Secrets from Her Past

SECRETS FROM HER PAST (TV movie 2011) 1 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 3 min

BASIC PLOT: Stephanie Wickers (Ashley Jones) has created a new life for herself, after witnessing her boss's murder. She could have stayed and fought, she could have stood up for herself, and for her community by testifying, and putting the murderer away, but instead she buckled under, putting everyone in her life in danger.

She's changed her name, she's now Kate Collins, married to David Collins (Michael Woods), with a young son, Oliver (Bobby Osborne). Her silence has put the whole family in danger, because the Russian mob has a long memory, and the man who killed her boss, Alek Ravik (Al Sapienza) is determined to eliminate her. He's hired a hitman, Misha (Mark Slacke) to find her, and silence her for good. Misha takes the job to kill Kate, but has other plans. He's willing to make a deal with Kate, he'll spare her life for cash. He promises he'll forget he found her, if she can just come up with $200,000. Instead of going to the FBI, or confiding in her husband, she goes to Dr. Shawn Tessle (Antonio Sabato Jr.), a rival of her husband, and a man she knows wants to sleep with her.

One bad decision leads to another, and Kate finally goes to every man she knows, until one of them tells her what to do. Can Kate find a man to lead her to salvation? Or will she get her whole family killed?

WHAT WORKS: *THE PRINCIPAL ACTORS DO AN OK JOB WITH WHAT THEY'RE GIVEN Ashley Jones & Michael Woods do a fine job with a terrible script. They are wasted here, and it's too bad.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: *RIGHT OFF THE BAT, MS. CONRADT RELIES ON TIRED CLICHÉS, AND PATHETIC WOMEN FOR HER UNBELIEVABLE SCRIPT Kate witnesses her bosses murder. She's not seen until she makes a bunch of noise, leaves her purse (which identifies her to the killer), and is genuinely pathetic. (Side note: Couldn't the killer have found out who she is, by just asking around?) Why does Christine Conradt feel the need to rely on weak, useless women to build her unbelievable scripts? I'm tired of seeing it from her. Why not have women who fight back, women who are strong, women who don't lean on men? Isn't (Lifetime Television) supposed to be a channel dedicated to women? Shouldn't we see the best of us once in awhile?

*WHY DOES ALEK RAVIK HAVE AN RUSSIAN ACCENT, AND THEN SUDDENLY DOESN'T?

When Alek is at the bar with Mo (Vlasta Vrana), he has a Russian accent, but later, no accent. I know this is low budget, but they should have reshot the scene if they were going to change things.

*KATE LEAVES HER MOM BEHIND TO BE MURDERED The Russian mob would murder any family Kate left behind, including her mother. Again, SCRIPT WRITERS NEED RESEARCH! Otherwise, these are "Barbie Scripts," (similar to plotlines 11yr old girls come up with when they play Barbies).

*WHO'S GIANT HOUSE IS THIS? Kate's husband is a resident doctor. They don't make any money, and Kate works at a health club, also no money. Why do they live in this million dollar home? They later imply Kate runs/owns the health club, HOW?! When she went on the run, she was a struggling college student who was bartending, no money there. They also tell us David was a teacher before he was a resident doctor, no money in either of those professions, so where did they get the money to open multiple health clubs, and live in a million dollar house? Can we have a tiny bit of realism please?!

*WOULDN'T RUSSIAN MOBSTERS DRINK EXPENSIVE VODKA? Details enhance the viewing experience, by suspending the disbelief of the audience, and making the story more believable. When I stop to think, "Why are Russian mobsters drinking cheap whiskey instead of expensive vodka?" I'm no longer in the story, I'm thinking about how crappy the story is that's being told to me, and how I don't believe it. Epic fail.

*KATE'S MOTHER LEAVES IDENTIFYING MATERIAL IN A KITCHEN DRAWER Really?! Your daughter has a contract out on her, and you leave identifying material in an open, kitchen junk drawer? The hitman didn't even have to toss the place to find it. I think most people would hide dangerous, identifying material, under the carpet, in an air vent, at the bank in a safety deposit box etc., NOT in an open kitchen junk drawer, because that's Barbie land again.

*SINCE CHRISTINE CONRADT THINKS IT'S OK TO HAVE THESE WEAK PATHETIC WOMEN IN HER SCRIPTS and since Kate can't get the money to buy off the hitman, why not go all the way, and just have her prostitute herself to Shawn Tessle for the money? That would be a more interesting script, instead of just seeing this pathetic woman cowtow, and risk her family's future because she's too inept to fight back.

*NO HITMAN WOULD TAKE BUY OFF MONEY and live more than ten minutes. Hitmen rely on their reputations. Allowing hits to live is a ridiculous plotline, and NOT believable! Especially for a measly $200,000

*WHY WOULD KATE'S MARRIAGE BE OVER BECAUSE SHE WITNESSED A MURDER? She can tell her friend Nicole, her husband's coworker, Shawn, everyone around her but NOT HER HUSBAND? That doesn't sound like much of a marriage to me.

*WHY WOULD KATE MEET A HITMAN IN AN ISOLATED LOCATION? No one would do that! She would expect to be killed, and he would get paid twice. Could we get any stupider?

*HITMAN FUN FACT: Hitmen never carry any identifying items on their person. Not a driver's license, not a weapon, NOTHING! That's part of the contract with their employer, so it doesn't lead back to anyone. But here in deus ex machina land, the hitman has a piece of paper with Kate's address on it, left for someone to find. Yeah right!

*INSTEAD OF GOING TO THE POLICE OR FBI, KATE AND HER FAMILY GO TO AN ISOLATED LOCATION Why? So it's easier for Alek to kill them? Why would you go any place connected to you, especially one that's isolated?

*MEN TO THE RESCUE!

Kate needs men to tell her what to do, bail her out, tell her to do the right thing etc. What a bunch of claptrap! And this is supposed to be made for women? Why does Christine Conradt always have these women who rely on men, instead of fixing their own problems?

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: *I cannot recommend 85% of Christine Conradt's material, and this is no different. It's too bad, because Ashley Jones & Michael Woods are fine actors, but their talents are wasted here. Christine Conradt has a few decent movies to her credit, one of her good ones is Flirting with Madness (2015), another is Missing at 17 (2013). I'd recommend finding those instead of watching this cliché ridden, plothole filled, claptrap.

CLOSING NOTES: *THIS IS A MADE-FOR-TV MOVIE, please keep that in mind before you watch/rate it. TV movies have a much lower budget, and so your expectations should be adjusted.

*I HAVE NO CONNECTION TO THE FILM, or production in ANY way. This review was NOT written in full, or in part, by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews (less trolls and fanboys), and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.