Fatal Trust (2011)

One of my all time favorites.

Fantastic!

A Major Disappointment

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.

I get the play on words with the title. "Fatal Trust" refers to the fact (as Kate points out in the movie) that we routinely and without a second thought place our lives in the hands of complete strangers who we allow to do all sorts of invasive things to us just because they're doctors. It's a point that gets made in the closing captions of the movie, which share a couple of incidents in which doctors were guilty of murdering their patients. So the point is clear - doctors are humans, and just because they're doctors doesn't mean that they can't kill. Point taken. And I thought the climactic confrontation between Kate and Dr. Lucas was reasonably exciting. But overall the movie was something of a disappointment.Kate (Amy Jo Johnson - who I'm not at all familiar with) moves from the big city back to the small town where she grew up after her husband is murdered. She gets a job working as assistant to Dr. Lucas (David Haydn-Jones - also not really familiar with him) and over the course of time (a short period of time) she becomes suspicious because several of his elderly patients (including her own mother before Kate moved back) die suddenly.So it's a kind of murder mystery, and it's honestly nothing special. The acting and writing are both second-rate, and the revelation of how the doctor actually kills his victims actually made me chuckle a little bit because it seemed so silly. It's thankfully fairly short at a little under an hour and a half (it was made for TV and was probably two hours once commercials were inserted) and I'll give it the credit of saying that the story does move along relatively well. Unfortunately, it's just not that good a movie. (3/10)

This film actually surprised me by how good it was. Now I'm not saying it's brilliant, I'm not! Though for a daytime TV movie this is good fare.Kate (Johnson) and her son have suffered the violent loss of a lover and father so she decides it's time to leave the city and head home, where her sister, Jessica (Alt), runs a diner. As she's pulling into town, she passes an accident where a woman has died of a heart attack while driving. As time passes, Kate begins to learn that this isn't the first heart attack in the small town. Could her new boss, Dr Lucas (Haydn-Jones), be behind the deaths in some way(?) So she sets out to find out the truth.Here is the first thing I think could have been better. It would have been a stronger storyline had we not been shown the killer at quite an early stage in the film. Had the writer and director decided to make this into a whodunnit with lots of twists and red herrings this would have been a brilliant movie. It wouldn't have been that difficult to do as the person who's playing the killer is so normal it would have been difficult to guess.The other thing would be her relationship with her son. There's just too little here. At times, you even forget she's a mother. Who know's there may be some of these scene's laying on the cutting room floor. I just think it would have strengthened her character and added a few heartwarming and tearful scenes. This, in turn, could have branched off a story arch where they, as a family, developed more - especially the climax, which was over a little too fast. With an added threat to her son, the director could have ramped up the tension so the audience was on the edge of their seats.Those are my only quirks as the film is well directed and acted throughout. There is one scene which is especially great. After killing an elderly resident, the killer sits back while sipping tea. It's the exhale of their deep breath, the look of calm satisfaction, and the shudder of utter bliss, which gave me the shivers right down to the bone.If you love your thrillers without the mystery element then I'd recommend this film to you. It's an engrossing and entertaining way to waste an hour or two.

***SPOILERS*** it in fact was old taxi driver Harry Goodman, Frank Fontaine,who had the creepy and deranged Dr.Mark Lucas, David Hayden-Jnoes, number right from the start. Harry knew that Dr. Lucas was up to no good since his wife whom the Doc treated died mysteriously from a sudden and unexpected heart attack. If only the people in Ridegwood would have listened to Harry all this killing on Dr. Lucas' part would have come to an end much sooner with the kill crazy Doc put away,in the state prison, where he couldn't hurt or kill anybody.It was Kate Ryder,Amy Jo Johnson, who just came back to Ridgewood from the big city with her asthmatic 6 year old son Sam,Nigel Bennett,who came under Dr. Lucas radar when she wen to see him for a job as his Girl Friday or private secretary. Unknown to Kate she was replacing Grace, Nancy Helmes, who was one of Dr.Lucas' victims! In fact it was also Dr.Lucas who was responsible,by giving her the wrong medication,for Kate's mothers suicide whom he felt was,in being old and sickly,no use to society anymore!The worm finally turned for Dr.Lucas after he got a bit careless in killing far more people, including Larry Goodman, who's death, of a sudden a faked heart attack, he couldn't sweep under he rug. It's now up to Kate to expose the mad killer before she as well as her son Sam and sister Jesse, Carol Alt, who runs the town's Dad Diner end up being his latest victims. The big problem for Kate is who in town will believe her since Dr. Lucas is one of it's most outstanding citizens! Who besides offering his services for cut rate prices also on top of all that even makes house calls!***SPOILERS*** In finding that Dr. Lucas was in fact doctoring the records of those who died of his "special treatment" which included rattle snake poison Kate tries to get the Doc's latest victim 75 year old Miss.White's, Mary Morter, body exhumed and autopsied to see if she,like the Doc stated in her death certified, in fact died of natural causes! This sends the by now losing it Dr. Lucas into an absolute fury and also exposes to everyone in town including the mostly clueless Sheriff Cooper, Lorne Brass, to what the Doc is really up to: Mass murder of those he feels aren't worthy to be alive in this world! Adding another victim to his body count Deputy Sheriff Bailey,Charles Bender, and gunning down but not killing Kate's boyfriend Tom Donovan,Paul Popowich, Dr.Lucas takes off with Sam as a hostage into the nearby corn field to chill out after the heat's off. With the Doc now completely out of his mind he spills the beans to what his true motives were all along, kill those he feels are unworthy to be alive, to the gun toting Kate who,in her having just all she can take from the crazed maniac, blew him away!P.S As we soon find out Dr.Lucs' string of murders weren't confined to just the sleepy little town of Ridgewood that he has his practice or killing spree for just two years. He was killing people all across the country for eight years before he even came to town! And how many he killed is anybodies guess!

I caught and taped this telemovie on Lifetime, watched it twice. The second time I understood the plot a lot better. I think the pace of the movie is very fast, so if you're not paying attention to any given scene you will be totally lost.I thought all the actors we're exceptional. The antagonist is quite interesting and well portrayed, Amy Jo Johnson shows some range as she plays Kate quite well. I'm still impressed by her ability to still play teenagers (flashback sequence). She is so very very beautiful in this movie, maybe even more beautiful than 10 years ago! Due to her youthful appearances, its sometimes hard to remember that she is an adult; the film gives us no idea on how old she was supposed to be. Judging by her son who looks about 10, I would presume that she was supposed to be in her late 20s?My one complaint would be for the flashbacks to have been more clear; especially the ones with Kate's former husband, who looks just like her soon to be new boyfriend. It really confused me the first time I watched.Despite a few flaws here and there, highly recommended movie.