You won't be disappointed!

What a waste of my time!!!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

To me there's really only one thing a filmmaker/writer should never ever do. They can use all sorts of little cheats and suspend the laws of physics for stylistic effect as much as they want, but when they use those same cheats to resolve the main mystery of the plot, then that's just too stupid. To avoid giving too much detail I'll use a hypothetical example: Suppose you're watching a suspense film and the heroine is up against the wall with killers all around her. They're armed, she isn't. She has no help and no way out, and the situation has been tensely evolving to this point for two hours. Then she just magically turns invisible and flies away with no explanation for how, when, or why she suddenly developed the ability to fly and turn invisible. The end. Good film? No. A terrible cheat. And 1st To Die is just that way. The plot's mystery is resolved by a sudden revelation that someone can do something that's impossible. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.Any idiot can write a good mystery if you don't have to explain how it worked within the laws of physics. Imagine the old "locked room mystery" where the victim has been killed in a room that has been locked from the inside, so how did the killer do it? If the answer is that the killer suddenly developed the ability to pass through brick walls without disturbing them, then it's not a very good mystery, is it?

James Patterson's bestselling novel 1st to Die is brilliantly displayed on the screen with Russell Mulcahy's made for TV film. As an avid James Patterson fan, I was unexpectedly very much impressed by this film, especially bearing in mind that it is a TV film.Patterson's pages fly by in a lengthy two and a half hours, and the length is a feat that I greatly admire, because it leaves less room for mistakes. The longer the film, the closer it can be kept to the text, and, with a few meager exceptions, this film is very close to James Patterson's novel.Inspector Lindsay Boxer (Tracy Pollan) finds herself in the middle of a grisly murder. Two newlyweds are found brutally murdered in their hotel room with both of their wedding rings missing. However, as Lindsay predicts beforehand, the killer is at large, and he's not done killing. As more newlyweds are found murdered, Lindsay's adrenaline shoots sky high, and she finds herself seeking assistance from her friends, medical examiner Claire Washburn (Pam Grier), D.A. Jill Barnhart (Megan Gallagher), and her newly obtained companion, reporter Cindy Thomas (Carly Pope). Together, they form The Womens Murder Club with the intent of examining evidence in a different way in order to solve cases.As the case starts revealing more evidence, Lindsay and her partner, Chris Ralleigh (Gil Bellows), find that their list of suspects is narrowed down to only one, but is he really their killer? Is there more evidence than meets the eye? Unfortunately, Lindsay is not only struggling to hunt down a madman, she is also fighting for her life. After being diagnosed with a very severe and potentially fatal blood disease, she fears that in near time, her closest friends will no longer have her in their lives, as her condition, even with treatment, seems to worsen. But will she be the first to die? With the exception of the ending of the story being slightly different, this film sticks pretty close to Patterson's novel. I was also surprised by how graphic the film is, again considering that it was made for television. Don't make the unwise decision to turn this film down just because of a negative review. If you enjoyed Patterson's novel, then you will enjoy this film.Also recommended to you is Womens Murder Club, coming to ABC on Friday October 12. The series will revive Inspector Lindsay Boxer and the other members of the Womens Murder Club in a television series based on Patterson's book series.8/10

If you are a James Patterson fan you will probably not have a problem with the film; if you are more film and visual oriented, too many scenes will remind you of Hitchcock, and also "Basic Instinct"(even the soundtrack is exactly the same, and the initial camera angles over the San Francisco coast are TOO similar).Nicholas Jenks is possibly the narcissistic killer. Angie Everhart is surprisingly good as his wife.Tracy Pollan is not bad, trying a bit too hard; Megan Gallagher and Pam Grier are good, respectively, as the D.A. and County Medical Examiner. Carly Pope as a cub reporter is way over the top. Okay, they needed a younger cast member who could relate to the victims, but she is given way too much screen time. Also I seriously doubt that when there is a brutal homicide, a curious person can enter the hotel room, pretending to deliver flowers.Overall a little too contrived for audiences expecting more in this genre. 6/10

Let me just start off by saying that this made for TV movie was quite well done. I have seen a few movies made from novels, and we all know what screenwriters and movie directors do to our favourite novels don't we? If first saw Patterson's "Kiss the Girls" way before I even knew that there was a book. I have always been a fan of murder/thriller/whodunnit type movies, and when that movie came out, I was totally captivated by its energy and story. However after I found out that "Kiss the Girls" was actually a novel written by James Patterson, I had to pick up a copy. I thank my ex-girlfriend for getting me hooked onto Mr. Patterson's writing, because I haven't been able to miss any of his books since. Moving on...So I read "Kiss the Girls" and was completely surprised by how entirely different, and more entertaining than the theatrical movie was. Although I loved the movie, it just didn't draw me in like the book did afterwards. So by the time "Along Came a Spider" arrived in the movie theaters, I had already read it's novel counterpart. Again I was entertained, and still enjoy the movie from time to time, but I did not get the great indepth experience as I did with James Patterson's works of art.After reading "1st to Die" and "2nd Chance" before the TV movie came out, I couldn't wait till the movie with Markie Post hit the TV channels. Markie Post? Queen Latifah? Were they really suggested to play the roles of Lindsey Boxer and Claire Washburn? Yup... according to the IMDB, but when the previews came out of "1st to Die", sure enough the casting information had been wrong. From start to finish I found that the TV addaptation was quite well done. However there were quite a few rushed scenes, I felt that overall, this was the best attempt at bringing a Patterson book to the screen.The characters were well played, except that I felt Jill Burnhardt's name was only mentioned once, and when she made her first appearance on the screen, no one knew who the hell she was. At first I thought that she was another female cop thrown into the mess, but once she made a few more appearances, with no one even saying "hey Jill" I kinda figured that she was Seattle's(San Fran's) deputy DA. Thanks for letting the audience know that. Then there was Cindy. I think that she was thrown in just like Jill was, to keep the Murder Club true to the book.The relationship between the four women didn't seem as solid as it did in the novel, and like I said before, a lot of the meetings with them felt rushed like it didn't belong in the movie. Also Cindy (yes I know that she is a reporter) pops up everywhere like she's a freaking psychic. Also with Chris Raleigh, it never states in the movie that he's seperated and has children, but on his tombstone it says "beloved father and husband". With this little tidbit left out, as well as no mention of Lindsey's important father, one goes to wonder how or even if they'll make a "2nd Chance."Pam Grier plays a convincing Claire, as well as Tracy Polly playing Lindsey, but the best performance in the entire movie was done by Robert Patrick. He's always been a great 'evil' looking character. In the end... "1st to Die" moved along quite well, and did stick fairly pure to its novel counterpart. Some things were missing, and some things were rushed, but all in all I recommend a viewing by Patterson fans at least once in their life.