Blue Smoke (TV 2007)

Detective Reena Hale (Witt) is revisited by the stalker who traumatized her years ago by offing any man she fell in love with.

Director:

David Carson

Writers:

Ronni Kern (teleplay), Nora Roberts (novel)

Stars:

Alicia Witt, Scott Bakula, Matthew Settle

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alicia Witt	...	Reena Hale
Scott Bakula	...	John Minger
Matthew Settle	...	Bo Goodnight
Talia Shire	...	Bianca Hale
Eric Keenleyside	...	Gib Hale
John Reardon	...	Josh
Benjamin Ayres	...	Hugh (as Ben Ayres)
Chris Fassbender	...	Joey Pastorelli Jr.
Taylor Dauphinais	...	Young Reena
David Brown	...	Joe Pastorelli Sr.
Liam Nelson	...	Young Joey Pastorelli Jr.
Rod Heatheringston	...	Steve (as Rod Heatherington)
Chad Nobert	...	Xander Hale
Peter Skagen	...	FBI Agent
Daniela Vlaskalic	...	Fran Hale

Storyline

Watching her family's pizzeria Sirico's burning up when a young girl, Reena Hale decided to follow in the footsteps of Baltimore PD- Fire department liaison, investigator John Minger, and succeeds, except in her parents' case. twice she finds a dream lover, each killed in a fire just before he would propose to her. Hugh's case is clearly arson, and later Josh's is found also to link, the killer even left clues to link to Siricos. Her third lover and neighbor, Bo Goodnight, soon proves the next target, but not the last.

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Plot Keywords:

fire | love | neighbor | arson | stalker | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Lifetime TV

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 February 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nora Roberts' Blue Smoke

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandalay Television, Stephanie Germain Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

No legitimate firefighter training center anywhere in America would be open long if the "graduation exercise" they had in their burn building included potentially deadly traps. Yet the lead character runs into at least TWO traps that had potential to be deadly.

User Reviews

Not as Good as the Books

I think the movies might work better if you haven't read the books first. I'm not entirely displeased with the movies, particularly "Blue Smoke", but they are so limited in what they can do within the time constraints of the film. This was a complicated book, with the usual terrific characterizations.

I think the weakest part of "Blue Smoke" was the lack of time to develop the family dynamics.

Scott Bakula is wonderful in the part of the senior investigator. I've always loved him, but he shines in this part. Frankly, he's the guy I would go for.

Witt does an adequate job as the heroine. Overall, I would say that the movie would make a good afternoon's entertainment, but you would be better served by getting the original book and diving in.

Here's hoping this year's Nora Roberts selection of films will be even better.

And if the Eve Dallas books are ever filmed by owner Mel Gibson, I hope they consider Mariska Hargarty in mind for the lead role.