This review contains minor plot spoilers.
I got a chance to see `Blind Obsession' on Lifetime, a channel not known for showing the greatest of films; it's usually the channel that collects all those forgotten TV movies with titles that sound like this: `A Slice of Life: The Lorena Bobbitt Story,' or something along those lines. I tend to watch more television shows on Lifetime than movies, but I thought I would give `Blind Obsession' a chance. I've always liked Roxana Zal, and they even cast Ken Kercheval in there. Other suspense movies about the impaired, like `Blink' and `Hear No Evil,' weren't that good, but I didn't think this would be less enjoyable. Unfortunately, it was, turning into little more than a `Fatal Attraction' clone after a mere twenty-five minutes.
The movie has two focal characters. One is Rebecca Rose (Megan Gallagher), a woman who helps teach the newly bind how to adjust to their new impairment. She lives with her younger sister Belinda (Zal), who is missing a few marbles, presumably dating back to past abuse from their wicked uncle. Belinda never leaves the house, and Rebecca has no other outside contacts, so their worlds revolve around each other. The other focal character is Jack Fletcher (Brad Johnson), a policeman. One night, he and his partner (Kercheval) are involved in a shoot-out, and shrapnel from a bullet gets lodged in Jack's skull, hitting an optic nerve and taking away his sight. Rebecca is sent to help Jack adjust, and she instantly (a little too quick, in my opinion) falls in love with him. When Jack gets out of the hospital, Rebecca makes daily, unauthorized visits to train Jack, and she secretly gets a duplicate house key made and sneaks back into the house after their daily lesson. This voyeurism happens without warning; there is no hint that something is psychologically wrong with Rebecca until this happens. She happens to be in the house when a thug comes to kill Jack, and Rebecca instead kills the thug and hides the body. Then as Rebecca's involvement with Jack becomes stronger, she raises the eyebrows of both Belinda and Jack's girlfriend. It is all set up for a rather anti-climactic ending.
I was very disappointed in this movie. It wasn't the acting, because much of the acting was fairly decent. Zal displayed the best bits of acting, especially in a scene where she tests her sister when she slits her own wrist. It was the best scene in the movie, but that is comparing it to rather dull stuff. Kercheval was wasted, disappearing fairly quickly for the entire middle section of the film. I wanted more Zal and Kercheval and less `Fatal Attraction,' but when I finally got my wish at the end, the movie got messy and went out with a whimper. And not a very good whimper, as I questioned the movie's stance on Rebecca's character and annoyed by the movie not revealing to us Jack's thoughts on everything that happened previously. Mostly, I am sad that this movie is derivative. Unlike Jack, you can see almost everything that is coming a mile away. This is not a bad movie, but it could have been so much more had it seen the error of its ways. Zantara's score: 4 out of 10
I got a chance to see `Blind Obsession' on Lifetime, a channel not known for showing the greatest of films; it's usually the channel that collects all those forgotten TV movies with titles that sound like this: `A Slice of Life: The Lorena Bobbitt Story,' or something along those lines. I tend to watch more television shows on Lifetime than movies, but I thought I would give `Blind Obsession' a chance. I've always liked Roxana Zal, and they even cast Ken Kercheval in there. Other suspense movies about the impaired, like `Blink' and `Hear No Evil,' weren't that good, but I didn't think this would be less enjoyable. Unfortunately, it was, turning into little more than a `Fatal Attraction' clone after a mere twenty-five minutes.
The movie has two focal characters. One is Rebecca Rose (Megan Gallagher), a woman who helps teach the newly bind how to adjust to their new impairment. She lives with her younger sister Belinda (Zal), who is missing a few marbles, presumably dating back to past abuse from their wicked uncle. Belinda never leaves the house, and Rebecca has no other outside contacts, so their worlds revolve around each other. The other focal character is Jack Fletcher (Brad Johnson), a policeman. One night, he and his partner (Kercheval) are involved in a shoot-out, and shrapnel from a bullet gets lodged in Jack's skull, hitting an optic nerve and taking away his sight. Rebecca is sent to help Jack adjust, and she instantly (a little too quick, in my opinion) falls in love with him. When Jack gets out of the hospital, Rebecca makes daily, unauthorized visits to train Jack, and she secretly gets a duplicate house key made and sneaks back into the house after their daily lesson. This voyeurism happens without warning; there is no hint that something is psychologically wrong with Rebecca until this happens. She happens to be in the house when a thug comes to kill Jack, and Rebecca instead kills the thug and hides the body. Then as Rebecca's involvement with Jack becomes stronger, she raises the eyebrows of both Belinda and Jack's girlfriend. It is all set up for a rather anti-climactic ending.
I was very disappointed in this movie. It wasn't the acting, because much of the acting was fairly decent. Zal displayed the best bits of acting, especially in a scene where she tests her sister when she slits her own wrist. It was the best scene in the movie, but that is comparing it to rather dull stuff. Kercheval was wasted, disappearing fairly quickly for the entire middle section of the film. I wanted more Zal and Kercheval and less `Fatal Attraction,' but when I finally got my wish at the end, the movie got messy and went out with a whimper. And not a very good whimper, as I questioned the movie's stance on Rebecca's character and annoyed by the movie not revealing to us Jack's thoughts on everything that happened previously. Mostly, I am sad that this movie is derivative. Unlike Jack, you can see almost everything that is coming a mile away. This is not a bad movie, but it could have been so much more had it seen the error of its ways. Zantara's score: 4 out of 10