A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Oh, I did want to like this movie. It didn't matter that it's derivative of "Sleeping with the Enemy," right down to the abandoned abuser finding proof of his "dead" wife's deception that she conveniently--no, foolishly--left behind. (Honestly, if you're going to fake your own death, wouldn't it occur to you to hide all paperwork pertaining to the faking of your own death?) Most people who watch this film are probably drawn by its similarities to SWtE (with the added bonus of a child!)The wife's leaving of damning evidence was only the first of her foolish mistakes, though (if you don't count marrying the crazy man in the first place. Let's assume that some men are good at hiding their abusive tendencies). Her biggest goof is that, after faking her death, she goes into a business (realty) which she advertises by plastering pictures of her face all over advertisements and billboards? I don't appreciate movies with stupid heroines, which made it hard for me to truly like this one. Yes, she's the underdog. And she's played as being smart and tough. But some of her decisions discredited her. It was also hard to believe that her husband would be so obsessed with her after ten years. That was my other problem with this film. The husband character is so very evil, to the point where he's not only coming after his wife; he's coming after her friends as well! It almost feels like a twisted wish-fulfillment for women who mistake obsession for love--she's so great that he'll Never Get Over Her, and in the meantime, she'll have found another Wonderful Guy.I give this 5 points because I liked some of the actors, and the story certainly isn't slow. But unless you throw your suspension of disbelief out the window, you may wish this film had remained hidden away.

although mildly interesting, it had way too many loopholes. it simply lacked credibility. yeah, I know it is just a movie, but you still need plausibility in a story line.Perhaps the biggest thing is that they never demonstrated how she was able to cash in on the insurance money. did she send in a request and not have to appear in person? and why did the police conclude she was dead so quickly? had seven years passed? I don't know that 7 months passed.then at the end when he is chasing his ex and daughter, he does not grab the gun when it was right there? he forgot? come on! and finally, Emmanuelle Vaugier might have turned in the worst acting performance I have ever seen. when she should have shown fear, it looked like she was smirking, not overtly, but she was just way off the mark.

Typical Lifetime Network nonsense about the victimized woman with terribly poor taste who hopes that running away will solve her problems only to learn the hard way when she gets tracked down. In this shameless outing, we have Vaugier faking her and her daughter's death in an attempt to escape her physically abusive husband. Blah, blah, blah; same old routine: she gets a new life, her daughter grows up not remembering anything, she meets a nice guy (Flanery), the fairy tale ending is just a grasp away, and then all of a sudden the bad guy from the past (Sergei) shows up. This cookie-cutter garbage could be somewhat bearable if it didn't consist of melodrama triggered by acts that would otherwise be considered downright moronic if only the protagonists weren't so unlucky. Nice climax—apparently, any dimwit can be inspired by watching NORTH BY NORTHWEST in film class.*½ (out of four)

A very good thriller which is hurt by the fact that at the end of the movie, committing fraud does actually pay despite what the end results are.A mother and daughter fake their deaths to flee from the former's abusive husband. With his insurance money, they move to California and with great investments and becoming a Realtor, life becomes great for the two. The daughter was 7 when all this occurred. Fast forward to 10 years later, the recently laid off guy discovers that they're not dead and follows them to California where the mayhem really begins. This guy is some mental case as he does away with the private investigator he had hired to track the two women and her fellow realty agent falls victim to him as well.Yes, there are tense scenes. Yes, he is diabolical in wiring the house up so he can view what's going on at his computer; nonetheless, the fact that the fraud perpetrated by the wife goes unpunished at film's end is problematic to me.