It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I go into these movies knowing that it's going to be corny, predictable, with a cast of so-so actors and very seldom will anything that happens be something you didn't see coming. Still I am still a sucker for them and every once in awhile you find a diamond in the rough. This was not the case in this movie. I found the characters bland and unlikeable. Andie Macdonalds character I kept hoping would be knocked off. That's how little I felt for them. One part where the murderer was speaking to one of the investigators grandma and she realized he was the bad guy. You expected something to happen. They locked eyes each knowing what the other was thinking and then cut scene. When we went back there was police and an ambulance and I thought oh oh she got it. But no she was sitting in her living room talking to the investigators explaining what had happened and I'm sitting here going. Did I fast forward to far? Did they accidentally cut off the scene? Cause there seemed to be a whole scene missing. How did she get away? Did the people who were suppose to be guarding her break in? Was there a fight? Hellloooo...... Nothing not a word about it. She tells her grandson and his partner that this guy (at this point they still don't know who) was bad and wanted to be her grandson....... Uh OK. Now at this part I was now just waiting for the top of the hour to change the channel. Oh If that wasn't enough. The worst part and the part I didn't see coming was the two investigators who spent 3/4 of the movie fighting were all of a sudden all over each other. I will say I didn't see that coming. But not because it was written so well. You don't see it coming because there was nothing to see. The arguments they had had no heat behind them. You can't have sexual tension between 2 people with no heat. Now whether this was because of the poor acting or the script I couldn't tell you. Each was as bad as the other. And thinking about it I think it was done because they didn't know what else to do to fill in the time. I found that in a few of their scenes. Things not needed to see or know but the writers didn't know how else to fill the 2 hours. Personally I think they should have opted for an extra commercial. I'm not going to summarize the movie cause you can read that on your own. Plus it's a bit fuzzy in my head. Most things are when there that forgettable. It's a hit and miss for movies like this. Take my advice and give this one a miss. but if you do decide to give it a try make sure you are comfy in bed, dogs have been let out and your bladder is empty. You'll be asleep long before the credits roll.

In Boston, a killer is on the loose and possibly copying the Strangler. Police detective Win Garano (Daniel Sunjata) takes on the case since his grandmother lives nearby. District Attorney Monique Lamont (Andie MacDowell) is politically ambitious and running for re-election. She assigns the one-legged Stump (Ashley Williams) to be his partner. Stump had helped found FRONT, a neighborhood watch police program, but Lamont had tried to co-op it. There is creepy guy Cal Tradd (Dane DeHaan) and a mime dressed as Raggedy Ann.I'm guessing this is part of a series and these characters have a history. The movie doesn't take much time setting them up but it's easy to figure it out. This is standard police drama without much intensity. It simply feels inferior in many ways. There are a couple of reveals but they don't excite me much. It starts off badly with the very silly Raggedy Ann. It puts the movie in an awkward position. The look is lower level TV.

The Front is a bit trite as far as the plot goes, but most characters have depth enough to make watching this Lifetime movie worth watching.Daniel Sunjata makes an interesting detective, and he seems at ease with his role. Diahann Carroll also has an interesting character as Sunjata's grandmother. Ashley Williams has an adequately damaged character but her performance is a bit thin in places but fine in others. Andie MacDowell is very sleazy and a bit one-dimensional. Patricia Cornwell makes a cameo appearance. Dane Dehann stands out in his portrayal.While the characters have depth, their dialog doesn't. That is the norm for this type of production. These films get made without a prolonged effort. It is a four-door sedan of a movie. Don't set your expectations too high and you won't be disappointed by the film.

This movie debuted on the Lifetime network last week in the states. I had never read a Patricia Cornwell novel, and it had been ages since I'd seen an Andie MacDowell movie. Having missed the premiere of Cornwell's "At Risk" on the same network the week before, I have just these few observations.1. "The Front" assumes some familiarity with either Cornwell's characters or (I assume) the previous film. In "The Front," one must listen carefully for clues, not just with respect to the mystery, but regarding the identity of the characters and their relationships, as well.2. Of the two principal actors, MacDowell and Daniel Sunjata, the latter presents the better performance. I'm sorry, but MacDowell's D.A., Monique Lamont, just didn't convince me as worthy of her office. In fact, I can't imagine how she ever got elected. (Or, as the governor's mistress, did she somehow get appointed?) 3. The dialog is sometimes so rapid-fire as to be unintelligible. In some scenes, notably early scenes between Sunjata's Win Garano (D.A.'s investigator) and Ashley Williams' "Stump" (cop), the conversation runs faster than that of some Harvard students I once knew, as if director Tom McLoughlin is trying to squeeze in all the words in the time allotted.In short, this movie is probably not the easiest one with which to familiarize one's self with the work of Partricia Cornwell.