in which he was found innocent.

Feeling that he murdered, even though exonerated in a court of law, once and will murder again both Jessica and Russell try to get Marcus arrested by the Seattle Police only to find out that he's got air-tight alibis where he was during all the troubles that they, Jessica & Russell, accuse him of causing them. It's not until later that this mysterious and somewhat spaced-out young woman Lisa Calders, Juliet Laandau,shows up at the Landers home that things really start to pop.

Claiming to be the attorney who got Marcus off, from his murder charge, back in Dallas Lisa start to formulate this plan to get the goods on him in his attempted murder of both Jessica and Russell that she claims that Marcus is planning. ****SPOILERS****It didn't take that much to figure out that this Lisa was a fake and had ulterior motives in both screwing Marcus and the Landers and it all went back to Dallas Texas and the murder of Nicole Kingsley and the person who really was responsible for her death.

Very predictable and silly crime drama that has you feeling absolutely no sympathy at all for it's star Jessica Landers. Jessica was both selfish and ridicules in her dealings with both her loyal husband Russell and new found boyfriend Marcus. Scerewing, figuratively not literally, both Russell and Marcus Jessica in the end not only put herself in danger but her husband and children, as well as the family dog Lucy, as well.

****MAJOR SPOILERS****The ending was about as off-the-wall as you can imagine with the killer coming out of the shadows and revealing himself only to end up blowing his, or her, plan in offing both Jessica and Russell as well as the by now almost brain-dead Marcus. The badly disabled Marcus, with a bullet in the back of his skull, in his own way saved the day by coming back to life when you, as well as the killer , thought that he was history.

So bad it's bad

[caffeinequeen18 · 3/10 · 24 April 2019]

I thought this might be a so bad it's good type movie, but no, it's just bad. I couldn't believe they just let Lisa in and took her at face value without even checking ID (then again, all their other behavior was stupid too, so why not...). Acting is horrible. I wasn't expecting anything amazing from what looks like a TV movie, but I did think it would be an enjoyable bit of trash, but not even that. It's actually dull which is the worst you can say about a thriller. Juliet Landau as Lisa is the best of a bad bunch.

Windy reunion

[nightroses · 4/10 · 28 July 2020]

The film is very tidy and clean, the acting is pretty good and the story has a twist. It didn't make sense in some places and didn't answer puzzles. No explanation was given as to what was going on with husband Russel and the French damsel. There was a strange look exchanged between those two. Elenak was suspicious of her husband before. So she becomes lonely and seeks out a former classmate on a website to do with school reunions. The rock thrown at the car and the attempted murder on Elenak was just never caught on CCTV, and nobody saw anything either. In these type of films, the police are always unhelpful to victims but they appear at the very end in support of the victims. All I can say is Eleniak should've listened to her martial arts tutor when he said "To trust no one is to trust everyone equally".

Could anyone care less?

[caa821 · 1/10 · 25 May 2008]

On occasion, even the big mega-buck films, with A-list stars and 9-figure budgets, have to contain ridiculously silly omissions to further the plot.

But it seems that these "Lifetime," stories, with far from A-list-staffed personnel, do this about 95% of the time.

Here, about a hundred or so words of clarification and conversation between the two leads could have precluded all of this nonsense. Of course, then the contact between Laura and her sociopathic former classmate would have been precluded, and the story would have ended after 15 minutes or so. Incidentally, if this had occurred, and they would have just shown a test pattern for the last 100 minutes, it would have been about as entertaining.

Russell is a hard-working ad executive/husband, and wife Jessica feels he's cheating from things she has heard, from her stilted observations, and inferences drawn from his erratic, often late work schedule.

But for cripes sake, a one-minute conversation between them, and the fore-mentioned 100 words, could have informed her of the fact that he was on the verge of concluding a deal which would have them all set for life, necessitating long hours and occasioning dining with an attractive woman (about which she'd heard from one of her equally-shallow friends).

Even this vacuous woman should have understood that. Hubby could have offered a few words of explanation of his own volition, but frankly, the hot -shot ad exec pretty much matched her in the "vacuous" department.

So enter the sociopathic former classmate, and his equally (or more) sociopathic companion, and you now have twice the number of vacuous personages on-screen, a story which a challenged 12-year-old could predict, and a whole slew of characters about whom one couldn't care less.

(Incidentally, after Jessica initially meets Marcus, and he - purporting to be a big-deal real estate mogul, invites her to dinner - where she chortles about this upcoming assignation with her friends, the dialog here is something which would make the conversations among the nerdy teens in the old beach blanket flicks seem like something highly-intellectual by comparison. And the inevitable brandishing of various weaponry at the conclusion could have been culled from any number of Lifetime "sociopath-menaces-innocent-family" past presentations.)

I had no expectations... it is still one of the worsts I've ever seen.

[shanfloyd · 2/10 · 12 April 2006]

This straight-to-video thriller starring ex-Baywatch babe Erica Eleniak has neither suspenseful plot nor sex and gore, the two basic things that I expect from a low-budget thriller. Since I strongly suggest that one should avoid this film, I don't see why I shouldn't tell you the whole story spoiling everything. Jessica (Eleniak) is a middle-aged woman who has a workaholic husband. Frustrated, one day she e-mails and meets her old high-school boyfriend. The guy, Marcus, thinks Jessica wants him and goes after her; and she rejects as she still loves her husband. After that she's being stalked and threatened by a person, and assumes Marcus is behind all this. She finds out that he was once charged with murder of one of his girlfriends. Now a lawyer named Lisa arrives and tells her that she has to act as a bait to capture Marcus. But it turns out that Lisa is no lawyer, but Marcus' psycho wife who actually committed the murder and threatened Jessica.

With this simple story, you need good actors and screenplay to make the movie watchable. But I'll better refrain from commenting on these two topics. Regarding the plot twist, one can easily tell that Lisa is the criminal from her appearance right from the beginning. The film has no single element that you should watch it for. It's a complete waste of time.

Another piece of garbage brought to you from Vancouver, Canada

[randy_kay · 1/10 · 25 April 2012]

The movie is basically like any daytime soap opera. The writing is what I imagine a 13 year old girl would come up with. The acting was okay in a soap opera kind of way meaning middle of the road.

The director, George Erschbamer, has made all sorts of trash like this. I'm pretty sure all these 'movies' shot in Vancouver are some sort of tax write-off scheme for wealthy or semi-wealthy individuals to horde money. Why would you make such terrible films unless you were making them with the intention to purposely lose money? I'm very curious about how this racket works. I'd like to get in on it myself one day because they're obviously making money at it.

No redeeming value

[musicallover · 1/10 · 2 December 2006]

I completely agree with stanfloyd about this movie. It has nothing to redeem it. The acting, writing, cinematography, everything is awful. I think you were generous to give it a 2! My husband and I had nothing to do today and were tired so we sat down to watch something mindless. We found it. This was about as mindless as it gets. It was extremely predictable. The minute the "lawyer" walked in we knew something was up with her. I said right away, "are you guys going to check her out?" Of course, no. It isn't until after they decide to go along with her crazy plan that he suddenly thinks something might be fishy. And right from the beginning I had no sympathy for Jess. She was an idiot.

camera panning up the walls

[ripple596 · 1 August 2009]

I don't think this lifetime movie was any more or less stupid and trivial, poorly acted and written than any other lifetime movie. they are all exactly the same. the thing i hated the most was how the camera panned up a wall after every scene, what's up with that? Did it ever come out why her friend I think it was rosemary was so upset about her seeing Marcus? was it only because she was thinking about cheating on her husband or did he do something weird when she dated him in high school? These movies are good for hating men, to make you scared of dating and i am always so happy to be single after watching them. Is there really a possibility of a person becoming dumber after watching Lifetime movies?

Horrible

[giavonna0308 · 1/10 · 8 November 2009]

I saw this movie was coming on tonight. After reading the comments about it I decided to give it a try since it is a Lifetime movie. I usually enjoy Lifetime movies but this was, by far the worst Lifetime movie I have EVER seen. It was so horrible I created an IMDb account to write about it. When viewing a television movie I do not expect to see the greatest acting skills, but this was a disappointment. I cannot think of any movie that may have been worse than this. I think this may have been the worst movie I have ever seen. The only reason I gave this movie one star was because there was no possible way to give it zero stars.

Illogical

[phd_travel · 1/10 · 17 February 2019]

I wouldn't flatter this movie by comparing it to Fatal Attraction.

A dissatisfied wife meets up with an old classmate for lunch but the second time he is infatuated and she rebuffs him. Later someone starts stalking and harassing her and her family. She accuses the classmate.

The ending is illogical. Didn't she see the person aiming at her with the arrow or driving at her? It seems like and illogical twist to make it the classmate's wife.

I like Erika Elaniak but even she is too good for this movie.

Bad bad movies with bad bad acting from everyone

[maggiegboyle · 1/10 · 27 October 2020]

I have never watched a movie that is so far fetch with such bad acting from everyone I quess that's why they are in it no wonder it didn't get anywhere and the actors that I can't say they are no one knows them bad acting ++ I'm embarrassed that I actually watched it no wonder they have never acted since

Top quality acting and plot

[paulgibson-29806 · 10/10 · 23 July 2023]

Possibly one of the best films out there... If you enjoy suspense and thrillers such as Fatal Attraction and Jagged Edge, then this will be right up your street. The plot keeps you guessing right up until the end and coupled with excellent acting by both the leads and supporting cast this quality cinematic experience will leave you wanting more. David Milbern is particularly impressive as the husband whose wife is being terrorised by an ex school chum. The plot is very believable.. It should be seen as a cautionary tale to all housewives out there... Don't contact old school chums on the Internet... It could lead to having rocks thrown through your car windows, being threatened with a crossbow and worse still, being nearly run over by a large truck.

Thoroughly recommended.

Fatal Reunion is Fatal Attraction in the Reverse ***

[edwagreen · 7/10 · 11 May 2009]

Interesting film where a woman, suspecting her husband of infidelity, starts a romance with a guy she knew from high school only to immediately discover that her husband was not unfaithful. Problem is that she can't get the guy away from her.

Unlike the other comments that I read regarding this film, the film is a good one as there are many plot twists and you should possibly be able to see an array of people who might be doing the harassing other than the jilted guy.

The ending is excited although it does become quite violent. You have to watch out for the internet because you don't know what it shall bring. Surely, hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.

Man fare better

[geoffox-766-418467 · 2/10 · 30 October 2012]

2 votes for David Millbern and Michael Bergin as the two leading men in this silly empty headed nonsensical TV movie starring my least favorite actress, Erika Eleniak. Look like a whore, dress like a whore, you are a whore. This vacant woman (Eleniak, now a blond) thinking her husband (Millbern) is seeing another woman, goes out on the town with an old flame (Bergin) leading him on. Of course, proved wrong, she decides to end the romance, even though they only had one luncheon date. Now get this. She shows up at a pre-invited dinner to tell him she doesn't want to see him anymore. She shows up in this very low cut ensemble, baring her breasts as much as TV allows, one of Eleniak's trademarks. You see, her claim to fame is large bosoms. When he acts confused she slams the door in his face and the rest is history. Someone is stalking her. We don't know who till the end. By then, who cares anyway. Another loser in this horror film is a friend played by horsey mouth Sonya Salomaa. If you can remember that far back, she played the dip-so in another loser TV film Ties That Bind, about another dip-so using a married couple's guest house for evil purposes. My feeling is the male roles should have been reversed. For certainly Bergin would be better as the husband and Millbern the suitor. A waste of an evening except to watch the guys do some decent work. While the women run around with their brains on empty.

A Surprising Roll in the Hay

[lavatch · 6/10 · 3 February 2021]

When Jessica ("Jess") Hartley Landers reunites with an old high school classmate for lunch, she tells him that she once had a crush on him, but that she is now happily married. Afterwards, Jess and her husband Russell are stalked and harassed by a mysterious predator. Is the stalker Declan or a mysterious third party?

At the start of the film, we meet a large entourage of Jess's female friends from the class of '88 at Carson High School in Seattle. The women have made a "covenant" in which they have declared never to keep secrets from one another. The most interesting classmate is Rose, who clearly does harbor the secret that she dated Declan in high school and they broke up. Unfortunately, Jess's women friends were used purely for exposition and they all drop out of the film by the midpoint. Rose is relegated to being the film's Macguffin.

Another character who shows up unexpectedly from Dallas is Miss Lisa Calders, who claims to be the defense attorney who won an acquittal for Declan after he was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Nicole Kingsley. Because of the sluggish response from the police, Jess and Russell place their trust in Lisa with nearly disastrous consequences.

In the grande finale, there is a mad scramble through an apparently deserted stable. In a creative touch from the filmmakers, Jess and Lisa fall down some steps and take a tumble in the hay. Jess is also able to show off her martial arts skills.

Unfortunately, "Fatal Reunion" was an extremely unpleasant filmgoing experience. The Landers' family dog was senselessly killed, and, as the film proceeded, it descended deeper and deeper into the morass of darkness with few redeeming elements in a bitter struggle to survive the evil forces of the world.