Wonderful character development!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

John Taylor (Morris Chestnut) is a successful corporate attorney ready to make "partner." His wife Laura (Regina Hall) is a successful whatever ready to make CEO. They can't have children and have one last frozen embryo. They hire the very nice Anna Walsh (Jaz Sinclair) to carry the child. Her abusive boyfriend Michael (Theo Rossi) is what brings her into their home, a really nice home...one she would want to live in... and live with a guy like John. From here the plot goes as expected.We have seen similar films when a young rival is brought into the home for a number of reasons. This one was okay, with the actors going through the motions, waiting for the next big gig. The film is rated PG-13 which means they cut away at all the good scenes.Guide: Brief sex. Near nudity. Not much swearing.

The stalker-woman thriller film has been done again and again and done well and done not so well but there is absolutely a class out there for it and sometimes they are even memorable! Single White Female feels like one of the matriarchs of this genre but you have Fear, Swimfan, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Fatal Attraction. Disclosure...I mean they are a dime a dozen but the ones I've seen are usually at least entertaining so I thought this was a surefire thing for an evening of scoffs and eye rolling but ultimately entertaining. To say they missed the mark on this is giving them too much credit. The story is fine but the characters are flat, the overacting is horrendous, the story is achingly predictable even for a genre film and despite potentially good cast members, they are not good in their roles. Everyone just seems to be going through the motions and it turns in one of the worst films I've seen in 2016.Morris Chestnut can be a decent actor. I've never seen him do anything outstanding but this does nothing to build his career. He is boring, vapid, has zero chemistry with his two female co-leads and feels very out of place. I don't think he wanted in this anymore than we did. Regina Hall has a similar background but she too is not really a leading lady and this proves she can't carry a film on her own. But in her defence, the character she plays is downright horrible. She's a weak, spineless, blubbering moron who will let her husband do anything to get the baby she wants. The key to a great stalker-thriller is the role of the crazy person and it makes for an interesting performance when they're good at it. Jaz Sinclair doesn't even get top billing on IMDb are the crazy surrogate. She is way overacting the entire time, isn't the least bit threatening and no one can overpower her even when she's in the throws of labour. It's insane. There are a few familiar faces in the supporting cast and their performance and the look on their face will demonstrate how much they just wanted their paycheck.I honestly don't know how this got made let alone released in theatres. It's straight to video at BEST and another reviewer suggested better left on Lifetime but even Lifetime knows what it does well at. Ironically director Jon Cassar is a fantastic Television director. He has a lot of talent but much like the cast he must have phoned this in or in editing the film was chopped to barely recognizable because it's bad...like really really bad. And in a crowded genre like this, there are modern day classics that are so much better worth spending the hour and a half on. This is utterly avoidable and hopefully completely forgettable. The ending is so unsatisfying that you can barely find anything here redeemable at all. 3/10

When the Bough BreaksThe easiest way for a childless couple to get a baby is to hang around a Walmart washroom.Unfortunately, the parents in this psychological thriller impregnated a surrogate instead.Unsuccessful in their attempts to conceive, John (Morris Chestnut) and Laura (Regina Hall) ultimately decide to fertilize another woman's eggs in order to start their family.While their proxy Anna (Jaz Sinclair) appears to be the perfect choice, she soon develops an unhealthy attraction towards John that finds her driving a duplicitous wedge between the couple that could not only cost them their unborn child, but also their own lives.A glorified Lifetime movie masquerading as a major motion picture, this substandard melodrama even lacks the tautness and titillation needed to be a movie of the week. Low on ingenuity and craziness, this psycho stranger story fails at being bad. Besides, if the surrogate wants you dead won't your baby inherit that bloodlust? Red Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

Here's a film of 2016 that didn't seem to gain a lot of traction. First thing that came to mind while viewing the film is that it felt so much like Fatal Attraction. I think Fatal Attraction may be the quintessential film about a psychotic woman who tries to ruin the relationship of a man she's obsessed with. In recent years, we have seen a trend of very similar films. Hollywood has a lot of films that are similar in form, which is perfectly fine. The trick is to not be too formulaic and offer something that will commit itself to memory. Films will obviously draw upon previous influences, they just need to be of substantial quality and be able to stand on its own merit. Unfortunately, I can not say this about When the Bough Breaks.The premise of the film involves a young attractive woman, who decides to be the surrogate mother for a couple who cannot conceive. She also seems to be the victim of domestic violence, which further contributes to the affection of the couple. little do they know that she has ulterior motives that involve seducing the husband and tearing the family apart. The plot is interesting enough on paper but the delivery was all over the place. The film feels like something you would see on the Lifetime network. The dialogue at times seems simple and amateurish, writing isn't always up to par, parts of the plot drop in pace leading to an uneven feeling of plot progression. The film struggles to find its pace and I felt like the tone of the film kept shifting. Parts of it are drama, other parts feel like a romantic thriller, and then it diverts into a horror. This isn't a bad thing but you could just tell the filmmaker had a hard time keeping the film even.I thought the acting was fairly solid. Morris Chestnut, Regina Hall, and Jaz Sinclair all did well with what they were given. The film just ended up being too predictable and formulaic. Never was I genuinely shocked by something that happened. Having a psycho surrogate mother was a different twist on something that we see a lot but it doesn't do enough to make the film memorable or remarkable. There are some nice scenes, like when Sinclair lays on the floor donning her seductive red dress, however the film doesn't push the erotic boundaries. I think this was due to the PG-13 rating of the film. You won't leave this film thinking much about it, its a decent watch for when you are bored but not worth much more thought or consideration.5/10