Criminal Intent (2005)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely the worst movie.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

IMDb member Caa821 felt the comments were more entertaining than the movie. I think Caa821's comments were more entertaining than the movie."Criminal Intent" follows the Lifetime TV template to a 'T': familiar stars (Vanessa Angel and Linda Purl), with the rest of the cast being not only unfamiliar but fairly poor actors; filmed in Canada; derivative; moves slowly; predictable.Angel plays a defense attorney turned divorce attorney whose good friend is murdered, with the woman's ex-husband being accused. He wants her to go back to her defense roots and represent him, even though she handled their divorce. She agrees and comes up against a tough DA (Purl).There is a twist in the story, but I don't know who's comparing this to Alfred Hitchcock. The acting is lethargic, and Angel's collagen lips are distracting.As I mentioned in a previous post, these mindless Lifetime movies are great for a Sunday afternoon or when you're trying to sleep, and they give work to formerly prolific actors like Purl. I have to commend Lifetime for hiring 40+ actresses who find themselves "aged out" of Hollywood.

This movie overall feels so cheezy, you never really get into it. The plot is virtually non-existent as anyone with a few movies on their back can tell you who the killer is. Also the acting, especially from that treasure agent, no time to look up the name, is REALLY bad. You can really feel that he is reading it for the first time as he is going along. Most of the actors feel like retired adult movie stars. Although, Devon, performs rather well, and I could see him as a new James Bond, although maybe a bit too short.Overall a movie, NOT worth watching, I do not get the previous comment. The romance scenes are bland or non existent. The writer must have taken part in making this poor roll of tape.

I am biased because I happen to love anything Linda Purl is in, but this movie really is not too bad! Linda Purl has the lead role, she's a strong woman typical to what "Lifetime" tries to portray women as. She was great in her role. This movie had a very unexpected twist which was good. With many movies you can see a twist coming, with this movie it was very surprising. But, after a twist such as this, one expects the movie to end not too long after, and this movie seemed to drag out a little too long after the reveal. I don't think the actors should be blamed for this though. The casting was pretty good, the actors were believable in their roles. The camera shots and fades from one scene to another keep your attention. Overall I think you will enjoy this movie.

Utterly the most painful movie I have ever suffered through. I kept hoping that it would improve since it had Linda Purl; however, it just kept spiraling down hill. If you want something more entertaining try a root canal. This could have been a great movie if they had bothered to invest some money into actors who could carry this type of story line. It was just an endless parade of pretty faces "mugging" for the camera. Nor will it become one of those "bad" films that later becomes faddish due to its comically bad acting. This was just plain bad. Even after a while Linda's normally superb acting was lost in the damage. The sad statement is that each of these actors have done superb work in other films yet they just didn't have the edge to carry this story line.