SLEEPER (TV Movie 2018)
Time to Read: 1:43 min
5.5 out of 10 stars
BASIC PLOT:
Jennifer Jones (
Kara Killmer) has mixed feelings about her upcoming wedding anniversary. She loves her husband Freddy (
Brett Donahue), but something is off in their relationship. JJ has attributed her dissatisfaction to her recent miscarriage, but in her heart, she knows something else is wrong. Freddy is hiding things from her, and she thinks it might be an affair. Her suspicions seem to be confirmed, when she sees Freddy arguing in the street, with an unknown woman (
Rayisa Kondracki). It seems like a passionate argument, but when she asks Freddy about it, he tells her it was just a disgruntled customer. JJ knows Freddy is keeping things from her. He's been distant, and he talks in his sleep, sometimes in what sounds like a foreign language. Before JJ can process all this further, a car deliberately runs Freddy over, right in from of her. She saw the driver clearly, but she can't discern a motive as to why her husband, a florist, would have unknown enemies. One strange incident after another, leads JJ's life spiraling into a nether world of spies and intrigue. Her reality has become unrecognizable, and she's just found out, she's pregnant again. Will Freddy wake up, and be able to explain, or will the danger surrounding her, swallow her for good?
WHAT WORKS:
*ALL THE ACTING IS ABOVE AVERAGE
This is a well made, well acted, made-for-tv spy thriller. It is low budget, so it does have limitations, but the principal actors more than make up for this.
Kara Killmer is great as JJ, a woman whose life is turned upside down by a series of disturbing revelations. All of the actors, even the ancillaries, do a fine job.
*THE SCRIPT IS BETTER THAN MOST MADE-FOR-TV MOVIES
Kudos to
Thom Richardson for an above average, low budget script, which almost falls into the category of an atmospheric. JJ's life is turned so upside down, it feels like she's outside of the world looking in, at what used to be. She's isolated, and so the viewer is as well. Great execution!
*EXCELLENT TRAILER! And these days, that's not something I say often. It was taught, suspenseful, and definitely made me want to watch the movie.
WHAT DOESN'T WORK:
*SPIES ARE TRAINED TO WATCH FOR FOLLOWERS I think when Freddy (
Brett Donahue) and Anna (
Rayisa Kondracki) are fighting, they would feel JJ watching, and then following. It's a minor point, but it could have been fixed by some very minor script adjustment (having JJ hide because Freddy feels her gaze etc).
*TERRIBLE COVER ART I'm so sick of seeing bad cover art, it looks like it took about five minutes to finish. Come on people, it's not that hard!
*GOOFS: When JJ calls Barbara, she gets her voicemail, the message says, "leave a message after the tone," there's never a tone, but JJ leaves a message anyway.
TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION:
*If you are a fan of TV movies, then give this a try! It's definitely above average in writing (
Thom Richardson), acting and directing (
Philippe Gagnon). It's a taut, small budget spy thriller, perfect for a lazy afternoon. Enjoy!
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 ANY way by a bot. I am just an honest viewer, who wishes for more straight forward reviews, and better entertainment. Hope I helped you out.
