False Pretenses (TV Movie 2004)
5KFalse Pretenses: Directed by Jason Hreno. With Peta Wilson, Stewart Bick, Melanie Nicholls-King, Conrad Pla. Randal ‘Randy’ Ackers loses his family savings and the company’s reserve funds in an ‘easy profit scheme’ and commits suicide. His widow Dianne hopes to build a new life in California but gets stuck with car trouble in Texas. To pay for the repairs, she becomes waitress Dee Dee in a diner. There the swindler, who apparently doesn’t recognize Diane, recruits ‘Dee Dee’ as investment sales pitch assistant. Friendly local sheriff Nando, who has a crush on her, promises to help catch the trickster under his new name, unofficially as he has no cause for legal action. But more is not what is seems.
“Iu0026#39;m a little surprised there are no comments for this film. Perhaps it hasnu0026#39;t been shown as much previously as would be assumed, although made three years ago.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt showed recently on a weekday, when I ordinarily would not have been watching TV, much less u0026quot;Lifetime.u0026quot; u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut every so often, doing some business with European colleagues, I have to be on the phone dealing with some customer emergency from, say, back and forth between 7 and ll a.m. there – which is midnight to 4 a.m. my time. On some days following, I might u0026quot;veg outu0026quot; for a couple of hours when I ordinarily wouldnu0026#39;t, and just flip on the set. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThatu0026#39;s what happened just as this film began, and I became interested as I got into it. I knew nothing of Peta Wilson, never having seen her u0026quot;… Nikitau0026quot; program, or any of the other thespians.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut for some reason, I found it far more engrossing and interesting than typical TV flicks. She presented an attractive, likable presence, and the other characters were more believable than youu0026#39;d expect. Even the u0026quot;bad guysu0026quot; werenu0026#39;t the over-the-top type normally found.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOf course, it took a major!!! coincidence for the crux of the story to unfold, but it wasnu0026#39;t completely unbelievable. It occurs in Midland TX (I donu0026#39;t recall if the location from which she traveled to reach there – her original home city – was identified, or the distance implied). u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLocations for this film arenu0026#39;t shown in this site, but Iu0026#39;d wager my net worth itu0026#39;s probably Vancouver, B.C. It seems all u0026quot;Lifetimeu0026quot; flicks are now made there – and it would probably be wise to invest in stocks of firms with hotels and restaurants there, simply on the basis of u0026quot;Lifetime movieu0026quot; casts and crews which have to be visiting the area at any given time. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e***Minor spoiler***u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ePetau0026#39;s character leaves town, and her previously yuppie life after her husband commits suicide following being swindled by a slick con artist u0026quot;investment guru.u0026quot; Her auto breaks-down in Midland (again, only by pure chance) and she remains there in order to be able to get work to pay for car repairs – for which the shop owner trusts her. She cuts her flowing u0026quot;red tressesu0026quot; to a shorter, blonde style (meant as a symbol of her lifeu0026#39;s change, and now also Ms. Wilsonu0026#39;s usual look). With her long fiery red hair now short and blonde, when she bumps into the con man, there is no disbelief when he doesnu0026#39;t recognize her. She had seen him just one time, briefly – but as the instrument of her beloved husbandu0026#39;s demise, she recognizes him immediately. Obviously she cannot help but think of how she can use this chance occurrence to gain revenge and retribution. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a film where you have a pretty good sense of the direction it will take, and even possible twists which may evolve. But, again, unlike most of these films, youu0026#39;re not entirely certain, and there are still surprises along the way.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd best of all, the ending flows comfortably with the preceding events in the story – without unbelievable chases, knife wieldings, shootouts and the frequent, excessive histrionics films of this genre often present.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;d even provide it a u0026quot;9,u0026#39;u0026quot; considering the genre, the way the story was presented, and the engaging lead and good supporting cast.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA good film which seems to have slipped u0026quot;under the radar.u0026quot;u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCaught this film again, by pure chance, a bit over a year after seeing first. Enjoyed it a second time, and find my opinion did not change at all from what I entered last year.”
