THE PERFECT ROOMMATE (TV movie) 1.5 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 3 min

 THE PERFECT ROOMMATE (TV movie) 1.5 out of 10 stars Time to Read: 3 min

Riddled with plot holes, unlikable characters, & lots of deus ex machinas...

BASIC PLOT: 

Normally, I'd write a succinct outline of the plot. But there never was a plot to write about. Basically, a waitress let's another waitress move in with her, then suddenly becomes suspicious of her (for no reason), and somehow suspects she's up to no good (with no reason). It's just a bunch of one dimensional, wooden characters, taking actions with no motivations, without any explanations, right up to the end. It's a disjointed, convoluted mess that should have been stopped while it was still words on a page.

WHAT WORKS: 

*CINTHIA BURKE IS A LIFETIME MOVIE GUILTY PLEASURE Cinthia Burke is a guilty pleasure of mine. She always plays the bad girls in Lifetime movies from this era, and even though these roles are cheesy, she manages to make it work. She's about the only thing in this movie that does work.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK:

*I KNOW THIS IS A MELODRAMA, BUT THE CHARACTERS ARE TOO ONE DIMENSIONAL I know in melodramas, characters aren't supposed to have much depth, but this movie takes that too far. Everybody is very wooden, and the little character development there is, doesn't tell us enough to make us care. Even the background people seem like cardboard cutouts. Christine Conradt should have tweaked the script, and given the actors more to work with.

*WHY WOULD ASHLEY AND MATT BE SUSPICIOUS OF CARRIE BECAUSE OF SOMETHING HER EX HUSBAND DID? Women get conned by men all the time, why would Ashley be suspicious of Carrie because Carrie's ex-husband killed his mistress? If anything, that would make most women MORE sympathetic to her. Matt is supposed to be a good guy, well most good guys are sympathetic to women who get used and abused. His suspicions are NOT BELIEVABLE! He insists Carrie should have told Ashley BEFORE she moved in, again, I ask WHY? Why should she be required to share something so humiliating before becoming someone's roommate? This whole plot line RUINS the movie, and cancels my suspension of disbelief.

*THINGS GET MORE UNBELIEVABLE WHEN MATT'S BROTHER BECOMES SUSPICIOUS... Are you freaking kidding me? Matt's brother, Ethan, decides to play Nancy Drew about Carrie, again, I ask WHY? Carrie has not given these people any reason to be suspicious of her, so why are they? If hooking up with a lousy, deceitful man makes you untrustworthy, then I guess half the women in the world are not too be trusted.

*ASHLEY SAYS CARRIE KNEW ABOUT MARTY'S AFFAIRS and this makes her suspicious because Carrie testified at Marty's (Carrie's ex) trial that she didn't know about them. But what Carrie actually said was she knew about his FIRST affair, and then didn't want to know about the subsequent ones. So again, poor writing, and LOTS of deus ex machina from Christine Conradt.

*THERE'S LOTS OF CLOSEUP WEIRD SHOTS 

This may be because it's from 2010, and maybe wasn't widescreen (& they are stretching it to make it work on today's TVs). Sometimes when they stretch things, you get a strange effect. But even if that's the case, a lot of the shots are still awkward.

*WHY WOULD ASHLEY CARE THAT CARRIE IS SLEEPING WITH RICHARD? 

Ashley says it's a betrayal that her roommate slept with her dad. Again, I ask WHY? Why do writers continually forget that characters NEED motivations to make them believable. Ashley HAS to have a REASON why she is mad, that two people she cares about are no longer lonely. But instead she throws a tantrum like she's 12. Protagonists need to be LIKABLE (especially in melodramas)! But in this movie, the only person that's sympathetic is Richard (William R. Moses, Ashley's dad.

*IF ASHLEY IS SO SUSPICIOUS OF CARRIE, WHY DOESN'T SHE ASK CARRIE TO MOVE OUT?

If you are so suspicious of someone, you're interviewing people from their past, and throwing fits about them sleeping with your dad, why would you still be living with them, when it would be so easy to just ask them to leave? You can't have it both ways, either they suspect her (even though there's nothing to suspect her of), and should ask her to leave, or they don't suspect her, and she stays, you see how confusing this convoluted script is?

*WHEN ASHLEY'S CAR BREAKS DOWN, SHE KEEPS CALLING HER DAD FOR HOURS, EVEN THOUGH SHE CAN'T GET AHOLD OF HIM. WHY DOESN'T SHE CALL HER BOYFRIEND, MATT?

This is yet another giant plot hole that MAKES NO SENSE! She's going to stand at a gas station, all night, when she could just call her boyfriend instead? REALLY?

TO RECOMMEND, OR NOT TO RECOMMEND, THAT IS THE QUESTION: 

*I would NOT recommend this movie, even to fans of melodramas. The characters are wooden, their motivations are not believable, and even at the half way point, we don't know why the antagonists are doing what they are doing. If you're looking for a decent made-for-tv melodrama from Christine Conradt, try The Bride He Bought Online (2015). It's actually enjoyable.

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.