A Brilliant Conflict

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Or Sleeping With The Enemy, better described on Lifetime as SWTLBG (Sleeping With The Lifetime Bad Guy). This is the first Lifetime movie I've reviewed recently that has scored below a 5 on both scales I use.The first plot hole I noticed was how did a babe like Shane end up with a goober like Matt? Obviously it was his money.The outline is "TV Movie" (a/k/a Lifetime Movie) queen Josie Davis plays the Julia Roberts role of the abused wife a/k/a the Lifetime Heroine (LH), and the only reason this was not a 2/10. According to her IMDb resume, this was her 10th TV Movie since 2002, and as of 2017 her resume now lists 16 TV Movies. It takes about 16 minutes for the physical abuse to appear- although it takes place with her off screen, the mental abuse was evident far earlier.David Millbern plays hubby Matt in the equivalent to the Lifetime Psycho (LP) role here, an abuser, so I'll acronym him the Lifetime Bad Guy (LBG).Wife Shane fakes her death and ends up with a female cousin in Bodega Bay. Cousin Estelle owns a cafe and is shacked up with her co-worker girlfriend, who it is implied was turned into a lesbian by an abusive boyfriend. Shane is given a job by cuz and a place to stay in her family's vacant cabin.She meets Lifetime Good Guy (LGG) Thomas but is naturally gun shy but very persistent. Cuz gives her a name tag that says Lexi, so she uses that name.The LBG gets a call about a recalled GPS unit that the LH had purchased and combined with an exercise bar, one of her paintings, and a photo figures out she faked her death and where she is living. Another plot hole here is that Matt is clearly well off and could afford a PI that could locate Shane's relatives in about an hour.The LGG finally gets the LH over for dinner. He has clearly never seen Barney Stinson's Hot/Crazy scale for women. Shane fluctuates above and below the Mendoza diagonal, being above it most of the time. Of course in a small town the pickings are slim.Along the way, cuz falls off a ladder and breaks her leg, so she's laid up in bed.Meanwhile the LBG threatens and ganks via gunshot the zip line dude that helped the LH get out of town. Body count: 1. He then does a 4-1-1 and gets the cafe address.Persistent LGG has a few talks with the LH and she finally fesses up to her past and true name. She invites him to dinner very close to the 30 minutes remaining mark, so you know one or both will be in jeopardy from the LBG soon. Things accelerate as kisses lead to SWTLGG (Sleeping With The Lifetime Good Guy).The LBG appears and walks into the closed yet unlocked cafe after cuz's GF leaves. He tries to trick a medicated cuz into disclosing where the LH is, but cuz does not give it up. He ganks her via suffocation, then stages the death to look like an accidental fall. Body count: 2.LBG stakes out the cafe wearing a hoodie and sees the LH and the LGG. The LH and LGG walk out of the cafe and the LBG is standing w/o his hoodie on like 10 feet from them and the LH doesn't notice him. The LBG notices the LGG's company logo though.Ten minutes left. LBG breaks into the LH's cabin, which gives us the next plot hole: How did he find it since cuz never gave him the address? The LGG drops off the LH, and in a nod to the towel scene in the original SWTE, she finds her shirt neatly folded on the bed. The LBG appears now armed with his gun even though he didn't have it earlier. He follows the don't shoot, talk method and she runs away to the nearby (?) winery, where she finds the LBG has shot the LGG, who is apparently still alive. If it was within walking distance why did he drive her to the cabin? The LBG corners her in the garage, and more talking no shooting, even though he did shoot at her when she was behind the bar. The LH changes tactics and tells the LBG the truth. He gets closer and the LH uses a convenient box cutter to slice his throat. Seriously, don't these LBGs ever watch this kind of movie for what not to do? The LH checks on the LGG but doesn't waste time calling an ambulance. Fast forward a few weeks/months and all is well at the cafe other than the occasional flashback.As a suggestion for improving this story line, since there already was a PC lesbian story line, why not add a LP in the GF who becomes jealous of the LH and tries to gank her in the last 5 minutes after ganking the LBG and then chasing the LH into the woods? This would allow for the addition of an epic chick fight, ended by Shane using a convenient tree limb to knock out the GF.Real movie score: 3/10, mainly for lack of originality (higher is better). Lifetime movie score: 3/10, if you're going to do a poor version of SWTE, make it stupid/funny ala Airplane! or Scary Movie (higher is stupider).

Also,noticed this being another movie that Lochlyn Munro is in with Josie Davis but it makes three along this story line. There is a new one on Lifetime and he plays the co worker to a female and helps her with idea on how to deal with/take out her abusive husband .What I do not see here is the fact no one has picked up on the fact this is the same story line as the Julia Roberts movie " Sleeping with the Enemy "...same exact story lineFrom the fact she planned her getaway, stored certain things away in the house , in the bathroom, hubby getting the call that prompted him to suspect she was still alive,..does anyone remember the fallen apples in the Julia Roberts movie where the neighbor wants to charge her for the apples so she dumps them ? In this movie, she is doing a sketch and he wants to charge her half since she is standing on his property. So many subtle nuances in this newer version of "Sleeping With the Enemy"Is this not plagiarism ?

What could have been a great movie turned out to be a dud.After viewing continuous previews on LMN the last 2-3 weeks, I couldn't wait to see Past Obsessions. I thought Past Obsessions was a sequel to Seduced by Lies, since Josie Davis and Lochlyn Munro starred in both movies, and previews led one to believe so, in an 'round-about' way. I gave PO two-stars because I enjoy most, if not all Josie Davis movies & various roles she plays, but this movie in a whole deserves 1-star. Problem: 'Dialogue.' Way too much hesitation between actors talking to one another. A huge gap. Seemed actors were trying to remember their lines. lol. PO isn't the worse movie I've seen, but certainly not the best. Not even close to a good movie. A second problem I had w/this movie is nobody, 'no matter what the circumstance,' used a phone to call police or an ambulance. If I was in her situation, I'd have phoned the Marines. lol. One other issue which may or may not concern others. Very few actors were in PO. Where were the towns people? Cars? A restaurant with one customer, and he's one of the main stars. lol. Watch if your a Davis fan or bored..not worth buying the CD/BR.